Fire Me?

Just a heads up, Winchester 1895s are worth a fair amount if they're in good shape so you might want to have it appraised as well. That said, I have one from around 1917 that's by far the smoothest lever action I've ever used, so I wouldn't be afraid to use it if it's in decent shape.
 
What am i looking for?? I can see some surface rust and light pitting on the receiver.. The damn thing still cycles like its new.. No cracks that i can see any where
 
So what is it?

30-40 Krag, .303 British, 7.62x54R, .30-03, .30-06, .35 Winchester or hopefully a .405 Winchester... probably a .303 is my guess.

Use a light oil or Hoppes #9 and nothing coarser than 0000 steel wool and lightly rub the metal and wipe dry... repeat.
 
And if you get a "hankering" to take it apart - either resist that thought, or find a good book with instructions and a correctly fitting set of screw drivers!!!
 
1909. That would be fine fine. Thats moderen really as far as steel goes.. Not very old at all. You start to question the ones made in the blackpowder days that now shoot smokless. Like early lee metford rifles. Never made for smokeless but fire factory 303 ammo.
 
If it's a 30/06 i d have the headspace checked as the action is known for stretching in that cal as the metals then aren t as strong as they are today and a steady diet of 30/06 ammo could have affected the headspace after all these years.I have a winchester/Miroku 1895 carbine replica in 30/06 and they can handle the cartridge no problem do to the modern steels but even so I would rather not run hot rounds through it, I would leave that my bolt action
 
Liquid_Snake said:
What am i looking for?? I can see some surface rust and light pitting on the receiver.. The damn thing still cycles like its new.. No cracks that i can see any where
Click to expand...

Check the bore and chamber. Give it a cleaning. Make sure it cycles with a round ok. No hanging up or other indicators of issues. When you do fire a round, check it over for headspace and pressure signs on the spent casing before firing more. Wear glasses etc.
 
Looks like a beautiful rifle, most 1895s I see have really badly worn blueing. That one probably hasn't seen much in the last 111 years.

It might be superstition more than anything but with the first shot from all old guns I like to use a rifle rest, move my head out of the way of the bolt travel and move my hand off the handguard. So if there is some catastrophic failure or its a Ross rifle with a miss-assembled bolt it shouldn't kill you.

As long as theres no obvious obstruction or damage in the barrel and nothing moves that isn't supposed to it should be safe.
 
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