Winchester Model 1895
Winchester Repeating Arms Company · Rifle · Discontinued · 1896
Also known as: Model 95, Winchester '95, Model 1895 Winchester, Big Medicine, Winchester Russian Musket
Overview
The Winchester Model 1895 is a lever-action repeating rifle designed by John Moses Browning and manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company of New Haven, Connecticut from 1896 to 1940. Historically significant as the first lever-action rifle ever produced with a non-detachable box magazine in place of the traditional tubular magazine, the Model 1895 was the first lever gun capable of safely firing the pointed spitzer bullets used in modern smokeless-powder, high-pressure military cartridges such as the .30-40 Krag, .30-03, .30-06 Springfield, and later the 7.62x54mmR. Browning's stout rear-locking bolt and vertical box magazine allowed Winchester to chamber the rifle in full-power rifle rounds well beyond anything the Models 1873, 1886, 1892, or 1894 could handle, turning the lever-action format into a credible big-game and military arm. Offered as a Sporting Rifle, Carbine, Musket, NRA Musket, and the dedicated Russian Musket variant with stripper-clip guides and a bayonet lug, the Model 1895 was produced in approximately seven commercial chamberings plus the Russian military contract. Production ran from 1896 to 1931 as standard catalog items, with final Russian contract assembly continuing into the early 1940s.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3860 g (136.2 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1156 mm (45.51") |
| Barrel Length | 711 mm (27.99") |
| Action Type | Lever Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 5 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Internal |
| Muzzle Velocity | 671 m/s (2201 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 2916 J (2151 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 275 m (301 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 1800 m (1968 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 25 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 254 mm (10.00") |
| Number of Grooves | 4 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .30-40 Krag · primary — also known as .30 Army, .30 U.S., .30 USA, .30 Government, 7.62x58mmR
- .30-06 Springfield — also known as .30-06, 7.62x63mm, .30 Gov't 06, Caliber .30 M1906
- .405 Winchester — also known as .405 WCF, .405 Win
- .35 Winchester — also known as .35 WCF, .35 Win
- .38-72 Winchester — also known as .38-72 WCF
- .40-72 Winchester — also known as .40-72 WCF
- 7.62x54mmR — also known as 7.62 Russian, 7.62x54R, 7.62 Mosin
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Internal Box Magazine, Stripper Clip Loading Russian Variant
- Safety mechanisms: Half Cock Safety, Lever Safety Lock
- Features: Lever Action, Non Detachable Box Magazine, First Box Magazine Lever Action, Spitzer Bullet Compatible, Steel Receiver, Two Piece Stock, Walnut Stock, Crescent Or Shotgun Buttplate, Graduated Rear Sight, Fixed Post Front Sight, Stripper Clip Guide Russian Musket, Bayonet Lug Musket Variants, Sling Swivels On Muskets
Variants
- Winchester Model 1895 Sporting Rifle — Standard
- Winchester Model 1895 Carbine — Carbine
- Winchester Model 1895 Musket — Musket
- Winchester Model 1895 NRA Musket — Musket
- Winchester Model 1895 Russian Musket — Military
- Winchester Model 1895 Flat Side — Early Production
- Winchester Model 1895 Deluxe — Deluxe
Service history
Operators
- United States Civilian Market · adopted 1896
- 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders) · adopted 1898
- Russian Imperial Army · adopted 1915 · as Winchester Model 1895 Russian Musket
- Texas Rangers · adopted 1896
- Arizona Rangers · adopted 1901
- British Colonial Forces
- Red Army · adopted 1918
- White Movement · adopted 1918
- Spanish Republican Forces · adopted 1936
Conflicts
- Spanish-American War (1898)
- Philippine-American War (1899-1902)
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Russian Revolution (1917)
- Russian Civil War (1917-1923)
- Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)
- Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Production
Estimated total produced: 425,881 · Production years: 1896-1940
Approximately 425,881 Model 1895 rifles were produced in total. Of these, roughly 293,816 were Russian Musket variants chambered in 7.62x54mmR, delivered to the Russian Imperial Army between 1915 and 1916 under wartime contract - the largest foreign military sale in Winchester's history at that time. Commercial production of sporting, carbine, and musket variants ended in 1931; Russian contract assembly continued into the early 1940s. Limited modern reproductions were produced by Miroku of Japan for Winchester and Browning in the 2000s.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: John Moses Browning
Discontinued: 1940
Notes
Specifications listed are for the standard Sporting Rifle with a 28-inch round barrel in .30-40 Krag. Carbine variants used a 22-inch barrel; Muskets typically used a 28-inch barrel with full-length handguards, sling swivels, and bayonet lugs. The Russian contract Musket was chambered in 7.62x54mmR and was the only Model 1895 designed to load from stripper clips through a charger guide machined into the receiver. Early production rifles (serial numbers roughly 1-5000) featured a distinctive 'flat-side' receiver without the scalloped sides of later guns. The design was re-introduced in limited runs during the 2000s by Miroku of Japan for Winchester and by Browning, chambered primarily in .30-06 Springfield, .30-40 Krag, and .405 Winchester.
Background
In 1909, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt carried a custom .405 Winchester Model 1895 on his year-long East African safari, affectionately calling the cartridge his 'Big Medicine' after using it to drop lions, buffalo, and elephants at close range. Six years later Russia, desperate for rifles to arm its collapsing Eastern Front, placed an order for 300,000 Model 1895 Muskets in 7.62x54mmR - making Browning's lever gun, of all things, one of the standard-issue infantry rifles of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I and later a favored weapon of both Reds and Whites during the Russian Civil War.