The 405 was the 375 H+H of it's day, but truth be known, Teddy never intended to shoot a Rhino with it, it was his "Lion Medicine gun". The Rhino just charged when he was Lion hunting and he had no choice!
But that pic did become famous! Many Texas Rangers and Rough Riders used the Model 95. Winchester wanted it to be a military rife (which is why it was chambered in 30-40 Krag, 30 Russian and 30-06), but it failed the US tests because the lever action was not good when shooting prone. It was one of the few lever action rifles that could shoot pointed bullets. For those who don't know, the 30-40 Krag (aka 30 US) was our military round in between the 45-70 and 30-03/30-06. Both the Krag and 30-03 used 220 grain round nose bullets, the 06 used a lighter pointed bullet that better replicated the performance of the Mauser rounds.
The fact that the box magazine precluded the gun from balancing well in your hand, and that it was relatively expensive, precluded it from gaining too much popularity. I always wanted to find one in 35 Winchester … that was a nice round … but never did find one I could afford! It is also only available to hand loader's, and has power similar to the 348 and 358 Winchester rounds. Brass is made by necking the 30-40 (a rimmed round) up to 35 and moving the shoulder forward by fire forming it. Basically, it is a 35/30-40 improved!
The Russians did adopt it, and more Mdl 95s were chambered in 30 Russian than any other caliber … but not many of them made it back!
Hugh Jackman used a Model 95 in the Movie Australia.
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