Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers 405 Winchester

Jorge, dont think so either, but dang, it would so right if they did. A 26" octagon barrel chambered in 405 Win. would drip coolness <GRIN>

Gunner

yes!

Jorge Im thinkin' to much again, how's about an old shot out pitted bore 1886 in 33 WCF, re-bored and re-rifled to 405 Win, and a nice cased receiver from Turnbull and an oil finish on the stocks!!! YIKES.........I MUST NOT CALL TURNBULL...REPEAT, I MUST NOT CALL TURNBULL!

Gunner

Isn't a .405 round too long for an 1886 action? Thought I read that somewhere. An 86 in .405 would be cool though.

ken458, not sure, but I got a 50-110 Win. on a custom '86, and IIRC somebody is chambering the 45-90 on the '86 as well.

Gunner

Yep, 405 max. COL is 3.175, my 50-110's are 2.8, so yes it may be a little long.

Gunner

Interesting...and probably part of the reason the 1895 Winchester was invented (to handle the longer cartridges).

YOU MUST< YOU MUST!

Here are my two:







Both are still virgins but hopefully one or both will draw blood this year as they are both on the roster to get some time in the woods this season.

I have a new one (Jap made) the TR African Safari Centennial in 405 Winchester. I plan to take it to Africa on my next trip and hopefully shoot a buffalo with it. It is a marginal round for this task in my opinion, but hell TR did it as well as Ossa Johnson and with today's bullets I think I can do better. My loads are 55/5gr of RL-15 with a F210 match primer. Bullets are two types here, 300gr North Fork soft points and 300gr Barnes TSXs @ 2200 fps (original fact specs). I've also ordered some 300gr North Fork solids that hopefully I can get to shoot to POI and velocities. The range was sixty yards. Two close together are one North Fork and one TSX.

At the ranges I expect that you will engage, that is better than you actually need. Purty good for an aggregate of two different slugs.

The solids will wrap this experiment up, but I believe either the North Fork softs of the TSXs will be more than enough.

Nice pictures and nice rifles. I want one in my hands for one of my upcoming spring bear hunts. I'll probably just buy a Jap-made 1895 and rock on.

Do all the 1895s lack sling studs?

Hi Jorge,
I have not located my misplaced load log, but will send you the approximat load for the North Fork 300 gr bullets later this weekend. Going pigeon shooting over grainfields tomorrow and Saturday.

BTW, one reason that I settled on the NF bullets at 2250 fps, is that the cup point solid is classified as an expanding bullet and it shoots to the same point of aim as the NF flat point solid and soft point, as well as the factory Hornady 300 grainers; no sight adjustment or Kentucky holdover needed... So, load 1895 magazine with the FPS first and then the CPS. Use the CPS for the first shot at tough game and you are in business.

cr: So far I have the TSXs and NF softs shooting to POI so I'm hoping the solids will follow suit but I expect a different powder charge as the solids mike @.413 and the softs@ .411. Current load is 56.5gr RL-15 behind a F210 primer jorge

Jorge,
I did not locate my log book, but did find my notes made when calculating starting and maximum loads. I started with IMR 4895 which I have used in other calibers, but dropped it because it did not meter smoothly and did not respond to the drop tube as well as some other powders; I gave it to my son for his .308.

Of all the available powder choices, I chose VV N133 because it did meter well, did respond well to the drop tube, and because of advice from usually reliable sources who informed me that though other powders might yield 100-150 fps more velocity than N133, at the optimum N133 load point, N133 would generate fine accuracy and significantly lower pressures that those other powders. Since this was my first go at loading this caliber, I opted for safety and less recoil and tried N 133 and TAC (which has a similar burn rate to some recommended ball powders, all of which meter very well and respond very well to the drop tube). There were also some good Internet loads referenced on both of these powders for the .405 300 and 400 grain bullets.

OUTCOME was that with my rifle and my chrony, the midrange N133 load of 53.2 grains with all three NF 300 grain bullets (SS, CPS, FPS) exactly matched the Hornady factory 300 grain flat point bullets at 2250 fps. They also all shot to the same point of aim! So,I stopped my tests at that point and still have never fired the max loads of 55.6 grains(should salvage the components one of these days). The TAC trial loads were OK, but not as satisfactory.

Another reason that I chose the 53.2 gr load was that the average velocity increase per grain dropped off after 53.2 and approached zero before reaching the max load, so rather than waste time and components tweaking up by tenths of a grain, I quit while I was ahead.

You may find that your present load stated in your last post is just fine for the NF solids, and I would certainly try that load first.

Just some thoughts on the 405.......
405 is an interesting round but if you want a serious 40 caliber lever gun, pick up a BLR in 30-06, send it off to Fred Zegin and get it made into a 411 Hawk.
Considerably more thump, can be twisted for 400s (which the 405 is not).
Ballistics exceed the 450/400 which killed everything that walked.
Shorter lever throw, detachable magazine, take down available, scope mounting option, no big box hanging out the bottom to make field carry a pain in the butt and so on.
Another neat option to equal the 405 w/300 gr bullets is to buy a detach magazine 99 in 308. Buy a 284 magazine. Get the 99 rebored and rechambered to a 411/284.
Same powder capacity with 300 grainers as a 400 Whelen which also outstrips the 405. Again a sleek, low scope rifle.
405 has nostalgia in spades, especially in the 95'. If you want ballistics there are better choices in both the #1 or lever guns.
Once owned a "real" 1895 in 405 with the horrible rifle buttplate. Tried a few "full house" 300 gr loads ...... talk about pain ! Nice cast bullet gun and now in a Winchester lover's collection.
Good shootin to all.

Who originated that famous line that went "A difference of opinion is what makes a horse race."?

Will Rogers 1879 - 1935. He actually said "A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing and missionaries."

thanks, CR. I'm going to look up burn rates of your powder an RL15 and see how they fare. Just looked it up, quite a difference in burn rates. jorge