I've always liked the Winchester 1895, and after rediscovering last year how much fun levers are to shoot, I find myself thinking about putting together a custom lever gun.

Find an 80's production Miroku 1895 in 30-06.

Re-barrel with a 1/2 octagon / 1/2 round barrel around 22-23"

Chamber in 9.3x62

Barrel band swivel, front sight(maybe banded?) rear peep.

Find a nice 2 piece blank and see if I could stock the 1895 (and also an old Stevens Favorite I had re-done) with it.
Make the fore end svelte with a schnabel. Simple checkering pattern.

Kinda like T Roosevelts 1895.


Just kicking the idea around. Anyone done anything similar?

Would be a very desirable and handsome rifle!!!!!! Very doable!

Right! Not pimpish......just some nice character.


Looked up 1/2 octagon barrels and came back with McGowen. Reasonable rates I’d guess. Not sure how to contour such a thing?

No taper for octagon and straight taper for round? Straight for both?



Ive just got to thin the safe and maybe rob a liquor store. Hah!

For what it is worth, I have two double rifles with McGowan barrels and am very satisfied with their accuracy.
Both barrels on each rifle are sub minute of angle.
My standard load for the Simson Suhl..405 WCF double is 300 grain bullets and they all shoot to the same point of aim at 2225-2250 fps velocity. My 400 grain hand loads at 2050 fps perform the same way; this my DG load.

The other double is a Beretta .45-70 and is also quite accurate with 300 grain bullets and well regulated. I have not loaded 400 grainers for it yet but will being trying that come spring time.

McGowan did a good job with the barrels.

Have fun with your custom rifle.

PS I am also an 1895 Winnie Fan and shoot a .405 - a proven DG rifle with 400 grain Woodies at 2076 fps.

Love your project in a 35 Whelen.

Why not a tapered octogon?

It would add points for style to be sure

Don’t have a reason not to! I like em all! A tapered octagon could be really sweet!

I got onto the 1/2 and 1/2 thing looking at Roosevelt’s lever guns. I emailed McGowen some questions. I’ll see what they have to say and maybe give them a call.

A Turnbull color case receiver would look really sweet too. I know it's not original to the '95, but we're talking custom here. Oh, and don't forget the Climbin' Lyman! That's a "gotta have".

I agree about the wheelen.

I think people in Alaska been doing this for decades.

If you wanted to try out the concept on the cheap you could send it to JES and have the '06 barrel rebored and rechambered to 9.3x62

A flat sided case coloredrecuever would be sweet! I’ll stick with blued though. Gonna have to cap the budget at some point.

I’m not a .35 cal guy. No real reason. Just doesn’t do it for me. I like the 9.3 or I’d leave it .30 caliber.

Sending it to Jes was my first thought! Now I’m pretty sure I need an octagon or at 1/2 octagon barrel. That of course led me to a nice piece of wood since the fore end likely wouldn’t work with the octagon barrel.

Lol. I’m starting to understand how these projects get outta hand!

I'm building a custom Ruger No.1 and had my mind set on a half octagonal / half round barrel for that build as they look great. That was until I spoke to someone who mentioned that they don't shoot as well as either round or octagonal barrels. In the end I decided to go for a round barrel as shooting accurately was more important to me.

I saw a nice 1895 in 30-06 yesterday. It was according to the sales person a Winchester that I assume was made in japan.

nice blue and wood but the sliding safety on the tang just did not belong, As a hunter it would be nice,

Priced at 1100 and some change.

That seems to be around the going price. Have seen a couple on gun broker go for maybe a couple hundred less.

I need to sell a Sako l61r before I jump at one. Anyone looking for a Sako?

Heres a custom Winchester in 405, it used to belong to a friend who died about 7 years ago ,his daughter had it in a local shop on consignment,i bought it a couple years ago. Someone scratched hell out of it !!

I have a Browning 1895 re-bored to 35 Whelen. It shoots great and the 35 Whelen (.358 cal.) doesn't give up much ballistically to the 9.3X62 (.366 cal.) I also have a Winchester 1895 DOM 1900 in 30 US (30-40 Krag). The blue has been replaced with grey but the bore is excellent, the action smooth and the wood is solid. It shoots great using the factory full buckhorn rear sight. Someday I'll run across a 1895 shooter in 405 WCF and I'll buy it.

I selected the Marlin 336 action and Douglas premium barrels.for my custom levers. I'm no gunsmith so the work was done by Ranger Point Precision (RPP).

My customs are chambered in 7-30 Waters, 25-35 Winchester, 219 Donaldson Wasp and 36 RPP. The 36 RPP is a wildcat developed by RPP using a shortened 35 Whelen case and .358 projectiles. The cartridge will push a 180 grain bullet 2800 fps and a 220 gr. bullet 2500 fps.

T.S.

Very do-able project.

And would make a very nice shooter I'm thinking.

-Jake

A half round / half octagon not shooting as well as a round or octagon. First of this I have ever heard. I have three in my collection and have not noticed any issues with accuracy. Anyone experienced loss in accuracy due to half round/ half octagon?

