winter project-1895 Winchester

[kevin.303]

yes i know it's only August, but it won't be long before the weather turns cool ( deer season! ) and i'm planning on getting a winter project in the next few months. i plan on rebuilding/restoring a 1895 Winchester, preferably in .303 or .30-40. i notice a lot of '95's in .303 have been rebarreled with Lee Enfield barrels. why is that? i wonder if most of these where at one time other calibers, but rebarreled to use more readily available ammo, or because they are somewhat in demand here in Canada. i'd rather get one with a winchester barrel, or find an original barrel and swap it off with the Lee barrel. aside from Numrich, is there a good place to get parts that wil ship to Canada?

[Harry Snippe]

yes i know it's only August, but it won't be long before the weather turns cool ( deer season! ) and i'm planning on getting a winter project in the next few months. i plan on rebuilding/restoring a 1895 Winchester, preferably in .303 or .30-40. i notice a lot of '95's in .303 have been rebarreled with Lee Enfield barrels. why is that? i wonder if most of these where at one time other calibers, but rebarreled to use more readily available ammo, or because they are somewhat in demand here in Canada. i'd rather get one with a winchester barrel, or find an original barrel and swap it off with the Lee barrel. aside from Numrich, is there a good place to get parts that wil ship to Canada?

I was not aware the 1895 were rebarreled with Enfield barrels.
I thought Winchester chambered them as such, since I do not see the battle front site .
Epps had one last year in Central Ontario  and it went for a good price . I notice the Krag chambered rifles do not fetch the same money.

I find getting something lately shipped to Canada becomes a problen with the import export permits . A lot of US firms do not export , so that makes life tough for us Canucks.
Happy

[kevin.303]

Winchester did originally chamber them for .303, but i think the ones with Enfield barrels where originally .30-40's that where rebarreled. P & S has one they're selling as a non shooter for $500, been there for a while, might make an offer when i got the cash.it's got a shotgun butt, never did like the look of them, that'd be one of the first things to go.



if i can find a .30-40 cheaper, i might go with that. either leave it original, or if the bore is garbage find an original Winchester .303 barrel.

[Harry Snippe]

Thanks for the picture. you got my interst up.
I think I remember the rifle I saw once had wood around the rear site and the front site was very small.

These rifles were also chambered in 3006, but loads were to be kept on the mild side .

I wondered at the time how strong these old rifles were, and how much trouble parts would be here in Canada.
Would head space be an other issue?

The rifle I saw , the commanding price was about 700 Canadain with a 30 Krag going a few hundred less.

I have never fired one , but see a few around, some drilled on the left side of the reciever some refinished with a nickle type fininsh.
One at a gun show had a peep that looked to be made for the rifle .
That for my eyes would be the way to go.
The lever I thought had a long stroke
As a bush rifle I guess the Krag would be fine, but I would wonder about brass.
The 303 B would be my first chioce.

Would you want this rifle as a shooter or to collect ?

It would need to stand up to 5 or six hundred rounds a year at our house.

Let us know how you make out.
Happy

[kevin.303]

i want it as a shooter, and i can't really afford $700, thats why i want a fixer upper, and it would be fun the rebiuld and customize one. as .30-40 i have a 1898 Krag Jorgensen carbine, so i'm already set up to reload. i've backoredered brass from wholesale, but i'm also using reformed surplus .303 brass, it's a bit shorter but not enough to affect it really. in my use it wouldn't see more then 200 rounds a year tops, mainly because my rifle range is an hour away.

[Harry Snippe]

i want it as a shooter, and i can't really afford $700, thats why i want a fixer upper, and it would be fun the rebiuld and customize one. as .30-40 i have a 1898 Krag Jorgensen carbine, so i'm already set up to reload. i've backoredered brass from wholesale, but i'm also using reformed surplus .303 brass, it's a bit shorter but not enough to affect it really. in my use it wouldn't see more then 200 rounds a year tops, mainly because my rifle range is an hour away.

Well the range I go too is about an hour and a half away from our house , next door to the gun shop I go to. ( Epps) . I will pack a lunch and the wife and I make a day of it.
Epps has a web site , so you can see what they have in stock, so if ever you want me to look at something just send an E-mail.

I find Wes and George more than fair, always ,to deal with as most of firearms have been purchased over the years there.

When it comes to firearms I find other than refinishing , one tends to spend more over a period of time than , if you just rolled all your nickles and pennies at the time.

What is best buying an older car that your wallet can stand for today ,make repairs as needed ,or just buy the new one, and you know your payments every month?

I have spent more on a used rifle , usually trading up with another
It is usually saying good bye now to a rifle I wanted to keep, opposed to a rifle I would rather have now.
Oh Yeah ! get some "heat" from the wife at times but then
The guy with the most toys "wins"
I say "would you rather I frequent the Hotels with my drinkin' buddies, or spend my time hunting or at the range?"

Most of the time the range and the woods win as long as they can come along.
Happy

[jhrosier]

....
 i notice a lot of '95's in .303 have been rebarreled with Lee Enfield barrels. why is that?......

Some of these were rebarreled from 7.62 Russian, when that ammo was difficult to obtain.

[86er]

I have a little 1925 vintage '95 carbine in .30-06, and haven't noticed that it requires lower pressure cartridges. Factory and milsurp ammo work just fine in my gun.
 

[kevin.303]

it'll depend on what next months gunshow has, might also get a Garand reciever for $90 and build my self a M1. that would actually be cheaper porbably then restoring a '95. stay tuned to see what happens!