.405 Winchester

.405 Winchester Center Fire

Type

Rifle

Place of origin

United States

Production history

Designer

Winchester Repeating Arms Company

Variants

.277 Elliott Express, .357 Elliott Express

Specifications

Case type

rimmed

Bullet diameter

0.4115 in (10.45 mm)

Neck diameter

0.436 in (11.1 mm)

Base diameter

0.461 in (11.7 mm)

Rim diameter

0.543 in (13.8 mm)

Case length

2.583 in (65.6 mm)

Overall length

3.175 in (80.6 mm)

Rifling twist

1 turn in 14"

Primer type

large rifle

Maximum pressure

44,000 psi (300 MPa)

Maximum CUP

40832 CUP

Ballistic performance

Bullet mass/type	Velocity	Energy
300 gr (19 g)	2,204 ft/s (672 m/s)	3,236 ft·lbf (4,387 J)

Source(s): The American Rifle

The .405 Winchester (also known as the .405 WCF) is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced in 1904 for the Winchester 1895 lever-action rifle. It remains to this day the most powerful rimmed cartridge designed specifically for lever-action rifles; the only modern lever action cartridge that approaches its performance is the .450 Marlin, introduced in 2000. The .405 was highly regarded by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt during his safari in East Africa.

The original Winchester factory load consisted of a 300gr. soft point or metal patch (Full Metal Jacket) bullet at 2200 feet per second. When the Winchester M1895 was discontinued in 1936, the cartridge was considered obsolete. Catalog listings of the cartridge ceased in 1955. However, during the 100 year anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential administration in 2001, Winchester reintroduced the M1895 in .405 Winchester, and revived the cartridge.

In addition to the Winchester Model 1895, the .405 Winchester was also available in the Winchester Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle, the Remington-Lee bolt-action rifle (from 1904 to 1906), and a number of British and European double rifles. The cartridge was also available in the Ruger No.1 Tropical single-shot rifle.

Winchester’s advertising campaigns during the first decade of the twentieth century took full advantage of Theodore Roosevelt’s frequent praise of the .405 Winchester, as well as the Winchester 1895 which chambered it. Roosevelt famously referred to this rifle as his “’medicine gun’ for lions.” This quote comes from Roosevelt’s account of a lion hunt in the seventh chapter of his book African Game Trails:

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Wikipedia