.405 win

[fisheadgib]

OK, who has one and what can you tell me about it? I'd been reading around, trying to decide what new rifle to dream about next and I came across some stories about Teddy R and his love for leverguns. I have a modest assortment and I do gravitate towards the big bores. I stumbled onto some stories about the .405 win and suddenly I'm searching the internet for a Winchester 1895 in .405 win. I've been reading this site for a little while and I never see much talk about the .405 win. Is there a reason? I've seen people talk about equally obscure rounds in the past.

[Don McDowell]

I've been shooting one for about 10 years now, have wrote some about it here. CRS has one or two. Leverluver has one, and at one time owned a bullet company that made the finest in hunting bullets for the round.
It's easy to load for, you can take it from mild to wild and do it with terrific accuracy at either end of the spectrum.
The 95 is a hunting rifle, plain and simple. Easy to carry a field and carries a good punch to boot.
Most folks shy away at the cost of factory rounds and or cost for reloading components. They miss the boat on that count as case life is long even when loaded to the high end, cast bullets are readily available if you don't make your own and will add many hours of enjoyment to the 405 experience.
It's no big deal to find one of the rifles nowdays, there are several on Gunbroker, a simple 405 winchester search will turn up enough for both hands....

[crs]

Don is right is saying the 1895 is a hunting rifle in .405 WCF and it's other calibers. Kansas Ed will likely agree and they both have considerable experience with the .405.
Some shooters on this forum use it for game from prairie dogs to elk. Mine is going to Colorado for elk in September.
You can likely do a search on this forum and find several threads on the 95 in .405.
OH, and they can be pretty too:


Some folks even say the .405 WCF can kill big , dangerous game! Note nasty wound in shoulder.

I forgot the name of this hunter, but love the photo.

[Kansas Ed]

Yep, I'll attest to the attributes of the .405. I prefer the Hawk bullets....025 Jackets for thin skinned game, and .035 Jackets for thicker skinned such as elk...though I've never used mine on elk. If I were relegated to one cartridge to use (out of what I have now) it would probably be the .405 (though I am partial to the 40-82 also). I shot a small buck one year that turned sideways in the air after being hit with the 300gr Hawk. I really need though to develop a cast load for mine....them jacketed bullets get pricey But to make a long story short...you will have a lot of fun with that cartridge...and isn't that what it's really all about?

Ed

[DuggaBoye]

The 1895 Winchester is my favorite lever.

I have used the .405 extensively, with cast, conventional, bonded and mono-metal solids-- a great and versatile round.

You will be happy you chose to get one-(so go get one )

[457121]

the 405 is a great, easy to load for round now a days. if you are a bullet caster it's even better. i started shooting the 405 back in 1995 when components were scarce and using blown out 30-40 Krag brass. personally i think 350gr. is the ideal bullet weight for the 405. the first set of dies i got were RCBS and i picked up a Lyman set for $15 the other day. the RCBS sizer/decap die is better than the Lyman but the Lyman "M" expander die is way better than the RCBS. a good readily available mould to cast bullets is the RCBS .417" 350gr gc for the 416 Rigby/Rem. i shoot my cast bullets at .414" diameter cast from a LBT 350gr. gc LFN mould @ 2200fps. powders i have used are IMR3031. RL-7, RL-12, RL-15, IMR4895. the round dosen't seem real picky about powder in either of my rifles.

[Don McDowell]

OP posted this same thread on the guns and ammo forum, because he thinks there's more serious bigbore shooters and reloaders there.

[Hobie]

OP posted this same thread on the guns and ammo forum, because he thinks there's more serious bigbore shooters and reloaders there.

[Don McDowell]

Yeh he's got 20 some odd replies and only 1 of them even owns a rifle in the cartridge.
Some of them really like lever guns tho......

[O.S.O.K.]

