Mike

I'm going to show my age, and probably my closet Puritan demeanor here...  But I agree (more than 100%) with Nevada Paul...

Firearms are SERIOUS business...  They can HURT people...  ANYTHING that minimizes that, whether it be cap guns, paint ball, air soft, or (worst of all) VIDEO GAMES, is NOT a good thing... 

If you want to learn how to use a firearm against human targets, join the US Military, not the local paintball club...  Pretty sure their rules are strict and penalties for slipping up are UNFORGIVING!!!

Gun safety comes FIRST...  ALL guns are loaded until you have determined they are not.  You NEVER point a gun (even one you "know" is unloaded) at anyone/anything you don't want (or at least wouldn't mind seeing) DEAD.  Any knowledgeable gun person would/should (at best) be "uncomfortable" if I were to (even inadvertantly or briefly) point the muzzle of a firearm in his/her direction...

My Kids (now all adults) were taught like Paul said above...  I'm pretty sure they understand "range safety", between me, my Dad, and the NRA Hunter/Firearms safety courses they took.  I have very few (one) gun in my house that's loaded (a M1911 pistol in condition 3), but with Kids I think you have to instill the NRA "Eddie the Eagle" thing...  ALL guns are loaded ALL the time and potentially deadly if you or your compadres do not know what to do with it.  If you don't know (which is a very common thing these days) then DON'T touch it.  Find someone who does or call the Cops...

Remember the late Jon Eric Hexum (or even Alec Baldwin)...  Ignorance is FAR from bliss!!!  

Just my unsolicited take...

Lou

When I was a kid, I wasn’t allowed to have toy guns, my father said that when I was old enough I could have the real thing.  The trouble is, I didn’t know when that was, and he decided that would be when I was 12 or 13 years old.  In hindsight, when I see some of these 7 or 8 years old old kids harvesting deer, I wish that could have been me, but I also think maybe that’s too young to have a real firearm and handle it safely at ALL times.

I also appreciate my father purchased a used .22 rifle as my first firearm, and, since then I’ve never looked at a new firearm.  That’s like driving a new car off the lot plus you sacrifice a lot in the way of quality as well.

tim tomlinson said
Steve and Eric,  Often 1895 muskets when found are in pretty poor shape.  For several years there was a US musket offered at Cody and it was made up of about half parts from other muskets and even maybe non US muskets.  Another was sold several times at RIA and I just couldn't stand to spend anything on it as it would not hold cock, or half cock, let alone look decent.  Finally got a nice US Musket but it wasn't cheap.  I've yet to see a musket in .303 Brit, so one in any kind of original condition is rare, even if it has a couple of replacement parts and is rode hard and put away wet.  Unless sales price was stupid, it would make a place holder should a better one come along.  For me, rarity trumps condition.  Others subscribe to "Condition is everything!".  Tim
  

Tim -

I've seen some 1895 muskets over the years and the condition has been, as you suggested, quite poor.

When it comes to 1895's, a name that should be mentioned is Mark Douglas.  Here's a video from him on the topic of '95 muskets:

t=387s

Mark also has a video specifically on Russian muskets:

More of interest from Mark:

And of course when Mark opened the vault at the Cinnabar, there's some real 1895 eye candy:

While I'm at it (for the new members), I can again post a couple photos of the special order '95 musket I had with a 32 inch barrel.  Of added interest was that it had been a one time set up for heel-sighted targeted shooting:

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

tsbccut said
Gentlemen,
I'm trying to become more educated, and I couldn't find any reference to this on the Forum. Is the "WRA" stamp on the receiver of the
pictured Model 1892 of any significance? It's a lousy photo and a bit hard to see, but it's there. It's where the serial number should be......
Thanks,
Tom

Hello Tom,

Your rifle does appears to differ slightly from most Winchester that have a similar stamp on the underside of the receiver where the serial number would typically be found.  On others the "background area" has a stippled imprint and then the WRACO stamp applied over that as shown in the attached images.  There is no confirmed explanation for why these guns are marked as such and several theories are proposed.  To me they have holes in them that do not make much sense.  This is one of the items that I am trying to research in my spare time.

Can you please send me more detailed photos of the WRA stamp, the upper tang just below the hammer, and the stamped writing on the barrel.

Michael

Jeremy P said
Bob, why though do you think they wanted the musket sight in the first place? It's all conjecture, but what gains would it have gotten...better set up for distance shooting?
You're probably on to something with the elevator wear, hadn't paid attention to that before. Was the original likely a 22B w/ elevator?
  

I checked the Bill West book and according to it at 102,000 they moved the sight dovetail forward and used the short sporting rear. Before 102,000 they used the Musket sight with the external spring and did use them on rifles. You might not know which dovetail was the original unless you remove the sight and plug  and see if one was added later. I would think the flip up staff type would be good for distant shooting but it would be hindrance when hunting in woods and brush, it would be getting caught and could get bent or broken. That is probably why they put the sporting sight on it but later replaced the musket sight when sold. The gun is close enough to that transitional range you could have mixed features. It also could be the barrel was replaced with a earlier one. 

The sight I think would of been on before was the Early Sporting Rear like one of these with the flat elevator.

Bob

CaseyFields said
Hi everyone,
Collecting and studying Winchester firearms is fascinating and it’s interesting to see how the principles of handling, safety and trigger control translate across different types of guns. In my experience, practicing with paintball guns can actually reinforce some of these fundamentals.
Paintball guns may not fire live rounds, but they still teach grip, stance, aiming and reaction timing, skills that feel surprisingly relevant when handling real firearms responsibly. Even though the purposes differ, there’s a shared appreciation for mechanics, control and precision.
  

Casey, I don't disagree with what you say about grip, stance, aiming, etc. But I have an inherent aversion to paintball as a sport.

I was taught, and taught all my kids gun safety, which started with 'never swing a muzzle through a person; never point the firearm at a person, etc.'.  That had to be ingrained, along with 'every firearm is loaded, always, until you personally and safely inspect it'.

How can you instill all those safety doctrines when some young person goes to a paintball range and spends the day aiming at people then pulling the trigger.

Just my opinion, but a long standing frustration with me.  I know a lot of responsible hunters and target shooters enjoy and participate in the sport of Paintball, I just was never comfortable with it.

NP

Collecting and studying Winchester firearms is fascinating and it’s interesting to see how the principles of handling, safety and trigger control translate across different types of guns. In my experience, practicing with paintball guns can actually reinforce some of these fundamentals.

Paintball guns may not fire live rounds, but they still teach grip, stance, aiming and reaction timing, skills that feel surprisingly relevant when handling real firearms responsibly. Even though the purposes differ, there’s a shared appreciation for mechanics, control and precision.