Getting ready for a bear trip up north in Ontario in a few weeks. I loaded up some 300gr Hornady FN with a max charge of Varget. Wondering how many others hunt with a 405Win and wondering about job performance. I'm kinda going backwards on this trip, I usually kill 'em with my recurve and cedar shafts but the lure of the old .405Win.(new M95 rifle) got the best of me. After all I gotta convince the wife I DO need everything in the safe.

I took an original 1895 in .405 to Zimbabwe last year, shot 9 critters...warthog to Eland. Used 300 gr. Woodleigh bullets with 55.0 grs. of IMR 4895. Bullets mushroomed to .75", held together well and good penetration.

I have been told the Hornadys are very soft, so you might entertain using the Woodleighs....

Also surprising enough those barrels are .413 according to Judge Gilbert..be a good idea to slug the bores on all of them.

I just got back from Namibia thurs. I used my friends ( over there) original 1895 .405 on warthogs. I shot 6 with it I think as the farmers wanted them for the workers. 300 grn horn bullets, I didnt recover any bullets, all went through.

You won't have time to tinker around with them before your hunt but cast bullets are just about perfect for the 405.
Jim

Arkypete,
remember you gave me some of your cast bullets to send to my friend in Namibia?
Well, he'd shot them all up so I had to use Horn softs. Typical of him, no pictures, but he shot a couple kudu and a bunch of warthogs with them. All exited, even on a shoulder shot on kudu he said.

quote:

Originally posted by TSJ:
Arkypete,
remember you gave me some of your cast bullets to send to my friend in Namibia?
Well, he'd shot them all up so I had to use Horn softs. Typical of him, no pictures, but he shot a couple kudu and a bunch of warthogs with them. All exited, even on a shoulder shot on kudu he said.

Wonderful!
Thanks for the feedback. If he wants some more let me know.
Jim

Thanks for responses's guys. I'll give a field report(I hope) when I get back. I'd like to start shooting cast bullets out of something. I guess the 405 would be a good start. Any tricks I would need to know other than regular bullet loading?. A old guy back home in Pa had every caliber in a 1895(some 2 or 3) in his collection and I always admired the 405(other than my favorite in an old Krag). Was only allowed to shoot it once in a while as ammo was hard to come by. When he did run across another box I got to shoot it again. I was hoping to run across a good deal on one once they started making them again. I got dies, 100 brass, 150 bullets and nice case and gun for $800. Hated to do it but I drilled a hole in buttstock for sling stud, figured if I was going to climb trees I'd better do it. Used a barrel mount on front. Looks like a hunting rifle now. Enough rambling for now.
P.S. I do want to load up some cast. What weight are bullets in cast for the 405?

I loaded the 300 gr Barnes X with 54.5 gr. of H4895 and got 2198 fps in an Encore barrel, which should be over 3,000 ft.lbs. of energy. I shot a bear 1/8th quartered at 45 yrds and it went down like a pile of rocks. Traversed 3/4 of the animal, no recovery. Devastating performance. I do like the 405 Win. So much so that I received an 1895 in the mail today.

The 405 with premium bullets is a fantastic round. Can't wait to try out my new toy.

Piebald
Keep an eye out for the Hornady Blems sale at Midsouth. The price for 500 bullets is what you'll pay for a box of loaded ammo. I keep an eye on Ebay for once fired cases for the 405. I've purchased 400 or 500 cases so far. Your best bet for bullet molds is Mountain Molds, you will design your own. You can also find cast bullet molds at NEI, I've found them on Ebay, also.
For a sizing die, you'll need to purchase a 41 mag die, .410 and have it honed out to .413.
Make your life a bit easier and use a gas checked cast bullet. Use .416 gas checks, annealed, just throw the gas checks in skillet and burn them.
Jim

The Hornady bullets have preformed well for me on deer. Complete penetration. Evidence of some expansion.

Just back from Canada. 405 did the job(almost too well) Bears were the most agressive I've ever seen up there. No food("O" berrie's Etc. too eat from driest summer they have had) meant fights at every barrel over food. Sows with cubs at almost every site with agressive sows coming after hunters in trees and on the ground.
Anyways after chasing off other bears and raising hell for almost 2 hours and at dark he came in at 45yds slightly quartering towards me I aimed between shoulder and neck and squeezed trigger. He took off like he was never hit. With only 10min of shooting light left(heavy cloud cover and thick swamp) I was crawling around through the thicket trying to find blood or hair from the shot till I last seen him. I stopped 30yds away where I last saw him with no blood at all and decided to come back in the morning. Not 15yds from that spot we found him dead. He was dead before I actually loaded another round in the gun. In all my life I've never seen more internal damage than this bear had. Bullet( 300gr Hornady FN) went in at exact spot aimed and came out his beside his asshole. Exit was about twice the entrance. Every thing inside was jello and was the worst stinking mess I'ver ever had. Meat was no good even though it was only 12 1/2 hours from shot till recovery and steam still was coming from him when found. The acid from Xploding guts is the reason we suspect.Bear had live weight of 225#(205 dressed). Last year they had 5-6" of fat and this year only about 1-2") Had this been a better fall for food they would've weighed about 15-25% more. Bottom line is the Hornady did everything except drop him in his tracks and would've done that had I hit bone.

Reading all these posts has rekindled my interest in a 405. My question is what about the recoil of a hot loaded 405 in an 1895. Those rifles have a well deserved reputation for recoil. Thanks.
SB Smith

Mine just has a metal butt-plate. With that said, "It kicks like a Pissed-off Army mule" A friend has that new rest that is wieghted down with lead shot bags which makes shooting enjoyable untill he leaves and takes it with him.

You may have to make some recoil mitigation adjustments on the bench, but stand up with sticks or whatever or use other positions to use it in field conditions and it won't hurt as much.

You will not feel it when you have that animal in your sights. You will not even remember the recoil.