ORIGINAL: younggun243
Anyone have one of these?
I think it was a lever-action, and it had a detachable magazine, fired the .405 Win. cartridge, and was used extensively during
the Spanish-American War.
I saw on the Winchester website awhile ago that they offered it as a non-catalog item, and it was a take-down model. When I sawthat, I thought it looked awesome!
If anyone has one, how is it? How does it shoot?
If you don't have one, wht do you know about it?
I guess you could say that this rifle is one of those "Dream Guns" that I'll never get.(Heck , at least I have better dreames than my dad, whose dream gun was a mini-14!)
Did have - mine was a .30/40 Krag. It is NOT one of more pleasing Browning designs, but has the ability to use pointed bullets. It has a box magazine, but it is NOT detachable-it is a fixed box. I recommend you dream about the Model 1886 or Model 71 Winchesters. They are much nicer, IMO!
The .405 Winchester was NOT usedat all in the Spanish-American War. It was not even INTRODUCED until 1904!! Six years AFTER the war. The two small-arms rounds we used in that war were the .45/70 and the .30/40 Krag (in the 1892 Krag-Springfield rifle). The Spanish had the 7mm Mauser!
T.R. used the .405 in Africa in 1909, and liked it. But, I consider it as having a too-light-for-diameter (300-grain, low sectional density) bullet. I would want at least 400 grain bullets for any heavy game if I were limited to the 405 Winchester! Actually, for dangerous game, a .45/70 Model 1886 Win. using a hard-cast 500-grain bullet at 1700 FPS would be a lot better.