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Thanks... I've seen some loading data on the 4895 but not on Benchmark. Is there much difference between IMR and H 4895?

Bob

Can't say for sure, as I live in the sticks and have no real access to IMR4895. I have the Hodgdon variant, and I like it. Also load my wife's 30-06 with it.

In my 405 NO 1 i use 61 gns of varget for 1 inch or better groups I will chrony the speed tomorrow but i expect 2200 fps +I tried h4198 but it was too fast

AT THE RANGE 4 SHOTS IN 1 INCH AT 100 YDS AND AV 2349 FPS. VERY PLEASING AS I CHOSE BETWEEN A 450/400 AND THE 405 WIN, IT APPEARS TO BE THE SAME PERFORMANCE BUT THE CASES AND DIES ARE SO MUCH LESS TO PURCHASE.

Gents
Have a look at IMR 3031 for the 405 Winchester. I've loaded mine with IMR 4064 and IMR 4895, found IMR 3031 gave the best accuracy.
Don't overlook cast bullets for this caliber, anything you can do with jacketed can be done with cast. I sent a box of my 350 grain cast bullets to Zambia, Namibia, ???? for a fella to try.
He found the cast bullet will go thru a Warthog no matter what angle you shoot him. And will do like wise with a Kudu.


Jim

Fellow .405 shooters:
I found this thread some months ago when I first began hunting with my Miroku/Winchester 1895 .405 WCF. I have since taken a few head of game with it and it has become one of my favorite hunting rifles.
Because of this thread, I became interested in getting the most out of the 1895 .405 and followed up on the discussions on reaming out the throat to accomodate the Woodleigh 400 grain bullets. This convinced me to have it done, so my rifle is awaiting its turn at my gunsmiths to have a few thousandths reamed out to set the Woodleigh and Hornady 400 grain dummy cartridges (seated to the cannelure) no closer to the rifling that 25 thousandths inch.

When I get this all done, it will be off to the range to test fire the real Woodleigh and Hornady handloads. I will report back on the project as soon as possible.
Thanks to all that contributed to this very informative thread.

I obtained a throating reamer from Manson Reamers and extended the throat on my #1 by .280". According to my calculations this increased usable the powder capicity by about 15% and gave it slightly greater capicity than the .411 Hawk. Velocities, and presumably pressures, track well with pressure tested .411 Hawk data.

For the 300gn Barnes TSX my powder of choice is Benchmark since it is "temperature insensitive" and slower powders must be compressed excessively. Ramshot TAC should also work well. I load the 300 TSX at an overall length of 3.495" (.025" from the lands). 67.5gn of Benchmark and Federal 210 primers push them to 2520fps.

I load the 400gn Woodleigh (.411") soft point at and overall length of 3.510" ahead of either 60.0gn of TAC or 63.5gn of Reloader 15 for 2160fps. Reloader 15 is the more accurate of the two (0.6" @ 100yd). At 100yd the 400gn bullet strikes nine inches lower than the 300gn.

The above loads are, of course, suitable ONLY for Ruger #1s with extended throats.

I have detected no loss of accuracy with Hornady bullets at the factory loaded length.

Strangely the 400gn (.410") Hornady bullet was quite accurate when the bore was diry (~75 rounds fired) but after the bore was cleaned only one out of three touched the paper at 100yd and that one made and oblong hole. Best to stay with .411" bullets.

In case anyone would like to try this my throating reamer is now in the hands of my favorite gunsmith: Doug Wells, Lock, Stock & Barrel, Huson, Montana.

No 400 gr. bullet requires a long throat, a long throat serves to give the case more powder space as the bullet does not intrude on the powder capacity as much, thus you get more velocity, and at the same pressure levels..You can shoot any 400 gr. bullet of the proper diameter in any 405, you just lose quite a bit of velocity and thus its effectiveness on animals such as Lion, Cape Buffalo or whatever is marginal at best.

It works well in some calibers and not so well in others, the 7x57, 9.3x62 and the 405 are calibers that it really works well in..

wswolf - thank you for the information on your experience and for the load information. My initial powders will be N133 and TAC because of the good results that I have had with them with .405 300 grain North Fork bullets. If that does not work well enough with the 400 grain bullets, then I will try other powders.
It is good to hear further evidence that the 300 grain Hornady bullets are still accurate. Also, now it will not surprise me if the Hornady 400 grain .410 bullets do not shoot as well as the Woodleighs.

crshelton,
Be aware that 400 gr. bullets in .411 are available from Huntingtons and they are Woodleigh brand. They are super accurate in the .405 Win. Mod. 95 and would also be good in the Ruger No.1...

