Big Medicine

Well I went ahead with the purchase. I own the rifle pending the necessary paper procedural stuff going through.

I don't expect any problems; I think at this point it's just formalities and waiting.
 
Demonical said:
Well I went ahead with the purchase. I own the rifle pending the necessary paper procedural stuff going through.

I don't expect any problems; I think at this point it's just formalities and waiting.
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Quite likley a lot of waiting I would guess. Good luck and to pass the time, think of it as a christmas present! While hoping for earlier!
 
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I have always thought the Model 1895 Winchester was a fantastic model; the 2 calibers I prefer for the M-1895 are .30-06 and .405Win. My rifle :) most closely resembles the second from the top.

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I have a movie called "In the Blood", which documents a safari to Tanzania by descendents of Teddy Roosevelt, and also includes archival footage of Roosevelts 1908 safari. In that footage you can see Roosevelt shooting his famed M-1895 .405Win, which famously he called "Big Medicine". I highly recommend the movie!

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Roosevelt wrote a book about that safari called African Game Trails, which I also own and it's a great read.
I bought it due to watching the movie.

So M-1895 rifles have had a nostalgic appeal to me ever since I saw that movie. When Winchester re-introduced them several years ago I was salivating at the prospects of getting one of the new rifles, but I had the idea that I could wait. Of course as we all know, Winchester suddenly closed the plant where these were made and the few that had been made were snapped up instantly. *
I've been kicking myself ever since, that I didn't get one and I have been looking for one. But I didn't really want one of the old guns; I wanted the new production model. Maybe someday I'll pick up one of the original 1895's, but I don't know.

Anyway I am guessing somewhere between 6-8 weeks; that's kind of what I have heard as a normal processing time for USA orders. Since this is a non-restricted category hunting rifle, I suppose it will have the shortest possible processing time. Of course we all know that sort of thing is up to the whim of the beaurocrats in gov't services.

In the meantime I get to chase down reloading components, dies, etc... :)


* I am off-base with that statement. The research I have been doing on the re-introduced M-1895's is that they were built by Miroku in Japan.


Check out these links. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUMmbhD8ffs&mode=related&search=

Lengthy read but a lot of info'...
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/model_1895.htm
 
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Winchester M-1895.



Found this pic on Google; no, it's not my gun...ya gotta love that case hardening look on the receiver... man I cannot wait to get my hands on this beast!!
 
The gun and the caliber are first rate I'm sure.....they are making a copy of the lyman Peep sight that was a factory option back in the day, I saw it at Buffalo Arms site. My only complaint is that punkin' they stuck at the front of the fore end...I much prefer the orig. snabble which was more gracefull and less obtrusive. I think you'll like the old time look and feel of wood and steel and a cal. that hits hard!!
 
Took the .405 to the range today, for the first time. I was shooting factory Hornady 300gr FN. It chrony'd avg 2290 fps and was a joy to shoot. The steel recoil pad is a little harsh from the bench, but shooting offhand the gun is awesome. I was really surprised at the excellent balance and recoil offhand.

It was accurate enough to go moose hunting with, as-is, with the iron sights. The front is standard and the rear sight is a buckhorn. At 100 yards we were "moose" accurate.

There were a few guys showed up and 2 of them shot it; one guy declined which I thought was amazing(stupid). It's not every day you get a chance to shoot a .405 Wincester.

I can't wait to try this out on black bear(s). :)
 
^ Can't say why the guy passed; he was shooting a .300Wby, so he couldn't have been worried about the recoil. Just not his cup o' tea I guess.

Btw, I would say the recoil was just a bit less then a .338WM.

I used the recoil calculator from www.realguns.com and came up with 33ft/lbs. This was based on an estimate of the powder required; I referenced numbers from www.reloadersnest.com. Loads that generated MV of 2300 fps used 52gr H-4198. Pretty realistic. And since my .338WM has a recoil precisely 38ft/lbs I'd say my guess is pretty good.

FYI, I threw out the guess and then decided to check. Being pretty much dead-on with my guesstimate makes me feel intelligent... ;)
 
Well $hit........That's Great, Glad things went your way and you got that home.
I'd love to shoot one in 405........I would not say No;)

I'd chaulk it up to my experience firing an Original 1886 Winnie Chambered in 50-100-450 ! :rockOn:
 
My kid brother in the Yukon has an original '95 in 405...him and his wife were going to Whitehorse on a shopping trip, saw a garage sale sign, and after talking to the old feller, made a deal on the rifle, dies and a couple bullet moulds for it. It shoots great and is in really good condition...I've tried to horse-trade him out of it, but no go....
 
BCWILL said:
Well $hit........That's Great, Glad things went your way and you got that home.
I'd love to shoot one in 405........I would not say No;)

I'd chaulk it up to my experience firing an Original 1886 Winnie Chambered in 50-100-450 ! :rockOn:
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Well if you ever travel through Whitecourt, give me a shout and we'll hit the range!

Open invite to anybody actually... :wave:
 
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