holy shit!!! was at the gunstore today, sadly, selling a ww2 P-38 , but i saw the coolest thing in the world!!! an original, model 1895 winchester in 303 British!!!!!!!!!!!!
after talking with the owner a little bit, (kinda knew him from a past non gun related experience), and seeing how much i loved the gun, he said he'd knock 200 off the total price of 2000. yeah i know, kinda high, but when i go back to work, oh yeah.. i guess most the clientelle is in for ar-15's and stuff, so when someone comes in and admires such a classic peice of history such as this, well, i was in there for over an hour, bs ing with the guys about old classics. love the oldies! what do you think guys? sorry, no s/n yet

how rare are these, btw? looked in a winchester book i have, not many were made, especially in 303 british caliber?

Up here in Canada, I usually see more 95's in 303 than 30/40.

I believe there were some made in the 7.62x54 R ( russian ) calibre as well . They are the rarest I believe.

Almost 300,000 Russian contracted muskets were shipped 1915-16 for WWI. I believe the most rare would be the 95's made in the black powder calibers .38-72 and .40-72 both discontinued in '09 with only a handful made.
Production ended in '34 at ~426,000 total.
303 Brit guns had 28" barrels.

yeah, a lot were made for the czar's army in russia during WW1... this one does have a 28" barrel. now if i could only figure out a way to get rich, I would have a hell of a collection!!!! I will own this rifle, and when i get it, i'll post some pics.

byf42:

I had to write after seeing your post! I am 75 years old ( 76 in April). My father had an 1895 Win. in 405 Win. ( yeah, curved butt plate and octagonal barrel) I fired it at about age 15. Twice. It is still a marvel to me to this day that it didn't scare me off guns for life! ( Not really. Actually I had been shooting since age 7) I hunted a lot in Canada ( New Brunswick and Ontario) where I learned that the 303 was a real "meat gun". I would bet that the smoothness of the lever action and the 303 would be a deadly combination! I hope you use it in the woods.

yes sir!! you better believe it!!! currently looking to get an original 1895 in 405 (had a new one on layaway, but decided to go original!) i'm a third of your age, but still appreciate your insight and jokes on the humor forum! us irishmen have to stick together! like i said, when i eventually (sooner rather than later) aquire this rifle (in 303) will post some pics! take care!

Only 38-72 and 40-72 came with octagon barrels. If you have a 405 with an octagon barrel, you have a re-barrel.

cowboykell:

I have racked my memory again and still I think of an octagonal barrel for the 1895 Win. in 405. It was my father's personal rifle bought new around 1910. So far as I know the rifle was never out of the house again until I fired it in 1945. Of course, you may be right and my memory simply failed me. (I remain positive about the curved butt plate)

quote:

Originally posted by hart:
Up here in Canada, I usually see more 95's in 303 than 30/40.

When I was up in Canada, in the early '70s, I ran into a local gunsmith who was rebarreling many 7.62x54 model '95s to .303, using P14 barrels. The Ruski ammo was not very common, but .303 was readily available. They went like hotcakes.
If I was going to buy a '95 in .303, I'd look closely at the barrel markings.