Winchester Model 1895

The Model 1895 became the first Winchester rifle with a box-shaped store at a central location, and not with a tubular barrel-mounted magazine , which was used in other models, almost unchanged since its first appearance in M1866. The new store allowed the use of powerful central ignition cartridges with gable-pointed bullets (in a tubular store this could lead to nipping the capsule with the bullet of the next cartridge, therefore the Winchesters were traditionally developed for ring ignition cartridges and central-bullet bullets).

This model became the most powerful Winchester rifle: its appearance was due to the fact that among the hunters and in the armies of the world, powerful cartridges filled with smokeless powder became popular. Nevertheless, this attempt to adequately meet new trends was not successful enough, as the M1895 retained the basic design solutions of the rifles of the previous generation. ^[2] Also, the M1895 was the last rifle with a lever platoon developed by JM Browning .

Starting from about the instance number 5000, the shape of the receiver has been changed: before smooth, it became corrugated. This solution slightly reduced the weight of the rifle, but increased the thickness by 1.59 mm. The latest copies of the M1895 with a smooth receiver were issued under the number between 5000 and 6000. Early samples of the M1895 are considered to be quite rare. ^[3]

In 1915-17, about 300 thousand M1895 rifles were manufactured for the Russian Imperial Army ; This amounted to about 70% of all rifles produced by this model. These rifles were slightly modified. The main change concerned the conversion of weapons under the Russian cartridge 7.62 × 54 mm R , which required a change in the shape of the store . The second change was the special guides on the receiver, which allowed you to quickly equip the magazine with standard cartridges from a Mosin rifle mod. 1891 ^[4] In addition, rifles made for Russia had an elongated barrel with a bayonet mount. New trunk length required to extend and the forearm. ^[five]

The first batch of rifles was delivered after the deadline, as the M1895 was more difficult than expected to fit the standards of the Russian army (development of guides for the Moscow cage caused particular difficulties. ^[6]

In addition, Winchester accused Russian military inspectors of refusing to accept rifles that had not passed the standard tests for the Russian army (although they had been tested by the manufacturer). In particular, the inspectors insisted that the cartridges produced in Russia, and not in the United States, should be used for testing. ^[7] . Also, they rejected some rifles, pointing to the insufficient quality of the wood used for the lodge. American sources claim. that these were unwarranted cavils ^[7] Later rifles, rejected by the Russian inspectors, were sold in the US to private individuals. ^[7] .

The M1895 rifles were mainly used by the Russian army units located in Finland and the Baltic states (especially the M1895 received the Latvian riflemen ) ^[8] . At least 9 thousand M1895 were transferred from the Soviet Union to Spanish Republicans in 1936. ^[9]

In other armies M1895 met very limited. Thus, the US Army ordered about 10 thousand M1895 under the caliber .30 / 40 Krag during the Spanish-American War , but the war ended faster than the first batch of rifles arrived. ^[5] These rifles were distinguished by the “.30 US Army” stigma at the top of the receiver (above the chamber), as well as by the presence of a bayonet similar to the M1895 Lee Navy . A hundred of these rifles were transferred to the 33 Volunteer Infantry Regiment for testing during the Philippine-American War (a report of December 25, 1899 on these tests emphasized that the .30 / 40 Krag cartridge was excellent for use in the army). The remaining 9,900 rifles were sold to the M. Harley Company, and almost all of them went to Cuba in 1906 ^[10] . Later, some rifles of this party turned out to be in Mexico , where Pancho Villa was very popular among the rebels. ^[3]

The future president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt , while serving in the “ Courageous Horsemen ” unit, personally acquired several M1895 caliber .30-40 Krag for himself and his fellow officers.

In 1896, the M1895 rifle took part in the competition for the best rifle for the National Guard , but took second place, losing to the Savage Model 1895 rifle. ^[11] . Winchester demanded that the results of the competition be reviewed, accusing the organizers of forgery; as a result, the contract for the supply of rifles was withdrawn. ^[12]

The Winchester company traditionally did not use the through-numbering of the weapon, but began to number the rifles of each new model from No. 1. ^[13] Thanks to this, it can be said that a total of 425,881 M1895 rifles, including military and civilian, were produced.

The hunting modification M1895 is often associated with the image of President Theodore Roosevelt , who adored this weapon. Besides him, this rifle was preferred by other well-known hunters, including Marty and Osa Johnson, Charles Cottar, writer Stephen Edward White, ^[2] Garrit Forbes and Elmer Keith (a big fan of hunting weapons who first advised M1895 to future President Roosevelt ). ^[14]

Theodore Roosevelt himself took two M1895 (chambered for .405 Winchester ) on his famous safari in 1909. He bought two more rifles for the same trip for his son Kermit (one for the .405 Winchester cartridge , the other for the .30-03 Springfield). It is known that rifles chambered for the .405 Winchester acquired by Roosevelt had serial numbers 63727, 63736 and 68180. ^[15] Roosevelt was so delighted with M1895 that he devoted a lot of lines to her in his book “African Game Trails”, often calling her “ talisman from lions. ^[sixteen]

The M1895 model (in both the rifle version and the carbine version, chambered for .30-40 Krag and .30-06 Springfield) was very popular among Texas and Arizona Rangers.

After the official end of the release of rifles, several limited-edition and piece M1895 were produced. So, in 1985, the Browning Arms Company released the M1895 chambered for .30-06 Springfield. ^[17] The Winchester company reproduced Model M1895 in the anniversary edition of 2001, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt. The rifles were manufactured to the .405 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield and .30-40 Krag . ^[2] Two more rifles were released in 2009 in memory of the famous African Safari in 1909. It is ironic that all these M1895, issued with Browning and Winchester stamps, were actually manufactured in Japan by Miroku Corp. ^[18]

•   Great Britain
•   The second Spanish Republic : Rifles under the Russian patron , out of those supplied in 1937 as military assistance from the USSR.
•   Russian Empire : Rifles for a 3-line Russian cartridge were purchased for the Russian Imperial Army .
•   RSFSR and   USSR : Rifle stocks from tsarist times were in service with the Red Guard and the Red Army during the post-revolutionary period and the civil war , ^[19] subsequently were in service with the people's militia divisions as “the American Winchester rifle cal. 7.62 mm arr. 1895, were used during the Battle of Moscow ^[20] .
•   Germany : Old rifles from Finnish, Polish and Soviet warehouses were transferred to Volkssturm units. ^[21]
•   Finland : Rifles for a 3-line Russian cartridge from the arsenals of the Russian army . ^[22]
•   USA

• Winchester m1895 rifle