THROWBACK: GUN TEST Winchester 1895 lever-action rifle

Pete Moore, looks at one of the great lever-action rifles of our time, Winchester's first box magazine design, the 1895 and the last gun Browning ever designed for them.

[@P_RO_]

Later versions were made in 348 Winchester, a powerful round suitable for the largest American game with good ballistics out to 300 yards if you can hit with it out there. The cartridge is now long obsolete and never really caught on outside of Alaska and the PNW where Grizzlies take that kind of power to stop. Hunting guides loved it for having a flat profile in a saddle scabbard, and until more modern times only bolt actions could handle the powerful cartridges the 1895 was chambered for. It was also quite popular in 30 US aka 30-40 Krag, especially after the Army adopted the Springfield in 1903 and cheap surplus ammo became available. That ammo was had unjacketed lead bullets which made it very suitable for hunting. It was also chambered for the 30-03, a short-lived and shorter-necked predecessor to the 30-06. Also almost no other guns were made for the 405 which is why it too never really caught on. Always wanted one of these but I'm poor...

[@tedpfenninger4972]

Offer a gentle correction here, the Winchester model '95 was never offered from the factory chambered in .348. That was the Model 71, introduced in 1936, the year the 95 was discontinued. .30 Army cartridges were always loaded with jacketed bullets( in compliance with the Hague Convention) except for gallery loads. Also note; the 30-03 has a LONGER neck than than the 30-06. Everyone who wants an 1895 should have one! I've had one for thirty plus years and have enjoyed it a lot. You have my sympathy. Thanks for the comment!❤

[@P_RO_]

@@tedpfenninger4972 You're probably right about the 348. I've not ventured much into shooting in the last 25 years and my memory isn't what it once was. Also the 30-03. But the Krag was at least initially loaded with lead bullets, which US soldiers felt was unfair as the 7mm had jacketed bullets which in the humid tropics developed verdigris, which the common soldier thought were poisonous. The 45-70 Trapdoor Springfield was also used in that war by reservists and National Guard units, and it always had lead bullets. Hague Convention or no, such "rules" were not much enforced in those transitional years as most nations were not going to develop jacketed loads for guns they were about to get rid of in an effort to modernize.
Much was written about that and in the same era several European nations were still equipped with older lead-bulleted guns. My first deer rifle was a sporterized 1898 Krag and I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about it, which wasn't easy back then. That also started me into reloading as the only local source of ammo wasn't cheap. That old "Lee loader" went with the gun when I gave it to my brother. I approached them about ordering unfired cases for me when the shop owner informed me that he'd sell me loaded ammo for the same price because he had lots of it and I was the only person he'd sold any to in 10 years. Eventually I bought him out a couple boxes at a time.
Regardless, the 95 Winchester was and still is remarkable, and I sorely wish I had bought one when my earnings were enough to afford it before the internet made it even more legendary and costly, but such is life. Thanks for the reply!