Winchester 1895???

[Rubi_300]

It's been a minute since I've been on here but I am back nonetheless!

With deer season here and gun week coming quickly (I live in OH so we only get 1 week of rifle hunting and it has to be with a straight wall cartridge) I am looking for a classic rifle in a straight wall cartridge. The 1895 Winchester in 405 WCF has been getting my attention quite a bit as its a classic rifle in a classic chambering and the same guy Teddy took a lot African game with so it defiantly has all the nostalgic boxes checked for my liking.

Does anyone have any experience with the current production 1895's? Will that rifle/ caliber combination be able to hit deer comfortably at 200yds? How about 300?

While we are on the topic of straight wall cartridges and classic guns are there any other rifles / calibers I should look at? Needs to be able to handle a 200yd shot pretty easily and reliably. Mainly will be using this for deer in OH and maybe take it to shoot hogs with one day.

 

[HankBuck]

It's been a minute since I've been on here but I am back nonetheless!

With deer season here and gun week coming quickly (I live in OH so we only get 1 week of rifle hunting and it has to be with a straight wall cartridge) I am looking for a classic rifle in a straight wall cartridge. The 1895 Winchester in 405 WCF has been getting my attention quite a bit as its a classic rifle in a classic chambering and the same guy Teddy took a lot African game with so it defiantly has all the nostalgic boxes checked for my liking.

Does anyone have any experience with the current production 1895's? Will that rifle/ caliber combination be able to hit deer comfortably at 200yds? How about 300?

While we are on the topic of straight wall cartridges and classic guns are there any other rifles / calibers I should look at? Needs to be able to handle a 200yd shot pretty easily and reliably. Mainly will be using this for deer in OH and maybe take it to shoot hogs with one day.

I own and like an 1895 in .45-70, using hotter loads like those manufactured by Buffalo Bore you get excellent energy (350 gr @ 2150 fps) and also several bullet weights to choose from - I like the 405 gr for close (under 100 yrds....bear over bai) and the 350 gr where shots would be 100 to a max 200 yrds. The bullet drop is too much - in my opinion, to use past 200 yrds —— even though it would easily kill out to 300-400 yrds it’s “rainbow trajectory” prohibits most from taking those longer shots.
Lastly, I like the Big Hole the .45 cal bullets make and since they usually exit — 2 holes almost a 1/2’ diameter each leaves lots of blood to follow

 

[Ridge Runner]

Since my niece in law needed a bear rifle with light recoil I started working light loads to test in my 458WM since the .458WM and 45-70 use the same bullet diameter. 458 WM bullets are generally longer than 45-70 bullets.

I started +3 grains over max for the 45-70. Although the 10 test rounds were okay, more testing and recipe development is needed to get the optimum load and max range. I stopped testing when my nephew told me she liked the 45-70 guide gun she tried out at the range and she bought one.

The 458WM with the lightest or near lightest grain bullets might get you your 300 yard range.

Besides getting the .458WM for Africa, I use it here in the states just as a bear and hog gun in thick woods where the max range is 50 to 80 yards using 500 grain solids.

Just an idea.

 

[RIDE-RED350r]

My brother in law has a current production Winchester 1895 in 405WCF. I have handled it as well as fired it. It is a very nice rifle in form as well as function.

As to the 405WCF. I feel that reliably making a good shot at 300yds may be a bit much to ask of it. It was designed to be a big game stopper at relatively short range. While it hits hard and penetrates well at it's intended range, I would consider it a 200yd cartridge for when it really counts, much like most big bore straight wall cartridges. Thinking 45-70, 45-90, etc... yes you can ring steel at longer range than that with practice and good hand loads. But ringing steel is different than shooting at something with a pulse.

The big downer about the 405 is ammo and component availability, which isn't very good right now.

 

[93marlin]

The 1895 WINCHESTER is a whole lot different than the MARLIN 1895!
Two different designed lever guns for two different styles of cartridges.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

I was looking for a 444 Marlin for bush busting and a walkabout rifle for moose. Sighted 2” high at a hundred makes it a point and shoot to two hundred yards. I ended up with the new 450 Marlin at the time in a Winchester 94AE but I really don’t like lever guns as it turns out. So I built a 450 Marlin in a Mauser action and sold the Winchester. They are both great straight wall cartridges for anything walking in North America to two hundred yards.

 

[fsrmg1]

Yes, I believe it will do 200 yds comfortably, but 300 yds is a stretch for it. I think 250 yds is a good limit for reliable shooting for that rifle cartridge combination. You're basically limited to iron sights using a cartridge with the trajectory similar to that of the 30-30.

I've sighted my 1895 .405 to hit 3" high at 100 yds. At 200 yds it is still about 1.5" high but dropping fast. At 250 yds it is about 4" low, so I set that as my practical limit. I could probably go out another 10 yds and stay within a +/- 5" maximum point blank range, but nice to have a little buffer for error built in.

Note that I calculated these sightings using a ballistic program, but I still hung a target at each distance to check where it shot in the real world to fine tune it. Always proof check on the range!

 

[Captain Munro]

I have a 2006 100 year commemorative 30-06 carbine and it is a fine rifle, both in form and function. I would like a full size model in 405 as well, but the ammo situation is beyond me. That one is for Teddy!

 

[RIDE-RED350r]

Speaking of the 405WCF. I went to my LGS to pick up a new to me rifle three days ago. It's a Winchester 1886 Trapper Limited, 1 of only 201 made... Awesome little walk around hammer! But anyway, I digress...

In the rack at the shop was something that really caught my eye. It was a Cimarron (Uberti) 1885 High Wall chambered in 405WCF. Absolutely stunning rifle. Had a long octogon barrel, maybe even a bull barrel as it looked to be about the same diameter of the barrel on my TC Hawken muzzleloader. I was offered a fondle of it when the storekeeper noticed me ogling it, to which I gleefully accepted. I checked it over, shouldered it, and most importantly WANTED it. I've never handled an 1885 Winchester before this point and now I understand why people like them so much. The price was $1250 and to say I was tempted would be an understatement. But alas, I had just paid a pretty healthy price on that 1886 Trapper when I really shouldn't have and you can't always get what you want. Just wanted to share that, sorry for the side track.

But one thing I could say, a long barreled 1885 in 405WCF might buy you a little more effective range than from a shorter barreled model of 1895. Longer sight radius if sticking with irons and more barrel might prove helpful in this pursuit.