405 Winchester
Caliber: 405 Winchester
Grain: 300
Bullet Type: InterLock® SP
Box: 20 Round
Brand: Hornady
Bullet Type: InterLock® SP
Caliber: 405 Winchester
Grain: 300
Muzzle Energy: 3224 ft lbs
Muzzle Velocity: 2200 fps
Rounds Per Box: 20
Boxes Per Case: 6
Casing Material: Brass
if i decide to purchase a rifle in 40-70 SS, can I use 405 Winchester brass to load the BP rounds??
First, it’s 0.080″ long so must be trimmed to 2.500″ or so, depending on the depth of your chamber.F
Second, the brass is thicker than historical .40-70 SS brass, and there were reports that bullet diameter of 0.408″ or more could not be chambers chambered earlier by Shiloh unless the brass was neck-turned.
Some custom rifle makers chambered with a reamer designed specifically for the Hornady brass. My .40-70 SS (a Rolling Block) is so chambered. My 1991-vintage RCBS dies are perfect, reducing the diameter just a couple of thousandths for controlling neck tension. I can chamber a 0.409″ bullet without problems.
I’ve heard rumors that Shiloh will chamber for the Hornady brass. It would be best to talk with Kirk to confirm that.
Incidentally, I use a Shiloh in-line seater, which has been opened up with the same reamer that cut my chamber. It works very well, but you should be aware that Kirk always recommends a bullet of nominal diameter and cuts the seater for a 0.408″ bullet, so you’ll either need a mould that isn’t oversize from the nominal diameter or to size your bullets to 0.408″.
Hornady Custom Winchester Ammo
I’ve got a fairly new Shiloh in 40/70SS. Getting the correct brass took me a while. The stretched Krag brass from BACO was in short supply for quite a while. I initially bought some used stretched Krag brass but it had the standard rim. I sold it and bought new stretched Krag brass from Baco with the correct rim. In the meantime I picked up some used 405 brass to try in it. The brass had been neck turned but not far enough back for the bullet I was using. I had to neck turn it again farther back so it would chamber.
Also many of the cases would not chamber after full length sizing because they were too big right in front of the rim. Another set up on the lathe corrected this and each case had to be tried in the chamber to make sure it fit. The rim thickness was not a problem. The 405 cases needed to be sorted by weight also as there was about 10 grains variance in weight. I now have about 350 good cases ready for action.
I have a reamer for the 40/70 to use the 405 brass but I didn’t want to use it on my new Shiloh as it would void the warranty. It would also make the chamber too big in the neck area for the Krag brass. So there you have it, yes you can use 405 brass but it may take some work. One other point, unturned 405 brass will work for paper patch bullets.
