Hi folks, I have a friend who bought a Winchester 1895 in 30.06. Last week he was on the shooting range to try his new "baby". He was quite satisfied, but he has two problems.

1. He guessed that trigger weight is 3 oder 4 lbs, which is not very comfortable for him, because he normaly shoots bolt action rifles with trigger weights about 2 lbs. Is there a trigger job/tuning available for the 1895 or a replacement trigger like the www guns trigger for Marlin 1895?

2. He is not familiar shooting with open sights and would like to mount a scope on his winchester. I' ve never seen a scope mounted on a 1895 winchester. Do mounts exist for the 1895 winchester and if so, which would be the best?

Thanks for your great comments.

quote:

2. He is not familiar shooting with open sights and would like to mount a scope on his winchester. I' ve never seen a scope mounted on a 1895 winchester. Do mounts exist for the 1895 winchester and if so, which would be the best?

Essentially, there are as far as I know two reasonable choices:
1) Side mounted for scope (on a rail)
2) Weaver rail or like mounted on the barrel in front of the receiver + v-e-r-y long eye relief scope e.g. Leupold Scout.

The problem is, if you mount a scope on one of these guns that eject the cases straight up, the cases will hit the scope and bounce back causing a jam. Thus, not the best platform for a scope.

I think that with little practice your friend would become quite familiar with the open sights. Myself I shoot about 1" groups from sitting position @ 100 meters (110yds) with the open sights.
Then, again, I don't have a buckhorn rear sight combined with a mickey-mouse front sight.

On one 1895 I have a fairly open, not very deep U-notch rear sight (certainly not the best option) combined with a partridge type front sight (i.e. angular in shape, not a round bead).
On the other I have Recknagel's "skeleton" (see-through) rear sight + bead.
It used to have a broad and deep V-notch and a slightly tapring front sight.
I have shot equally well with all types, so I know it's a matter of practice.
For me, the scope is the difficult one as I'm not used to a scope so I know where your friend is coming from.
So the points I'm making are:
- practice makes perfect
- have decent open sights fitted

- Lars/Finland

What it's not:

It's not a bolt gun, not for long-distance shots. Any trigger mechanism can be adjusted by a qualified smith.

I think any sort of scope arrangement would be a bad fit.

My thought also--- it is not designed for a scope. I have a williams foolproof on mine. That gives it acceptable hunting accuracy for big game hunting at ranges I am comfortable shooting.

Who cares what it was designed for? It was designed when scopes weren't practical and reasonably priced. Since then Scout scopes have been designed for use on these rifles.

The 30-06 has an effective range way beyond the range that I feel confident in making killing shots while hunting. I shoot iron sights a lot and I can shoot very well with them on the range where there is good light and target contrast. When hunting, the light is usually bad and the game wears camouflage. I am not going to shoot very well under those conditions with iron sights.

Our forefathers were much more practical about these things. If scout scopes had been available at a reasonable price in 1900 I guarantee they would be common on the old rifles.

@all thanks for your comments. I agree that a scope on this rifle will not make it a beauty.
Refering to the trigger job I will ask a gun smith.

I would respectfully suggest that if you must have a scope the M95 is not the best choice of rifle.

8x57 IS,

Here is how I did mine. I am very pleased with how it turned out. As the rifle is overseas, I would order the parts from www.williamsgunsight.com/. They do only offer it for 1-inch tubes, not 30MM.

The mount is offset to the left, so neither spent shells nor live rounds hit the scope. And I recommend the low-power scope because I know it works--I do not know how the geometry of a high-power scope would work if you were to look through it with both eyes.

Your friend is right--the trigger should be lightened. Mine certainly should be. I am tempted to just leave it cocked for a month to see if that lightens the springs.

And please don't be put off by the anachronistic posters here. If they had been alive in 1910 and someone asked about 30-06 Winchesters, they would probably be telling you that smokeless powder and repeating rifles were just fads that couldn't hold a candle to the smoothbore muskets their forefathers used in 1810!

For me, a scoped 1895 turned out to be everything I was looking for: A high-quality, good-looking, accurate rifle I would be willing to take hunting for anything smaller than a grizzly. And I can buy ammunition for it at any grocery store in town for the equivalent of 15 euros per 20. (Except Aldi!)

Where are you in Germany? My mother was born in Solingen.

Please tell us what your friend decides. Best wishes.

Ben

In my experience, I don't believe that you will ever be fully satisfied with any scope arrangement for a top ejecting rifle. I have never handled one that was.

While the solution for my Browning 1895 was a tang sight, today I would get a Williams Foolproof receiver sight. For me, replacing the front sight with an XS white stripe ramped blade was a major enhancement. The blade offers clearly defined elevation and windage references while the white stripe covers low light conditions. With good loads and a benchrest, groups under 2.5" are possible at 200 yards, taking it out of the "brush gun" class. Having taken a couple of head of game at this range and beyond has proven its ability.

@MichiganShooter ,thank you for your detailed and helpful answer. Sorry for my late response. I passed on the link to my buddy and he will show the pics to his gunsmith. I'm not sure about the fixing of the scope mount. It seems to me a attenuation of the system, but maybe I'm wrong.

PS: I'm located in the Frankfurt area (just in the middle)

8x57

Suggest to your buddy that checking Ebay he may find a Redfield reciever site for the Winchester 95. They are blues steel, finely made and accurate. I've done this for both of mine, 30-06 and 405.

Jim

I always wonder why someone chooses an original or replica levergun and then wants to turn them into a bolt gun, which are readily available everywhere.

It's America, thank goodness, and I can spend my time and money turning my F150 into a street racer, but there are way better platforms to start with.

Good luck with your 95, but I sure wish you would give a receiver site a try. You will be surprised at how well you can shoot, with one.

the Providence Tool Co is reproducing the old Lyman sight that was designed for the 1895.

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
the Providence Tool Co is reproducing the old Lyman sight that was designed for the 1895.

Rich

Yep!

Frank does very good work!

quote:

Originally posted by Henry Buck:
I always wonder why someone chooses an original or replica levergun and then wants to turn them into a bolt gun, which are readily available everywhere.

Perhaps I can help you out with the why someone might want to put a scope on their Mod. 95. I bought one as a wall hanger, something to put next to my fireplace. I made the mistake of shooting the dang thing. It's smoothness and accuracy makes me want to hunt with it. I thought about putting a scout scope on it, instead I've put a Williams receiver sight and an fiber optic front. I think this will work for me, but I certainly understand why someone might want to scope it.