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.

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.

Eric Coleridge said
I have a copy of the Winchester 1895 book, but not much info on the .303 musket. There is a copy of a catalogue from 1900 that shows the musket was available in .303. The only one I found was advertised on gunsinternational.
1895’s in 303 were popular in Canada, hard to find one in excellent condition as they were well used. Hoping to find a musket in 303, it would be my holy grail!
 
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles---model-1895/winchester-95-musket-303-british-.cfm?gun_id=103265576#md-19
  

Eric - 

The gunsinternational listing your show certainly proved they exist.  Did you purchase that one?  I'm sure you would prefer one in better condition.

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?

TR said
  I would look it over, $6600 is cheap, maybe a reason it's cheap. Any damage or repair to the receiver is a deal breaker. T/R
  

Well he’s got 5 66s there and probably more guns than any shop in Nc, and that’s no joke it’s pretty crazy, but originally he wanted $7500, I left and then called back eh a couple weeks later to talk some more and then he came down after I offered him 6k. But if that’s cheap then I dunno I thought it was a fair price from what I’ve seen them realistically go for and not just the high prices posted. 

Bob

See pics. This is gun #105747, purchased from a fellow WACA member a couple of years ago or so.... The current ladder sight is in a dovetail 2-15/16" from the receiver edge to dovetail center. It has no spring tension and just flops around, looks like it's missing the period spring that sits laterally along the barrel from other guns' pics I saw.

The blank filler you see is 1-3/16" forward of the receiver to center of dovetail. The blank looks very well fit and is aged to almost exactly the browned color of the surrounding barrel material.

Thoughts from you sharp-eyed viewers on the theory behind the sight swap (or anything else)? Let the thoughts and observations flow!

View pics here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HuDNnLrimVvz1ZfU7 

Bob

TR said
  I would look it over, $6600 is cheap, maybe a reason it's cheap. Any damage or repair to the receiver is a deal breaker. T/R
  

In such a case, what’s its worth?   The sum of the parts? I’m starting to see a correlation between original old guns and original old tractors.