The .405 Winchester is the most powerful of all the traditional Winchester cartridges for lever action rifles. It was introduced in 1904 in the John Browning designed Winchester Model 1895 rifle, and discontinued in 1932 when the company determined that the 1895 rifle was obsolete.

Hornady offers a factory load for the .405 Win. with a 300 grain RNSP jacketed bullet. The Hornady load has a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps from a new Model 1895 rifle. The energy of this load is 3224 ft. lbs.

VIHT N-133, AA 2015, and H-4895 powders can be used to duplicate the modern factory load. Hornady offers a 300 grain FP Interlock bullet for the .405.

Here are some specificatons of interest to reloaders: bullet diameter .411", maximum COL 3.175", maximum case length 2.583", trim to 2.573".

The sixth edition of the Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading covers the .405 Win. It shows that 44.9 grains of H4895 powder can drive the 300 grain Interlock bullet at a MV of 1800 fps. A maximum load of 55.8 grains of H4895 can drive the same bullet to a MV of 2250 fps. These Hornady loads used Hornady brass and Win. WLR primers, and were developed in the 24" barrel of a Winchester Model 1895 rifle.

Note: A full length article about the .405 Winchester can be found on the Rifle Cartridge Page.