i dont cast my own... yet.

[winchester85]

i am wondering if it is time for me to finally start casting my own. i have been playing with a model 95 winchester in 405. jacketed bullets cost so much i would rarely shoot it. the bullets i have bought do not like to run over 1500 or so fps. maybe it is time for me to cast my own .413 or .414 bullets that i can run at 2000 fps.

does anyone here run a 300gr 405 win at 2000 plus? or maybe something slightly heavier? i am not looking for a 400, but may go to 325 or so.

[MT Chambers]

You'll want a gas check design and if used for hunting, a flat point, although most of the designs for the .405 that I've seen have been RN.

[x101airborne]

I believe the 405 was Teddy Roosevelts "Big Medicine" round for his African safaris.
I would really try to find a mold that would be slightly over sized, say about .003 over your average bore dimensions. You can always size it down, hard to make the boolits get larger. I would contact one of our custom makers and talk with them. I know if Al Nelson can help, he will happily do so. He has even custom cut me a couple 50 cal molds and they work great. As MT Chambers said, a flat point is going to be the ticket for hunting as is a gas check. I have never seen or held a 405 winchester, so I am really excited to see some of your results.

[Bullshop]

I have done a good bit of testing with 405 Win to get set up in that caliber to sell boolits. We have several custom designs running from about 300 to over 400gn weight most with gas check.
From my research I found original Win 95s and most custom gun run between .412" and .415" groove diameter barrels.
After a lot of shooting and the several custom molds purchased I found the RCBS mold for 416 caliber a 350gn FNGC design sized to .515" was awfully hard to beat.
I harvested a couple moose with the 405 using both the RCBS boolit and one of our custom designs at 410gn. It drop moose with authority! I was able to get about 2200 fps from the 410gn boolit but I was perhaps pushing a bit harder than a model 95 should go. My rifle was a custom re-build on a Browning B-78 so I had no problems with that load level.
For an off the shelf mold the RCBS 416/350 is a winner for the 405 Win.

[Crashbox]

This is very good and most timely information as I am gearing up to cast for both of my .405's, a Ruger 1-H and Mom's original '95 which Dad gave her for an anniversary present.

I have the Lyman 412263 one-holer mould so at least I can get a good start. Interesting that Lyman's 49th and their CBH show velocities approaching 2200 FPS with #2 alloy which seems rather soft to me for such a screamer and no GC. I do know that developed pressure is a factor and 748 powder might be the ticket for this combo as the max load of 61.0 grains generates around 24,400 PSI and will get 2189 FPS, so it seems the obturation produced would be just about right. But I'm still a noob at this and I have an awful lot to learn... every firearm has its own personality WRT ammo likes/dislikes.

EDIT: I will probably be looking to get a GC mould but no one makes GC's specifically for the .405 although I suppose one could use .41 Magnum GC's if available... I am curious if there are other GC solutions...??? I'm open to advice, thank you in advance.

[littlejack]

Have you ever considered "paper patching"? You can make them fit perfect.
You can load them up full tilt, with no problems.
Jack

[Crashbox]

I'll look further into paper patching, thank you for the suggestion!

[PS Paul]

[QUOTE=winchester85;1953744]i am wondering if it is time for me to finally start casting my own./QUOTE]
No wondering at all. It IS time for you to start!! As you no doubt have read from the forum, casting is another fascinating pursuit unto itself and I would encourage EVERYONE who is considering it to do it- now. Of course, the info gleaned from our community here will steer you in THE direction you need and save you a ton of trial and error wastage of time and resource, not to mention money, eh?

Good luck, man!