Russian 1895 Winchester

[Bat 2919]

I ran into a 7.62x54R 1895 at a gun show last weekend.  The rifle did have the clip guides installed but nothing else was correct for a musket style Winchester.  The rifle was well used with a dark bore but it did still have riffling.  These guys have a table at most of the local shows so given they wanted $3500 I expect to see it on their table at the next show.  I spent last night looking over what I could find about them.  The barrel length looked about right for the musket but no-one had a tape measure so I don't know an exact length.  I didn't see anything that looked like military inspector cartouches but again I didn't know exactly what to look for or where to look at that time. 

The dealers said they got the gun from an estate sale so I'm sure they have some room on the price but I need to know as much as I can about it before the next show.  The shoulder stock was rough but looked original.  The lower forend had been shortened to what would be a normal rifle length but had a blunt curved up profile as opposed to the long nose of regular 95's.  The rear sight did appear to be of the standard Russian contract type but there was no wood left on top of the barrel and no barrel bands.  My impression was that assuming the barrel length is still correct replacement furniture and barrel bands would have it looking like an original.

I'm assuming this was a Russian inspector reject rifle sold on the US market.  The dealer believes it was sold the way it sits now but I'm betting it was sold in the musket configuration and Bubba got to it latter in it's life.  Does anyone know if Winchester sold these rifles with customized furniture?  I would guess the muskets all went out the door as rejected but I don't have anything that confirms this.   

[DEL56]

Hey Bat,

You can check this link out and see if it gives you any help:



It should be for this episode: Small Arms of WWI Primer 062: Russian Contract Winchester 1895

Sincerely,

Dewayne

[smoke]

Bat,

Go over to Gunboards and search for 1895 Winchester.  Lots of good info/pics and those guys will help you out.

There are 3 types of 1895s in the US

1. Unfilled contract/rejected guns

2. Spanish Civil War guns

3. Finn used then surplused out guns.

$3500 is a lot.  For the $$ it should be correct down to the Russian acceptance stamp. 

[Baltimore Ed]

How about one of these? You'll need your time machine though.