BOUGHT A 405 WIN DOUBLE RIFLE - STARTING OVER - THE BUCKSTIX COLLECTION

buckstix · Mar 23, 2026

BOUGHT A 405 WIN DOUBLE RIFLE - STARTING OVER - THE BUCKSTIX COLLECTION

HERE WAS THE WRITE-UP ....

"... L. Christophe - Double Rifle, SxS, .405 Winchester. 24 ½" Barrels.
Gun is virtually new from 1928 and is not refinished. This gun has not ever been touched. Rose and scroll engraving, matted rib, ejectors, non-automatic safety, double trigger, splinter forend, third fastener, bushed firing pins, side clips, virtually all the case color, horn butt plate. The perfect gun for boar hunting. Warrantied for life to the original owner courtesy of Connecticut Shotgun. - 6 lbs. 11 oz. - 14 5/8" LOP ...."

I actually bid on this during the auction, but got out bid ... The following week it was listed on Guns International - so I bought it. ... It cost me nearly the same as if I had bid higher at the auction. ,,,, What a wonderful rifle. "Mint" and looks "unfired". I am so glad I bought it. Now I need to work up a load. I wonder what ammo was used to regulate it back in 1928. I'll try H4895 and the 300g Hornady bullet to start. Should be at about 2100 ft/sec. Range Test to follow.

Bullthrower338 · Mar 23, 2026

Ontario Hunter · Mar 23, 2026

How much powder and what kind of Hornady bullet?

bwanamrm · Mar 23, 2026

Tell me you are not cutting the barrels shorter on this one...

Ontario Hunter · Mar 23, 2026

FYI I tried 89 gr IMR 4895 with 307 gr 404 Hammer bullets (per Woodleigh manual for their 300 gr bullets) and that load beat me up badly. According to Woodleigh it sent them at over 2700 fps. I think that might be a good velocity for copper bullet. Just don't understand why they thumped so hard. I'm a bit concerned that 400 gr Barnes might not open up sufficiently at 2200 fps. Not particularly interested in jacking a heavy bullet like that up to 2300+ fps. Too much recoil.

That beautiful rifle appears to have a very thin wrist. I would be careful putting a lot of gas in the loads.

MauserDuff · Mar 23, 2026

Ontario Hunter said:
FYI I tried 89 gr IMR 4895 with 307 gr 404 Hammer bullets (per Woodleigh manual for their 300 gr bullets) and that load beat me up badly. According to Woodleigh it sent them at over 2700 fps. I think that might be a good velocity for copper bullet. Just don't understand why they thumped so hard. I'm a bit concerned that 400 gr Barnes might not open up sufficiently at 2200 fps. Not particularly interested in jacking a heavy bullet like that up to 2300+ fps. Too much recoil.

That beautiful rifle appears to have a very thin wrist. I would be careful putting a lot of gas in the loads.

It's a .405 Winchester, not a .404 Jeffery. Think moderate 45-70. He said 2100 fps with a 300 gr. bullet, not 2300 with a 400.

SETH RINGER · Mar 23, 2026

NEXT THING YOU KNOW, STOCK CUT DOWN TO THE PISTOL GRIP, BARREL CUT TO 12" AND WE GOT A PERFECTLY GOOD STAGE-COACH GUN.

Ontario Hunter · Mar 23, 2026

MauserDuff said:
It's a .405 Winchester, not a .404 Jeffery. Think moderate 45-70. He said 2100 fps with a 300 gr. bullet, not 2300 with a 400.

True. I was giving him some perspective on maybe what to expect with 4895 powder. Seemed to snap my head back much sharper with 307 gr bullets than 400 gr Barnes pushed with with 80 gr Accurate 4350. Much sharper!

Hillcountry63 · Mar 23, 2026

Great find and congratulations

buckstix · Mar 23, 2026

Ontario Hunter said:
FYI I tried 89 gr IMR 4895 with 307 gr 404 Hammer bullets (per Woodleigh manual for their 300 gr bullets) and that load beat me up badly. According to Woodleigh it sent them at over 2700 fps. I think that might be a good velocity for copper bullet. Just don't understand why they thumped so hard. I'm a bit concerned that 400 gr Barnes might not open up sufficiently at 2200 fps. Not particularly interested in jacking a heavy bullet like that up to 2300+ fps. Too much recoil.

