.405 Winchester

The .405 Winchester is an obsolete centerfire rifle cartridge introduced in 1904 for the Winchester 1895 lever action rifle. It was the most powerful lever action cartridge available until recently, and was highly regarded by President Theodore Roosevelt during his safari in Africa. He referred to it as "lion medicine" and felt that it was great for thin-skinned dangerous game but lacked penetration on heavier thick-skinned game. The original Winchester factory load consisted of a 300gr. soft point bullet at 2200 feet per second.

The .405 WCF is most often associated with the Winchester Model 1895 for which it was designed, and the original 1895 in .405 WCF is a valued collectors item. Ruger currently produces a single shot rifle in .405 WCF, the No.1 Tropical.