.40-72 winchester

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Machado
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.40-72 winchester

Post by Machado »

Gentlemen:
While reading then-lieutenant Townsend Whelen's entertaining text, "Red Letter Days in British Columbia", I came across his mention of a favorite rifle, a .40-72 1895 Winchester. I have never heard of this cartridge, and haven't found any information on Google. Can anybody shed some light and, if possible, images of this critter?
Thank you.
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by gamekeeper »

Wikipedia says it's a straight walled cartridge designed for black powder in 1895 for the Winchester 95.

Bullet dia .406
Case 2.60"
OAL. 3.15"
Base. .460".
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Machado
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by Machado »

Thank you, Gamekeeper.
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Ray
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by Ray »

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Last edited by Ray on Thu Feb 10, 2022 5:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by Carlsen Highway »

That was a favourite rifle from his younger days. I have seen a photo of it, it is a custom 95 with a pistol grip stock. He used to load it with black powder over a smokeless priming.
I gather from my readings that he went from that to using a .30/30, and then to a Springfield rifle.
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by Drawdown »

You can see the rifle on You Tube, search "Curators Corner: Mod 1895 Win of famed editor of Field & Stream"
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by Machado »

Thank you all, folks.
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by stretch »

According to the 2nd Edition of Ammo Encyclopedia:

Bullet dia: .406
Bullet Weight: 300 gr.
Muzzle Velocity: 1385 FPS
Rifle Twist Rate: 1 in 22in.
OAL: 3.150
Trim to: 2.600

Introduced in 1895 with the Model 1895 Winchester lever action.

Obsolete in 1936.

-Stretch
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Machado
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by Machado »

Thanks, Stretch;
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by KirkD »

I used to own a nice, original Model 1895 chambered in the 'little brother' to the 40-72 .... the 38-72. I've handled a couple original 40-72's in very nice condition, but either the fellow wasn't selling, or the price was out of my reach.
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by .45colt »

In the book "shooting leverguns of the old west" Mike Venturino shot a model 1895 with a 26" barrel. 280 grain gas check bullet . with 23gr of 5744 He recorded 1,329fps . 66gr of FFg gave 1,528fps . both yielded about 31/2" groups at 100 yards.
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Machado
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by Machado »

Perusing the internet just now I found this:
https://lsbauctions.com/842/rare-winche ... dy-letter/
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Re: .40-72 winchester

Post by JFE »

As it was introduced during the transition from black powder to smokeless Winchester hedged their bets and introduced a version of the 405 that was better suited to BP use. Winchester did the same with the 32 Win Special in the 94 Winchester.
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