405 winchester. dream big!

[lannard]

so i was digging through my collection, and i came across one who stood quite literally above the shoulders of everyone else, who was it? well it was the 405 winchester of course. ive allways liked the look of it, and often find my self wondering what the feeling would be to have a bandolier full of this stuff and blasting it away at a big game.

does anyone use the 405 these days? how is it to shoot, and what kind of damage does this bad boy do?

 

[Win 38-55]

I've only fired a few rounds through a friend's original Winchester 1895 405 and it does have a kick to it for sure. You don't have to check to see if it went off. It is a beautiful rifle that means business.

 

[vagrantviking]

I'm very seriously thinking about chambering a rolling block that I have for that cartridge. Even have a barrel ordered. Never fired one before though.

Might be a last minute thing on weather or not I want the punishment.... Should be able to put 70 or 75 gr of black behind a 400Gr + bullet. Would be murder on the Rams!!!

 

[ben hunchak]

Barrel twist may come into play with the long heavy bullets, while Ted used it in Africa, most felt that the 300gr. bullets lacked the penetration needed for the thick skinned stuff. Early jacketed bullets tended to be soft(esp. American) which may have contributed to this. I would do the math on barrel twist and 400 gr. bullets because I don't know if barrel/twist optimized for 300grainers would wobble the 400s....Ben

 

[Arctic]

Well, I have both an original and a new Winchester 95, they both handle the 400's fine. Bought 2 Ruger #1's in .405 and rechambered one for the 450/400, they both handle the 300's and 400's fine, .....1" groups. Recoil is felt in the 95's, but is nothing in the #1!

 

[28 gauge]

I have an old Winchester Model 1895 in .405 Winchester.Use to use it in the woods and on the range a bit.Back when I used the rifle no factory loads or new brass were available so I reloaded the hulls I used at the range.This saved my old factory loads for use in the field.

 

[vagrantviking]

Didn't do the math but I think the barrel I bought is a Green Moutain with about a 1-14 twist. I'm pretty sure that should do it for all the lead I might want to push.

Anyone have any input on particular bullet twist combinations in the .405?

 

[Matt74]

Lannard,
I have an original 1895 in 405WCF. I've had three over the last couple years. Carried it moose hunting last fall, but didn't get to take game with it yet. Has one hell of a snap for sure.
I'm in the Ottawa area too. If you ever want to give it a try, let me know. I could always swing out to Winchester and let you put a couple rounds down the barrel.
Cheers,
Matt

 

[vagrantviking]

Would be hard to imagine a much better moose gun! Should put them down hard. Seemed to work for Teddy.

Best of luck next year.

 

[lannard]

matt,

super exciting! i will pm you soon....

 

[Matt74]

Lannard: Sounds good.

Vagrantviking: Yes, a great moose gun it would be indeed. I alternated carrying the 405 and my 348WCF, simply b/c the 348 is extremely accurate and is a great feeling rifle. My 348 has the bolt peep which I don't find great at daybreak or near dusk, those are the times I carried the big ol' 405 with open sights. Hope to have better luck next year though.

Matt

 

[28 gauge]

I have a .348 Winchester as well as a Winchester .405.Like you, Matt74 I have found my .348 to be very accurate.

 

[beargun]

I have a 95 in 405 Win. As for shooting it I've only fired it at paper. My groups run at 3" at 100 yards( for me that is good) with my own reloads. Recoil was not that bad to me. My 30-06 hits me the same. The rifle came to me at the Moncton gun show. It is in 90% , but may have been blued . I seen it under the older gents table and talked him out of it for $500.00 . Before I was out of the show one dealer was up to $2800.00 to buy it. Noway was it for sale my grandfather and I used one to cut down a tree back in 1976 and I wanted one . It only took 20 years to get it.

 

[k405]

I have a 405 95 original and a repro.
The repro is an excellent shooter at 100 y with 3031 and Hornady 300 SP.
A word of caution, I dropped a small black bear with it three years ago and the bullet turned into small fragments with little penetration. It did kill the bear.
I spok to a Hornady rep at the Shot Show but don't know if they followed up on my complaint about their bullets performance,
For your info, Ken

 

[ben hunchak]

K405...That was the early problem with j-word bullets that I was referring to.......The .405 is really just an updated 40/70 Sharps Str. cartridge, and meant for smokeless powder. If the poster was impressed by the length of the .405 cartridge, he should get his mitts on a few .40/90 Sharps straight rounds!!

 

[28 gauge]

When I handloaded for my .405 Winchester I used Barnes 300 grain bullets.