[4] It remains to this day one of the most powerful rimmed cartridges designed specifically for lever-action rifles; the only modern lever action cartridges that exceed its performance are the .50 Alaskan, .450 Alaskan, .475 Turnbull, .348 Turnbull, and the .450 Marlin.

The .405 was highly regarded by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt during his safari in East Africa.

This quote comes from Roosevelt's account of a lion hunt in the seventh chapter of his book African Game Trails (Scribner's Sons, 1910, page 167): Since the .405 Winchester's introduction, many hunters have used it on African big game, including rhino and buffalo; however it is generally considered best used against light skinned game, due to the bullet's low sectional density.

The velocity of the cartridge is also low by contemporary standards, which makes shooting at long range challenging due to the allowance the shooter must make for bullet drop.

Elliott & Company of South Haven, Michigan, based on the .405 Winchester cartridge.