Winchester 1895 in 405 Win

[crs]

"I think CRS is more well versed than I am."
Not so.
It is good to have a variety of experiences in a subject to present the complete picture. The more , the merrier!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

The original Winchester Model 1895 in .405 Winchester did have a few feeding problems if you loaded the magazine to full capacity ( four plus one ) and had to operate the lever fast. The barrels were also relatively soft, which caused the rifling to wear out a little faster than other calibers of the era. The new versions manufactured by Miroku in Japan are far more reliable, durable and well built.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

Hi does anyone have one of these? How does it feed and function? How's the trigger and of course accuracy?

Thanks in advance

The triggers on original 95s aren’t match quality (of course) but suitable for open sighted hunting rifles. The 95 is a “springy” action (look at a picture of an open action—the trigger assembly hinges in half and drops down). Handle a few and it’s easy to tell if one has been shot out (usually they’re ‘06 presumably because ammunition was always in plentiful supply; I remember reading in what I think it was Sharpe that wrote Winchester dialed back regular production of 95s in ‘06 after WWI because surplus 8x57mm to the untrained eye was being fired in 95s chambered in ‘06 and the resulting 70-90k PSI spike was blowing actions apart).

Never had a problem with feeding. A 94 is easy to short stroke, a 95 is not.

If you find one you like, check for wear on the rifling at the muzzle. Since the gun can’t be cleaned from the breech end a lot of them took a beating on from steel cleaning rods around the muzzle. It was old folklore that Winchesters could have their accuracy improved by taking a half inch or so of barrel length off, and if a gun was in this condition it was certainly true.

I love original Winchesters. My SRC is one of the favorites in my absolute favorites.

 

[Forrest Halley]

I had a chance to buy a modern 405 and 30-06, and I dithered. I did not realize how gallactically impossible it is to get ammo for the 405 in Canada. That would have been a bit of a shock if I had purchased it. I was hoping to have the 30-06 converted to a 9.3x62, as others have done. If I get another chance, I will probably just get the 30-06.

While it doesn't change much for those on the nostalgia train. The 45-90, with the correct modern rifling is a much better choice on power, and everything about it is a lot more available. (1886)

Interesting 410 wildcat:

That's a cool idea of a wildcat, even if it is kicking the snot out of the testers. I was kinda hoping to see their groups on the target...Seeing as the original was low.