Here's a little video - 1/2 speed slow-mo of me shooting mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwG2gGY-hz8

[fisheadgib]

OP posted this same thread on the guns and ammo forum, because he thinks there's more serious bigbore shooters and reloaders there.

You're being a little presumptuous. You don't know me whatsoever and you certainly don't know what I think. I did post this on the guns and ammo board because I value the opinions of many of the people there also. Many of the people here don't frequent that board and many of the people there aren't levergun fans. I recieved a lot of good input about the round between both sites and am even more enthused about the round then when I started.

[Don McDowell]

22 replies and you got bupkus info about the rifle or the cartridge compared to here.
http://forums.gunsandammo.com/forum/gen ... on/405-win

[Pete44ru]

Well, you've asked the rest (on G&A), but now you've queried the best (here) - and I've even installed an XS bolt peep sight on my .405.



.

[O.S.O.K.]

OK, I've only had mine for a while and haven't hunted anything with it yet. So if its not too much of a thread hi-jack - what bullets (projectiles) are recommended for game?

Whitetails - I figure the standard softnose bullets or cast boolits for deer.

Elk - X bullet?

Brown Bear - X bullet?

Cape Buffalo - some kind of solid I imagine...?

[Don McDowell]

Unless Hornady has toughened up their jackets I wouldn't use that bullet on any game save for maybe antelope, unless you loaded it down to around 1800 or so, anything faster than that it's just to frangible.
Northfork 300 ss was the best, don't know about what's happened since the company sold.
This bull caught 3 hornday's at 151 yds, recovered pieces of shrapnel did not equal 300 grs total


This bull caught a Northfork 300 ss at about 90 yds, the recovered bullet weighed 298 grs.


This is the accuracy those Northforks were capable of at 100 yds

[crs]

What Don said +1 for the Northforks.

As you can see in this old post of mine :

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... 05#p199843

The standard factory 300 grain Hornady lost some weight on my nilgai, but it did shoot through one big shoulder blade and make it through to the offside. However, I do believe that had the shot been placed properly (it was OK laterally, but high) in the ribs for a heart or lung shot, it might well have passed throught the off side. The shoulder blade of a nilgai is tough.

[O.S.O.K.]

Thanks guys - looks like the 300 Hornady's are for the range and whitetails at most.

What about the 300 grain TSX?



At $1 per pill, they're pricey but if only for hunting... then that'd be OK.

And anybody shoot hardcast at game with the 405? I have a 350grain RCBS mold waiting... (.416") to size down a bit...

[Hobie]

Dang, I'm gonna have to find a Browning and get it rebored...

[cowboykell]

I have had great results with Woodleigh bullets on critters from impala to eland.

[Don McDowell]

Kell you going to be at Medicine Rocks next week?

[cowboykell]

Wish I could, but the heat last week really dried down the corn. Going to be chopping not shooting.

[Don McDowell]

Well don't want to wish any bad on ya, but maybe it'll rain and you can come shoot.
We're planning to be there Thursday evening sometime. Going to go up and visit Modera first tho...

[Pathfinder09]

My .405 Win. is definitely my favorite gun. I hunt elk and bear with it and anything else that needs a good smack down. This is a great round. It will put them down. I reload for it and use jacketed, lead and Barnes TXS bullets with it.





It doesn't get any better.

[O.S.O.K.]

So you load all three - what do you use for bear (black?) and elk?

Thanks for the pics!

[Pathfinder09]

I use the Barnes TXS for Elk. I use the Hornaday 300 gr. Jacketed Flat point or Spire point for Black bear. I use Montana bullet Co.325 gr. cast for target, and sometimes for black bear.

This is a great round. There are still good components out there if you look around. I use Reloader 7, and H-4195.

Just MHO.

Good luck.

[Old Time Hunter]

Darn, this thread wants me to dig out my NIB '95 .405 TD...have had it for over ten years and never have fired it, still has the gooey plastic wrap on it. My brother in law and I bought two in consecutive serial numbers (I still have his too, as he has not reimbursed me).