Black Powder In An 1895 Winchester .405 Copy

[Shasta]

Yep. I really do shoot black powder and cast lead bullets in my '95 .405. So far it is not nearly as accurate as smokeless powder and jacketed bullets, but I couldn't resist trying black in that long, straight case. It is very near in size to the .40-70 Sharps Straight.

I did not run them through the chronograph, but I did find that 65 grains of FFg or 65 grains of Cartridge grade under a Lyman 412263 300 grain bullet shot identical groups. The first 3 shots grouped 3/4", and the 4th & 5th shots opened it to near 3" at 25 meters.




Why am I shooting black in a .405? Well, I got a lot of it on hand and I do enjoy leverguns, so......

[Chuck 100 yd]

Looks like fun to me! What is your alloy and what lube are you using?
I bet with the loads it likes it will be a one holer.

[Hobie]

So, you'd prefer the .405 over the .40-72 Winchester...?

[Shasta]

Chuck 100 yd- Actual bullet alloy is unknown, but they rate a "7" on my Saeco Hardness Tester. Pure lead is "1" and linotype is "9-10". At "7" I think they are a bit hard for black powder. My rifle's bore slugs at .412, and the bullets are sized .412 with SPG lube. A softer alloy would probably "bump up" better. Maybe I'll run some this winter and see.

Hobie- A .40-72 would be way cool, but for now I gotta work with what I got! Say, why don't they make the reproduction '95's in some of those great old calibers? A .40-72 or .38-72 reproduction would get my attention!!