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Added another 1895 Winchester to the herd. I believe the previous owner posted here about this rifle some months ago. It has a brass bolt through the wrist and probably some screws that are covered with lead.
The rifle seems to be a bit of an oddity according to Madis's book-possibly a special order. His serial number sequence would place it as a 1915 rifle. He says the 30-03 was only available as a special order after the 30-06 replaced it in 1908. The rifle also has a shotgun butt and the remains of a Lyman combination sight for a front side which may also mean it was a special order. Front sight:
Left Side:
You can see evidence of Bubba's hands and vise on the rifle. There are vice marks on the barrel just in front of the receiver. The deepest marks are covered by the wood. There are also what look to be vise marks on both sides of the receiver but they are not deep. They are more like burnish marks. These marks lead me to believe somebody tried to remove the barrel. Judging by the dirt around the barrel receiver junction it doesn't look like the barrel was off. The vise marks are fresh and the dirt is old. I am guessing when the vise slipped they gave up.
There is also some buggery around the magazine screw at the front lower left side of the receiver. PO said there had been a pin in there so he figured Bubba bludgeoned it with a hammer. The rifle stood in shallow water at some point. The heel of the butt plate is pitted and the wood is stained black just in front of the plate. No major damage and it is a solid piece except for the butt stock. The butt stock is in poor shape. There is a lot of wood missing around the receiver and the upper tang is bent down some where the wood is crushed.
I tried a 30-06 Field headspace gauge. The lever doesn't quite completely close on the gauge but the hammer will fall. So headspace looks to be OK. The bore is in very good shape. It was dirty when I got it but after pushing a few patches through it I am pleased. Looking from the breech I can see some minor roughness in the throat but the lands are sharp. The crown is battered and I will recrown it. The spring on the lever hook is broken or gone since the hook flops free. Another minor fix.
Not a collector but it looks like it will be a good shooter. I have a nicely figured two piece stock blank that I may use for a new stock for it. We will see.
Proud to be Christian American and not ashamed of being white.
May your rifle always shoot straight, your mag never run dry, you always have one more round than you have adversaries, and your good mate always be there to watch your back.
Because I can!
Never grow a wishbone where a backbone ought to be.
Very nice project gun! Will you be able to use .30-06 brass? I can't recall if the .30-03 had a longer neck or if it was only the old style long round nose projectile that required the longer throat. Should be a perfect candidate for cast lead no?
Can't wait for a range report and/or a progress report on whatever fixes you embark upon!
Best,
Oly
Cheers,
Oly
I hope and pray someday the world will learn
That fires we don't put out will bigger burn
Yes another addition to Marc's Home and Rehabilitation Center for Battered and Neglected Leverguns. Just the way I like them. We don't promise to make them like new, we just promise to make them functional.
According to Cartridges of the World the 30-03 has a case length of 2.54". The 270 Win. and 280 Rem. also are 2.54" so I can make brass from those. In fact I read somewhere that the 270 was developed from the 30-03. I can use 30-06 brass but it will be short. I have a bunch of 270 brass so I will try that. I am going to make sure the barrel hasn't been set back and rechambered for 30-06 before I use 2.54" brass.
I am going to load some cast bullets to try this week. I don't expect it will shoot real well until I recrown it but you never know. I am surprised at how heavy the barrel is. It has a straight taper from receiver to muzzle. Almost like a varmint profile. It ought to shoot like a match rifle with a new crown.
The previous owner said that he got information on the front sight and parts sources here on this forum. He replaced the pin with the proper screw and another screw that was missing and bought a sear spring. The mainspring looks new too but he didn't mention that.
I loaded up some of the Ranch Dog 165's with 18 grains of 2400 for a first try. These are the same bullets that leaded my 1895 in 30-40 so I only loaded six. These bullets were sized and lubed with Lee Liquid Alox but sans gas checks. I seated Lyman GC's and ran them through my lube sizer with a .311" die and completely filled the lube grooves. For powder I pulled the bullets from the 30-40 ammo and dumped the powder into 30-06 brass. The brass is a little short for the 30-03.
These loads seemed to shoot well. The wind was roaring through the pines at the range. It was probably blowing 10 to 15 mph with stronger gusts. I tried to wait it out but was only partially successful. When it showed signs of dropping I started shooting with the sight elevator at the bottom. First round went 6" low but windage was good at 25 yards. I came up 3 steps on the sight and the second went an inch or so higher. I went to the top notch and I was still 4" low. The windage held good so far.
Then I raised the slide in the rear sight and hit center bull. Fired the last two and ended up with about a 1" group at 25 yards. The spread is all horizontal with very little vertical dispersion. No leading except a light gray wash and the barrel looks great inside. I am going to improve the sight situation before the next outing and get to the range earlier before the wind comes up. It looks like it may shoot these low pressure loads well even with the nicks in the crown.
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