The Winchester-Lee 1895 Straight-Pull bolt action was designed by James Paris Lee, one of the foremost arms inventors of his time. It was available in sporting rifle, carbine and musket configurations, and became the standard U.S. Navy weapon in the Spanish-American War era.
Although the Lee has what is referred to as a straight-pull action, the action is more properly a camming action in which pulling the bolt caused the bolt to rock, freeing a stud from the receiver and unlocking the bolt. The 6mm / .236 chambering was the smallest cartridge adopted by the U.S. military up to that time.
Designed for clip loading, the Lee in musket configuration was accepted by the Navy in 1895 and manufactured by Winchester beginning in 1896. There were two (2) Navy contracts--the First Contract for 10,000 muskets and the Second Contract for an additional 5,000 muskets. Of the 19,000 - 20,000 rifles produced, 75% were Military contract. First "civilian market" rifles start to appear between serial numbers 10,000 - 11,000. Second contract rifles follow with civilian production pieces interspersed through the 5,000 lot contract and up to the 19,000/20,000 range. Many receivers/parts were scraped during a factory parts clean-up after the turn of the century with records details lost. The .236/6mm case was the fore runner of the .220 Swift from which Lee cases can be made today. Winchester had to purchase additional rifle range property on Long Island to test and sight the 1,000 yard-plus cartridge. Point Blank range was 600 yards.
A large number of these muskets were aboard the USS MAINE when it sunk in Havana Harbor. Fifty-four of these were later recovered and sold by Bannermans in New York. The Lee was considered to be 30-plus years ahead of its time, yet was not popular outside of the U.S. Navy. Production stopped in 1916.
Original Winchester factory records are available for this model from the Cody Firearms Museum in Cody , Wyoming , from serial number 1 thru 19999.
