Winchester Model 1895 Lever Action Rifle

As the 20th century came to a close, John Browning designed one last lever action rifle for Winchester. I've got a Winchester Model 1895 made in New Haven, Connecticut. It has an exposed hammer, like all of the earlier models, and a smooth trigger. The lever is two-piece. Pushing down on the lower part of the lever ring with the backside of your fingers unlocks the lever from a hook on the bottom of the stock. It has a straight grip stock and a rifle-style crescent buttplate. The barrel is 28 inches long. There's a blank fitted in the rear sight dovetail, and an alignment sight on the receiver. This allows for yardage adjustments out to who-knows-where and it has a steel bead front sight. There is a nice little ebony insert in the tip of the forend. Winchester made this model from 1895 to 1931 with over 400,000 produced. It holds five 30 40 Krag rounds, has a box-type magazine rather than the tubular style, and there's a special way to load it. For a demonstration, be sure to check out the video above.

--Larry Potterfield