Loggah,
How does that custom .405 shoot? If it is a keeper, scratches and dents can be fixed.

Texas Shooter said "Someday I'll run across a 1895 shooter in 405 WCF and I'll buy it."
You cannot have my TD shooter,



but I do have an unfired Miroku 1895 .405 Safe Queen and could use some more safe space,,,
.

I mean scratches like this.

Oh, engraving!
My Deluxe 1895 has some too + some gold and fancy wood.

You will get used to the scratches and the game will never see it.

Wow!!! You guys are killing me!!!

T.S.

Heres a rebuilt model 71 winchester, done by Harold Johnson of Coopers landing Alaska. Its in 450 Alaskan

Very nice!!

Loggah - that's an interesting 71 conversion. Quite unique.

What is on the end of the tube mag ? Some sort of sleeve?

I believe its just a sleeve that fits over the magazine tube to add weight to the front of the rifle. The barrel bored to 45 cal. is pretty light and i think the added weight is to help keep the muzzle down when firing.

Played with on old Savage 99 with a full tapered octagon bbl today. Was pretty damn cool.

I find the 95 (have two) to be a awkward rifle to pack one handed as it balances at the magazine..
The only 95 I have seen that is balances in front of the magazine is the long barreled .303 Brit..

Pass the 86 thank you..

mmm, I have hunted a bit with my 1895 .405 and had no problem toting it about.
what calibers are your 1895s?

30-06 and 405 TD both Miroku's..
Four 86's, two Miroku's & two originals..
[bleep] load of Win 94's, in 30-30, 32 Sp. .375 Win. & 38-55..
One 55 TD
Bunch of 92's/53's all Miroku
Same goes for Marlins, 95, 336's, & 94's..
One BLR..
Got to thinking this morning, as ugly as they are I would take a BLR hunting over a 1895 Win. any day..
To my way of thinking the only advantage the lever action and single shot has over a bolt action is packability..
If you like your 1895 Win's that's great..
I don't care for them myself and if the OP is going to rebarrel he might want to add barrel weight via length and or dia. so the rifle balances in front of the magazine..
Or like you he might not care..
I should add that I imported my 405 based on your posts/threads over at Accurate Reloading a number of years ago..
On the meantime while waiting for the 405 I bought the 30-06 (95) used online..
Was sorely disappointed that neither one of them would balance in front of the magazine and as a result haven't shot either one of them..

Nrut, If you have unfired Miroku 1895 rifles, you should be able to sell them without taking a loss. I can certainly understand not using a rifle with which you are not satisfied.

You should not miss them as you seem to have many more to shoot.

PS It just occurred to me that the balance could be moved forward with a device similar to the one on the M71 in a previous post by Loggah.

Heres a special order 1895 in 40-72 that my brother has,it balances a bit more foreward ! 36" barrel

Whoa!

That’s a gun to poke a tiger in the eye with.

MM, have you found a donor rifle yet? I have a new production Winchester in 30/06 I would part with. Good sound rifle. Someone had stripped the shiny finish off wood and give it an oil finish. Doesn’t look bad. But they did sand over the checkering just a little. Yes it has the tang safety.

No sir. I have a Sako Finnbear for sale. When I move that I'll have some room for an 1895!

Very much appreciate the offer! Fairly firm in my irrational desire for a non-tang saftey rifle though.

Loggah, dunno if all the rifles you posted are yours, but if they are, nice work, you have great taste mister!!

Damn....

All but the 36" barrel 1895 thats my brothers.I have other custom lever guns but there not Winchesters.

👍

What else ya got loggah?

Well i have a custom made savage 99 in a half octagon takedown configuration.Savage never made any octagon or half octagon rifles in a takedown style. The rifle is in 30-30 caliber and was made by a member here. french walnut,special checkering,french grayed receiver,and engraved.

Dandy!!!

No problemo! Jez throwin’ it out! You’ll find what your lookin’ for!!! Won’t be long.

Mainer, tricked out a Winchester 95 and has pictures of it on this site somewhere. Some nice work on this thread. That Savage is a keeper! Would love to get my hands on one of Harolds 71s some day.

Yes he did!!!! Looks awesome!!!!!!

Several 1895s were rebarrelled to 375 Scovill and 411 Hawk. Both carry plenty of knockdown power and feed well being based on 30-06 cases as was the original design intent. Below is an article I read years back in Rifle on bear guide rifles based on the 1895. Some good content on bear threats/attacks. It touches on 1895 conversions and mentions the 9.3x62.

Win 1895 Article

Very cool. Thanks for the link, Rossimp.

Great read. Thank you

Rossimp - I have that same Rifle article bookmarked on my computer. Great minds,

Loggah that is the finest 99 Ive ever seen. Rossimp I haven't seen that article in years, but now I have it bookmarked. Thank you. I'm going to have to bring my '86 to work tomorrow after all this. I have a range set up across one of the hay fields that is handy for shooting out to 300 yards.