One of my pet projects is a matched pair of the Siamese 98 Mausers in 25 Krag (definite) and a larger bore ctg. I know all about the 45-70 ones etc but want to do something different. My thoughts are the 405 Win. Brass, dies, bullets are all readily available right now; so stocking up would give me a lifetime supply. My worry is that the cartridge is too long for the action. Readin DeHaas's review, he stated that the mag well was 3.0 in length and that the 303 and 7.62x54 would just fit (both between 3.0 and 3.1 inches in length). The OAL for the 405 is listed as 3.18 in the one reference I found. I don't have a 405 to try in the Siam I have and wonder if anyone has done this and was anything extra involved. I realize that I can get away with seating the bullet to a shorter OAL, but if I have to do that, I figure a 40 Krag would do the same since that used to be the cure for 405 brass before it was rediscovered. All .02 cents and input appreciated.

If you are willing to consider other "non-standard" cartridges, there are a lot you can choose from which won't require magazine mods to make them function reliably, and still be fun and easy to load for....

One would be the old Brit .375 x 2-1/2" Rimmed (.375 Rimmed Express). Will fit perfectly, and you could make a version using brass of either .30-40 Krag or .303 Brit heritage. Either brass could also be necked up to take the .40 diameter bullet of your choice (.401", .406", .410", OR .412" nominally). All are good killers up to 200 yards for NA game, of moderate intensity and therefore easy to shoot, too. And either would be a real conversation-starter at the range.

i have seen one in 450 alaskan, so the 50 or 416 alaskan, 348 win. should also work

Good suggestion! The .348 or .450 Alasakan, or a .410 Alaskan will work just great through that action...and the .348 or .410 will be easy to assure flawless feeding with, too.

I have one in .375/348 Ackley Imp. Basically a .375 H&H in a shorter package. It would probably be easier to make feed if you had a little more body taper.

John

Thanks everyone for your input. I guess I will buy a box of 405s and see if they will feed from my action. If not, then decide on a 30-40 or 348 based wildcat. The 375 x 2-1/2 also sound interesting, thanks for that idea Alberta Canuck. I just thought it would be "neat" to have the 405 in this action if it would feed. If it feeds I'll let you know.

Let us know how it goes. I am thinking of doing this on a nagant!!

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by max(hm2):
i have seen one in 450 alaskan, so the 50 or 416 alaskan, 348 win. should also work

I saw one that used .348 Win. cases necked down to 8mm, which used the original 8mm bore.

I have a Siamese in .450 Alaskan also. It wears a 16 1/2" barrel with a Thompson flash hider/ front sight. I stopped working up loads because the stock cracked and that old military stock dishes out recoil in copious amounts. The 450 round feeds up through the magazine nicely, but the feed rails need work on my rifle. It certainly has the potential to be a thumper, being a bolt action one can shoot higher pressures than the old levers will take.

Yes sir,

Please do keep us posted on how the 405 works out for you. I have a nice Siamese triggerguard I plan to mate up to a Siamese or Yugo receiver one of these days to build a 405 myself.

Robgunbuilder was the first I heard about the .405 Win conversion idea from. I have several Siamese actions - two with Wisner PME M70 3-pos safeties on them as well. I have a set of 450 and 50 Alaskan dies as those were my desires...THEN. As gun projects go I got sidetracked. But then Rob metioned that .405W...Then the components became available. The .50 Alaskan brass is available from Starline too. So I've started thinking about building one of these up again. I may be convinced to part with the other

A friend has one with a Ruger .45 cal takeoff barrel on it in .45-70 and it feed "slick as <your choice here>"
IIRC Rob had mentioned that the bolt stop needed to be ground so the bolt would come back farther. Maybe do a search on his posts???

I have an old P14 Enfield that was converted to .25 Krag - all I have of it is the receiver & bolt however.

Jeff P

Well everything has been tried at least once, have a .450 Alaskan Danish Krag built by no other than Johnson's Kenai Rifles, stamped with the JKR monogram, have not dared to shoot it. Has a bright blonde maple stock, so if you get lost in the woods in Alaska they can spot you from the search plane. But might make the hunt difficult, will scare off the game. Even has purple heart wood inlays, quite a sight to make eyes sore.

Dear Thaine,
I think you`ll find Mr. DeHaas was a little generous with the mag measurements. I recently did one in 25 Ack Krag and it functioned fine but the OAL was limited to about 2.900. This was ok with the owner as he was only going to use 100 gr bullets anyway. The 405 is one I am thinking about doing for myself some time soon[?] With the case being 3.070 and all it`ll still give me about .490 of bullet sticking out of the case. I have the action, brass, dies and all I need is a barrel and stock! Heck! If it doesnt work out I do still have an old HighWall to use. Seems like it would make a nice rifle for about anything.

Aloha, Mark

Not a Siamese Mauser but this gunmaker makes 405 Winchester bolt actions on the Lee Enfield action Philip Ollendorff

Just look under Gallerie.

Good hunting!

Again, thanks to everyone for the info, I tried a 405 round in a Siam that was at my dealers and it was a no go in origional form, I have an action on it's way so once I have it in hand I will see how much metal I can remove fore and aft. If there isn't enough, then it will become a 40 Krag with a bore diameter that will allow me to use the readily available supply of cast bullets forthe 40-65 Winchester.

Mehulk, that is a very good looking Lee Enfield.

Vigillinus,

His guns are beautiful and he has a link to an engraver on his site who makes them look even better.

As a former British colonial, I love Enfields. Wish I could afford to buy one of these someday.

Best wishes and good hunting!