That beautiful rifle appears to have a very thin wrist. I would be careful putting a lot of gas in the loads.

Not sure where you got your data for a 405 Winchester cartridge .. my books show 53.5g of 4895 as maximum with a 300g bullet .. equaling about 2175fps. I loaded 52.5g and expect about 2050fps.

FYI 52.5g of powder filled the case to within 1/4" of the case mouth and was compressed by the base of the bullet when seating . NO WAY IN HELL would 89g of "any" powder fit into the case of a 405 Winchester cartridge.

dgr416 · Mar 23, 2026

Thats awesome I thought about getting that rifle because I really like the 405 win.I did buy another 1895 405 win that I will hunt with .Look on ammoseek there is alot of hornady ammo no brass to be found .If we coukd get 100 people tp call starline brass they will probally make 405 win brass .I got them to make 444 marlin 375 win and 357 rem max that way and it sold well .You can reload 41 mag bullets too for fun in the 405 win they zip up to 3000 fps .I am going to try a buncb of different powders in my new 405 win .If it does not knock your teeth out the 400 gr bullets have alot of knockdown power .I missed and awesome 405 win wooden cased double a while back it was awssome good luck shooting and hunting with it .

buckstix · Mar 23, 2026

FYI , brass is available.. over 20 boxes ... I bought just 1 box.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1164658451

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1161176548

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1163737664

Albert GRANT · Mar 23, 2026

buckstix said:
Not sure where you got your data for a 405 Winchester cartridge .. my books show 53.5g of 4895 as maximum with a 300g bullet .. equaling about 2175fps. I loaded 52.5g and expect about 2050fps.

FYI 52.5g of powder filled the case to within 1/4" of the case mouth and was compressed by the base of the bullet when seating . NO WAY IN HELL would 89g of "any" powder fit into the case of a 405 Winchester cartridge.

Pretty sure he was saying he used 307gr copper bullets in the .404 Jeffery with 89gr of powder.

Ontario Hunter · Mar 23, 2026

buckstix said:
Not sure where you got your data for a 405 Winchester cartridge .. my books show 53.5g of 4895 as maximum with a 300g bullet .. equaling about 2175fps. I loaded 52.5g and expect about 2050fps.

FYI 52.5g of powder filled the case to within 1/4" of the case mouth and was compressed by the base of the bullet when seating . NO WAY IN HELL would 89g of "any" powder fit into the case of a 405 Winchester cartridge.

Sorry. I missed something in that post. Those load quotes were for 404 not 405. Guess I should start drinking my coffee black.

The point being only that for 404 IMR4895 produced a lot more shove than A4350 with bullets almost 100 gr heavier. Shocking difference actually. I think I fired maybe four of the 307 gr rounds and pulled the bullets.

buckstix · Mar 23, 2026

dgr416 said:
Thats awesome I thought about getting that rifle because I really like the 405 win...."

I bid on the rifle at auction but I was out-bid. When it appeared on Guns International - I made an offer "shipped to my dealer" ... that offer was accepted. In the end I paid nearly the same as if I had bid one more time at the auction because the action price would have added a 27% buyers premium, and a 5% sales tax, and $125 shipping ... additionally, this seller gave a "Guarantee for Life" .. (no guarantee from the auction house)

matt85 · Mar 23, 2026

A nice looking gun in a perfect NA cartridge!

Daryl S · Mar 24, 2026

Nice grab, buckstix.

AZDAVE · Mar 25, 2026

@buckstix I have a Simson from between the wars in 405. I will DM you the loads I worked up for it to give you a starting point.

buckstix · Mar 25, 2026

That would be great

dgr416 · Mar 26, 2026

Hope you find the right load for that rifle its awesome .

BOUGHT A 405 WIN DOUBLE RIFLE - STARTING OVER - THE BUCKSTIX COLLECTION

buckstix

Bullthrower338

Ontario Hunter

bwanamrm

Ontario Hunter

MauserDuff

SETH RINGER

Ontario Hunter

Hillcountry63

buckstix

dgr416

buckstix

Albert GRANT

Ontario Hunter

buckstix

matt85

Daryl S

AZDAVE

buckstix

dgr416

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