WWI Winchester 1895 Musket Russian Contract 7.62x54R Lever Rifle, 1916 C&R

SOLD FOR: $2825

LSB#: 230914LM182

Make: Winchester

Model: 1895, Russian Contract

Serial Number: 361063

Year of Manufacture: 1916

Caliber: 7.62x54R

Action Type: Lever Action Rifle with Fixed Box Magazine

Barrel Length: 28″

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade pinned in a slotted base fixed to the front of the barrel. The rear sight is a folding ladder-style sight fixed to the rear of the barrel. There is a slider which presents a “V”-notch when folded down and also has a “V”-notch when folded up. The rear sight markings may indicate that it is a replacement.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are three-piece smooth walnut with a handguard secured with spring clips installed around the rear sight, barrel band with sling swivel, finger grooves in the forend, straight grip, straight comb, steel carbine-style buttplate with sliding door, and a sling plate inlaid to the belly. There is another sling mounting point built into the front of the magazine. The forend’s nosecap is missing. There are scattered nicks, dings, scrapes and scratches. There are patch-repairs in the left of the forend in front of the barrel band and in the left-front of the wrist. . The LOP measures 12 5/8” from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The plate has scattered wear and some minor oxidation. The stocks rate in Good overall condition as refinished and repaired.

Type of Finish: Blue

Finish Originality: Refinished, possibly arsenal refurbished.

Bore Condition: The bore is dark gray with well defined rifling. There is light-moderate erosion scattered through the bore. In this writer’s opinion, the bore rates about 5 out of 10.

Many military and C&R-eligible weapons have bores that will show erosion. This is not only due to age but to the fact that corrosive primers were commonly used in ammunition worldwide.

Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 87% of its current metal finish. The finish is thinning at all edges. There are scattered nicks, scuffs and scratches. There is some light surface oxidation and scattered minor erosion under the finish. The clip-guides have been removed from the receiver. The action shows operational wear. The screw heads range from sharp to disfigured with usable slots. The markings are clear. Overall, this rifle rates in about Very Good condition as refinished.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this rifle.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None

Our Assessment: From Gary James in Guns & Ammo:

“On paper, at the beginning of World War I, the Russian Army was the most formidable land force in the world. With almost three million men under arms, it was a potential juggernaut that terrified the German general staff. The only problem was, supplies and equipment were woefully short, and over a third of the army didn’t even have guns! A solution was found from a most unlikely source when the Winchester Model 1895 lever-action rifle entered the service of the czar.

The standard-issue Russian infantry rifle at the time was the Model 1891 Mosin-Nagant. It was a very good bolt-action repeater; the only problem was the Russians couldn’t make enough of them. At the Battle of Tannenberg, for instance, half of the Russian infantry went into battle unarmed and had to pick up the rifles of their fallen comrades. This terrible shortage of arms caused the Russians to turn to the neutral United States for a solution.

As well as contracting with Westinghouse and Remington to make Mosin-Nagants, they went to Winchester and ordered 300,000 long-barreled musket versions of the Winchester Model 95 lever-action, chambered in the service caliber of 7.62 x54Rmm. The 7.62x54Rmm fired a 210-grain .30 caliber bullet with a muzzle velocity of almost 3,000 feet-per-second, pushing it up into the .30-06 class. Despite their rims and thick girth, the cartridge functioned well in the gun, and reliability and accuracy was excellent.

Ultimately more Russian 95s would be manufactured than any other variant of that gun.

Though it may seem unlikely, the Model 95 was an excellent choice. Winchester was already tooled up for it and it was strong enough to handle the stout Russian round. The Model 95 was John Browning’s first lever-action specifically designed for smokeless powder. All that was necessary was to take it from a sporting configuration to a military one was to stretch the barrel and fit it with a bayonet lug and charging bar so the gun could be loaded with a stripper clip.

Actually, the 95 musket was not really a new arm. In 1898, the American secretary of war had ordered 10,000 of them for use during the Spanish American War, but the conflict was so short they never made it to the front. Later on, some were used in the Philippines, though. These guns did not have charging bars, as the issue American rifle of the period, the Krag-Jorgensen, was not clip loaded. Most of these guns ended up being sold of surplus to Caribbean and Central American countries. Up to this time all lever-action rifles fed from a tubular magazine, but the pointed bullets of the new high-powered smokeless rounds made this hazardous because of the danger of setting off rounds placed nose to primer in the tube. Model 95s eliminated the problem by featuring a five-round box magazine that was loaded through the top of the receiver

The rifle didn’t have a safety catch, relying upon a hammer half cock to do the job. The lever though, had a hinged lower portion that locked into position and prevented the action from being opened unless the shooter’s hand is actually pushing down on the loop.

The entire contract of 300,000 Model 95s was delivered to the Russians in 1915-16.

But with the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution and the withdrawal of Russia from the war, the 95’s fate becomes cloudy. Some have turned up with markings indicated that they were sold to Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, and many thousands were later re-imported to the U. S. in the 1960s where they were offered at very reasonable prices.

Today, the Russian Winchester 95 remains one of the most romantic and unusual arms of the Great War. They are sought-after collector’s items, and at the same time, sad reminders of a once-proud regime’s unpreparedness for war.”

This example is in Very Good condition, likely faring better than most of the 1895s that made their way to Russia just in time for a Revolution and Civil War, not to mention the purges and violent repression which would follow. It will make a great addition to a collection of WWI military rifles, Russian rifles, or Winchesters. Please see our photos and good luck!

Please forgive any typos, I was educated in California -Bud