I have a winchester 1895 in 405wcf and would very much like to use it on an upcoming brown bear hunt. It and I shoot very good with the open sites out to 150 yards. It holds 4 in the magazine plus 1 in the chamber and functions flawlessly. Problem is it is very difficult to load quickly under calm situation let alone during exitement. Very easy to get a round jammed in the magazine.
Would you even consider using it? The chances of trouble are not great but.................
S.
Oh heck, Take it along....give old brownie a fair shake...
1) Yes, i think it would be reasonable to take it.
2) Ask your guide.
delete
Sure take, if you place your shots properly you won't have any problems. Your first shot is always your best bet, don't shoot over 100 yards and place it where it needs to be. If you can't put it where it needs to go you shouldn't be squeezing the trigger, unless the bear is in close quarters and charges, then do your best!
Just carry a single shot 22 pistol as a back up.
stretch,
Where you're hunting has an influence on the answer. Whom you're hunting with does as well. Alaska Range and interior brown bears aren't nearly as big as Kodiaks. Hunting with a guide and a packer who are both packing 375s makes your choice of weapon less important than if you're going alone or with an inexperienced friend.
I have a 375 and a 338. For anything other than Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak bears I prefer my 300 Weatherby. It's served me well.
Stewart
Teddy Roosevelt loved the 405 Winchester. (all that really matters)
Model 95s have been out in the field killing game for 111 years.
Hornady Factory Ammo:
405 WIN 300 GR Spire Point 8241
Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd
2200/3224.... 1890/2379.... 1610/1727.... 1370/1250 - -
So the muzzle energy is about the same as a 200 grain bullet from a 300 Winchester mag. For the first few yards anyway.
Trajectory (inches)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd
-1.5.... 0.0.... -8.3.... -30.2 -
You have 4 or 5 rounds available with a fairly rapid rate of fire with a Winchester 95.
Somebody with a 3 shot magnum bolt gun does not have much of a fire power advantage.
If either you and your 95,,,or,,, a guy with a bolt gun, run the magazine dry during a bad encounter...... neither of you will be doing very well in the speed reloading department... that is why God invented back-up guns.
John Browning invented that 1895 with just this sort of thing in mind...
PS, It sounds like you action may need some slicking up... I shoot a couple old originals and they don't have any magazine problems. Go to the Single Action Shooting Society site to find somebody who likes to play with 95s.
The .405 Winchester was developed for the Model 1895 Winchester in 1904. Firing a 300-grain bullet at the original velocity of 2,200 fps, it's the most powerful rimmed cartridge ever developed for a lever-action rifle.
It was Theodore Roosevelt's "lion medicine." Both he and his son, Kermit, used Model 1895s in .405 on their epic safari in 1909-1910. In their hands the .405 accounted not only for a number of lions (then considered pests) but also a host of other game up to rhino (both black and white) and buffalo. Over the next couple of decades the .405 was a fairly standard arm for Africa-bound Americans. Stewart Edward White, noted author of the day, swore by it. So did pioneer cinematographers and naturalists Martin and Osa Johnson.
Oklahoma lawman Charles Cottar was one of few Americans to ever really make it as an African PH. Legend has it that he started out shooting everything with a .32 Winchester Special. When he returned to the States to fetch his family to Africa, he obtained a a .405 and stuck with it to the end. Literally. In those days black rhino were common. Truculent and nearly blind, it's no great trick to get a black rhino to charge--just give him a whiff of your scent. This made them great subjects for early filming, although it was a bit hard on the rhinos: Film until the last moment, then shoot the rhino. Cottar had stopped many rhino charges during a long career, with and without a camera, but one day in 1940 he let the camera grind a bit too long before picking up his .405. He killed the rhino, but it ran over him and crushed his femoral artery. He died a few minutes later
I am Alaska master Guide #110 I have successfully guided over 200 brown or grizzly hunters during my career. With 2 making the top 10 in the record book
The 405 will work fine on any bear.
I would have no problem with a client or a one of my guides using the 405.
I always suggest using the heaviest bullet the rifle will reliably shoot with reasonable accuracy
Over the years I have guided In Alaska and in Africa with 300 win, 375HH, 416 Rem, 45-70 and 470 nitro. Up close the larger diameter and the heavy the bullet the better the stoping power.
For brown bear the 405 will have more knockdown than any 300 mag ever made. Assuming you are with in 100 yards.
JJ
Hey JJ,
Have you shot a 416 Rigby much? If so, how does the recoil compare with a 375HH?
I occasionally hunt with my 50-90 Shiloh Sharps, using 650 grain slugs.
While it does not show much in the way of foot pounds on paper. The mass and frontal area of the slug do the job... But it is much to nice a rifle (and rather Long) to haul around except in the best of weather...
xx
.375HH is a pussycat compared to the .416 Rigby. Performance of the two is a lot closer than the recoil. .416 kicks like a bugger.
Anybody use 8mm Rem Mag?
shot placement, shot placement, shot placement and most importantly: SHOT PLACEMENT!!!
I have not looked up Talkeetnaair taxi's info, but trust his judgement. A client I guided did well with a 405, dead bear easily.
If it jams while feeding from the magazine to the chamber, get it fixed. If it is difficult to load the magazine it is not so important. Sorry, after four shots you are already lost. The bear is either down, on you, dissappeared or out of range.
I don't know where you've been me lad, but I see you won first Prize!
I have had 2 clients use the 8mm mag on moose. I had no complaints with that cartridge for moose.
I like the 8mm Mag better than the 300's
JJ
The new 325 Winchest Short Mag is really a short 8mm mag. The ballastics look pretty good. My cousin at Browning / Winchester R&D says that it seems to be a one minute of angle type of cartridge in most guns they have tested.
The 300WSM and the 270WSM have turned out to be super accurate little tack-drivers for some reason.
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