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Heavy .405 Winchester loads....

18K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  Boonerman 
#1 · (Edited)
Heavy not in terms of velocity but bullet weight. I have four .405s, Ruger #1, TC Encore, Winchester 1895 and an 1885...

I've found a nice factory duplication load for the Hornady 300 grain bullets with 63 grains of Winchester 748... The Hornady factory round runs 2195 fps from the #1. 63/748 runs 2210. Accuracy is excellent.

So during the last two years I've amassed a bunch of bullets mostly off of "used" tables at gun stores. So far I have:
300 grain:
North Fork
Barnes
Hornady FP
Hornady SP

400 grain:
Woodleigh Solid (.411)
Woodleigh Soft Point (.411)
Hornady Soft Point (.411 for the .400/.450)
Hawk SP

Cast:
310 FP GC .311
375 FP GC .314 (from Beartooth)
400 FP PB .314 (from PB Boolits)

Some of the heavier bullets are too long for the 1895 lever action and I am sure some of the heavies may be too long for lead in the sing shots... Was just wondering if anyone has shot heavies in their .405s and where to begin with what powders. Best looking bullet so far is the 375/.314 from Beartooth.... It is short enough to fit in the lever action and has a big meplat....

Thanks...Bob
 
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#2 ·
Robert,
Big fan of the .405.
I currently own a Ruger #1 in .405 and have on hand, 300 Gr. Hornady's, Barnes 300 Gr. original X bullets: not the newer version, 350 Grain A-frames that were a limited run and no longer made version of the .416 diameter swaged down, can't get em, forget it, that are kept under my pillow at night:D and the .411 diameter 400 grain Woodleigh designed for the 400/450 Nitro @1.298. By the way, the 400 Grain Swift would not have worked with this cartridge, although they were available for a while; It takes up too much case space.

I have my best results thus far with H-4895, RL-15 and Varget in that order. The 300grain around 2200 f.p.s, the 350 Swift to date around 2050 f.p.s. and no testing on the 400's yet. Hornady brass as well as Old Western Scrounger brass. Winchester primers to date.

I rarely get any feedback on my inquires concerning this cartridge, so I am very interested in getting your feedback. Feel free to stay in touch. I have been handloading for 30 + years and learn something new everyday. Salt;)
 
#3 · (Edited)
Salty...there are a few guys over on both the 24HR Campfire and Accurate Reloading Forums who shoot the .405. The #1 powder used seems to be IMR-4895. TAC, and Varget are also used. Loading data is also very hard to come by especially with anything over 300 grains either cast or jacketed. I was lucky enough to keep some old 1950s vintage Lyman manuals that have both jacketed and cast loads listed but again just for 300 grain bullets. Why I am even purshing 400s I have no clue. Getting beaten by 300s is bad enough. Boredom I guess... From 45 years of shooting and reloading both handguns and rifles I figured out that 300 grains is my "comfort limit" when it comes to full loads in rifles or handguns. From what I have read 400s can be pushed to 2000 and sometimes to close to 2200 fps. This equals the original 450/400 loads. When Hornady brought out the .410/400s I asked them if they could be used in the .405 Ruger or TC...they didn't see any reason why they couldn't. Hornady made a few rounds of 400s for Britney Boddington's Cape Buffalo hunt in Africa. She had already killed an Asian Buff with the standard load but her father though the Cape need a little extra insurance. So the swaged some .416s down to .411 and the rest was history. I think I read the load was going 2200 fps. Since there are reloaders who get 2400+ from a 300 in Rugers and TC I guess this is possible. There is another commercial reloader, Shell Reloading out of Apache Junction, AZ. who makes 400 grain SPs and Solids. He has also sold a 400 grain load on GunBroker that clocks 2000 fps from a TC. He uses IMR4895 in the load. Will keep you posted...Bob
 
#5 ·
I load for a Winchester 95. You are correct that loading data is scarce. One the fellows at Accurate Reloading put me onto IMR 3031 for heavy loads, which for me is 350 grain cast.
I don't use jacketed bullets at all, even though I bought 500 of the Hornady spitzers on their blem sale. For me there's no reason to use jacketed, when cast will do the same job for bunchs less.
Jim
 
#8 ·
My 350 grain mold was made by Mountain Molds, the company that lets you design your own. The 300 grain mold, I found on Ebay made by NEI.
I size my bullets .413 and use annealed .416 gas checks.
Avoid Lyman gas checks very poor quality.

Jim
 
#12 ·
.405 Winchester Ruger #1


Bullet hoch paper patch
Bullet Weight 350 grs
Powder imr 4064
Powder Weight 55.5 grs
Primer federal 215
Brass Make hornady
Barrel Length 24 (inches)
C.O.L (inches)
Velocity 2200 fps
Group 100 yds 1" 5 shot (inches)
Submitted By stirling
Gun Info ruger#1 tropical stainless
Comment bullet wrapped with bienfang tracing paper then lubed with Rooster labs liquid jacket, pure lead at 2200 can't beat that!!



.405 Winchester


Bullet Hornady
Bullet Weight 400 grs
Powder H4895
Powder Weight 52 grs
Primer LR
Brass Make Bertram
Barrel Length 23 (inches)
C.O.L (inches)
Velocity 1920 fps
Group 100 yds 1.1 (inches)
Submitted By Blair Simpkins
Gun Info .405 WCF Double Rifle
Comment Max Load.

Standard reloading disclaimer applies
 
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