Nice imformative post 'ludwigvondrumcrazy'.
the only difference between the two being that the 400 was drilled for ten Lugs and was chrome plated with the 404 getting eight lugs
Actually no drum manufacture 'drills' metal they 'punch' the holes out, Ludwig is no exception. Drilling stresses the metal, is costly (bits, clean up etc.) and makes a messy hole that takes another step to clean up. Wood shell's are 'drilled', metal 'punched'. Ludwig made a run of 200 10 lug 404 Acro's, hope you can post a pic.
Ludwig should seriously consider jumping on the 'vintage reproduction' band wagon ala Fender Guitars. With a little bit of creative thought (just use the Fender marketing template as an example Ludwig), Ludwig could regain a big chunk of the market share, as no other drum company can match their storied history. Ludwig could easily knock the rust off their crown and have the other drum manufactures lining up below them.
They're dabbling with the Bonzo reissue, but need to get serious with some cool reissue 60's kits and snares. Bowtie lugs on sets, bring back the original gold sparkle wrap etc. Largley unchanged metal snares could be reissued vintage pretty easily with a few original spec parts. They would definitely create a new/renewed interest in Ludwig and further complicate the the vintage sceene which they're not getting a piece of. Go Ludwig! Its time to shine once again.