Hello all,

I have been pondering over the .405 WCF in general, and it seems a lot of what I read is not necessarily quite accurate. Many a writer holds that it's not a very efficient caliber in comparison with its more modern counterparts.
Well, yesterday I did some googleing, and came across Hodgdon's website with load data. Some of the info I found there was interesting, indeed.

Now, what I'd like to know is someone has experimented with other bullet weights than just 300 or 400grs.
I appreciate there are precious few .411 bullets in other weights, but it occurs to me that .416 caliber bullets could be swaged down to .411, right? And the selection there is more attractive.
Apparently, GS is working on 370grs bullet in .411.

How close do you come to .35 Whelen or 9,3x62 figures with such intermediate weight?
The .405 should not be far off either despite lowish chamber pressures.

And how about the .408 Win? I'm not familiar with it at all. It seems to be a lot shorter than the .405 but it operates on significantly higher pressures.
What is this? A later development? A necked-up something or an "independent" cartridge?

Why I am asking is because of SD.
300grs is SD of .254 but one of 350grs would be as high as .296. The 400grs bullet is of course superior but looking at the load data indicates that it is so heavy that the velocity starts to decline.
Thus, something in the region of 350grs would seem like a good option. Even if we forget about SD, the leap from 300grs to 400grs is quite big and I'm surprised not to see something inbetween.

Hey,

I have a old belgium made double in .405WCF. First, I reloaded the Woodleight 300grsSNRN bullet with Rottweil R902 and a QickLoad tested load. Since Hornady make bullets, I changed to the 300grs FN allthought with R902. My newest loads are with Norma N200 (52grs) and the Hornady 210grs XTP/HP and a 265grs Lead Gas Check with a load of 30grs Vith N110. Both loads a regulated at 50m with my double. The energy I get is betwenn 3800 and 4800 Joule.
The biggest problem in europe with getting more energy is, that CIP reduced the max. pressure from 2850bar to 2450bar. So you can not load it with 400grs bullets to the same level like the .400NE. Here in Germany this loading is illegal.

The.408Win was an experimental round for using in the M´94. I was seaching load´s in the past, but I could not find enought to make a custom rifle for it.

Martin

I've got one of the new Winchester 95s in 405.
I got a fine mold made by Mountain Molds. It's 350 grain, gas checked, round nosed, bore riding.
I'm using a case full of IMR 3031 with accuracy, considering the buckhorn sights.

Jim