Ray,
Thanks for the notes on the Woodleighs - I did buy a box of 50 each of the Woodleigh .411 400 grain softs and solids. I bought the Hornadys because they are made in the USA, and have loaded up 15 each with N133 and TAC, but if they are inaccurate, I will pull the remainder and use the cases and powders for the Woodleighs.
I have heard nothing but good about the Woodleighs and will give them a good try when my rifle returns from the gun smith. Next, I will try some lighter bullets, as this rifle should be able to accurately shoot cast and jacketed from 200 to 400 grains - great flexibility for a great rifle.

Did you ever find the 1895 .405 that you wanted?

I should have included the loads I used before the throating job. Note that the following were used in a Ruger #1 and I could not recommend them for a Model 95.

400gn (.411") Woodleigh
Overall length: 3.235"
56.0 gn Reloader 15 -- 1940 fps
53.5 gn TAC -- 1990 fps

Both TAC and Benchmark gave excellent results with 300gn Hornady SP and Barnes TSX. Only used Benchmark with the 300gn Northfork and got fine accuracy and slightly higher velocity (30 fps)than with the other bullets. My only try with Varget, 60gn behind a Hornady FP (3.15" o.l.), went 2280fps and was very accurate.

Nice to see this post still growing...since I last posted my .405 battery has grown but my time to shoot/reload for them shrank... I added a both a TC Encore barrel and a Winchester 1885 HiWall to the collection...now to get out and do some shooting...

What I can not imagine however is a 400 grain bullet at 2100 fps from a 95...I replaced the steel buttplate with a thin Pachmayer Decellorator pad and it made all the difference in the world with the 300 grain factory loads...but another 100 grains...wow...

Bob

RJM,

I am sure the stock design of the M-95 is one of the least effective designs to absorb recoil..I know my M-95 SRC in 30-06 is a tad abusive..

If I had a .404 I would definately restock it with a shotgun butt model and add a good quality recoil pad..In fact I am thinking seriously of restocking my 06...

Additionally I will add that adding a recoil to my SRC would not be much help inasmuch as the surface area or the butt plate is so small.

RJM,
This limbsaver pad on my 1895 .405 seems to work well with all the 300 grain loads. It will be interesting to see how much different the 400 grain loads feel.

The first owner had installed the pad and this Williams FP sight - I have not had to adjust the peep yet, as he did a great job of sighting it in.

The Decelerator pad takes most of the bite out of the 300 grain loads as it is a shotgun butt... I had it fitted to the same screw holes as the original pad so it can be put back to original. I have a slipon pad that I can use if I do try some of the heavier loads.

I am very intrigued about the lengthening of the chamber .280" to allow 400 grain bullets to be used. That is something I would really want to try in the Ruger.

I only wish my 95 was D&T for the receiver sight..I have an early one that is not...just have to have it done one day...

Bob

RJM,
Since I have no specific information on how much throat to ream, my gunsmith will be reaming and trying and measuring until the dummy rounds are just 25 to 30 thousandths off the lands. He has promised to keep records and tell me how much he has to ream to accomplish this. When I get the rifle back, I will post that information on this thread. If this works as well for me as it has for others, a friend of mine will be looking to buy his own 1895 .405 takedown to have the same work done on it.

crshelton,
Contact Judge Ernest Gilbert at properfistmelehotmail.com and find out who his gunsmith was. He had all the needed specs for that conversion including what needed to be done to the feed..If that eamail doesn't work, then email me for a telephone number. I know he was getting 2000 plus FPS and he shot several cape buffalo with us with that gun as I recall.

The new Win. 95s will take a very heavy load as they are made of much better steel I am told..I know that my Win 95 carbine will take the same max 30-06 load that my Mauser or Win. pre 64 will take..I wouldn't do the conversion on one of the old 95s..

Ray,
Thank you for the info. JudgeG is one of the people with whom I have been corresponding on this matter and he has been very helpful on the throat issue and on how his magazine was altered.
After the throat job and 400 grain bullets work out, I may look into the work on the magazine.

I contacted Judge Gilbert. He was very helpful. Mr Ferrell is going to be getting some more business. Thanks Ray!