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A friend has asked that I re-blue & restock an old '95 in '06 (marked 30 govt 06) that his father left him. Before the wailing & grinding of teeth starts I will not re-blue the rifle, nor will I dispose of the original stock --- it will be put aside until he comes to his senses.
Questions I have are 1) Does this appear to be the original stock. I would like to duplicate factory design as much as is possible. The buttstock looks factory but the forend has been poorly modified at some point. Also, the configuration of the buttstock differs from any '95's I have seen, although I have little experience with them. 2) Is anyone familiar with a stockmaker who can do the rough blank / inletting on an old black walnut stock blank his father had laying around.
I am very much a beginner at stockmaking although I am a somewhat accomplished woodworker & am confident I will not hack this too badly.
Any good info on date of manufacture? Serial # 4127XX.
...That is a carbine butt stock and forearm, with the upper forearm/handguard missing. You can get an idea of how it should look by going to Gallery of Guns web site and looking at the Winchester carbine replicas pictured there.
...FWIW, the Winchester Model '95 carbines had a 22" barrel. If that barrel is 22", then the stock is likely correct.
...The '95 carbine in 30-06 was the gun/caliber the Texas Rangers used.
As far as the owner of that old Win 95 Carbine goes please explain to him that even though that rifle is his now, if he blues it and replaces the wood, he will be destroying all of the character and history of those who had it before. Every nick, every scratch, the modified forearm, the handling marks all tell stories of past use. It's a crying shame to ruin that.
Were it mine I'd clean it really good, make sure it was in good mechanical condition and then I'd take it hunting and kill something with it.
At the least I'd kill a paper plate or two.
Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
I, too, am no expert, but that rifle looks right to me. Tell your friend to leave it as it is. Do some maitainance on it, keep it oiled, and use it! Leave that rear sight on it, too.
Shawn
"That's right, Billy, I'm good with it. I hit what I shoot at, and I'm fast!"-Lucas McCain, c1882.
I'm with the above boys--clean it, oil it and then shoot it 'till the cows come home. Only 2 suggestions--1.--have the headspace checked, as well used '95's in 30-06 are nortorius for having headspace problems. 2. Leave that Lyman 21 right where it is. Lift the sight up to its highest elevation and then look for two letters stamped in the back. Should read WR or WT. A correct coded Lyman 21 is worth close to 5 c-notes--------Sixgun
Leave it as is. IMHO The Texas Rangers used the 1895 in many different calibers. Later on many were 30-06 caliber. I have seen several in 30-40 Krag that were used by Rangers.
I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but IMHO, I believe the forearm has been shortened a little. Probably the end was damaged, and it was cut back to hide the damage. I'm enclosing a picture of mine for comparison. I love these old 95's!
Winjester[img][img]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234 ... 0_0984.jpg[/img][/img]
Sixgun is right about the price of the original parts for these. The original buttplate cost me around $200. Don't even ask about the price for the original rear barrel-mounted sight!
Winjester
The barrel band is likely opened up slightly from when they slid it back a few inches on the tapered barrel - you may need an insert of some sort to take up the annular space.
I would call Precision or Treebone and see what they say about semi-inletting, MAYBE Macon, but their stuff is sort of non-traditional.
The rifle is in average condition and once the forend is right it should be a nice shooter with a little collector value, but much more sentimental value. That sight is by far my favorite for these. Usually either the saddle ring post is cut flush OR the sight is trimmed at the lower right corner. From the last picture it looks like maybe both were done to this one.
Collector's Firearms has what I believe might have been the original configuration, save for the added recoil pad. Fairly good pictures - even one of the left side of the receiver showing wear from where a similar receiver sight once rode.
Texican wrote:Collector's Firearms has what I believe might have been the original configuration, save for the added recoil pad. Fairly good pictures - even one of the left side of the receiver showing wear from where a similar receiver sight once rode.
Texican,
I believe I have to disagree with you on this one. I still think it's a carbine, with a modified forearm along with the other issues that Old Goat pointed out earlier. Oregon Coot, What is the length of the barrel and what does the buttplate look like?
Winjester
This is definitely a carbine that got modified, having originally been the confirguration that Winjester showed in the picture.
If an 1895 has a barrel band it was born a carbine with top wood and a carbine butt. It is quite common for the top wood to be gone on these, and it is actually harder to find one that still has it. The top wood wouldn't even fit on this one anymore because of the relocation of the barrel band.
The one on Collectors is bubba'd up. Winchester never built one like that.
Butt is curved & smooth. Plate is held on with a single screw on the top of the comb & another about 1" up from the heel. Plate contains a trapdoor which slides up, revealing a 3/4" hole drilled deep enough to store cleaning rod segments. Incidentally, the trap door contained about 20 old strike-anywhere matches. They even made those better back then!
There are a few differences from the rifle illustrated. Mine is drilled & tapped for the rear sight - the example in your link was dovetailed.
The buttstock on the rifle I am working on is curved on the bottom toward the butt. The top of the comb is rounded forward chaging toward a more squared-off profile toward the butt.
There did appear to be a saddle ring installed at one time - that is now missing ... probably removed to allow the Lyman 21 full swing.
I would like to thank you and everyone else who has offered advice! It's amazing the amount of knowledge out there if you find the right group of guys.
The two drilled and tapped holes for a military-like rear sight, the trap in the buttplate, and remnants of a saddle ring are pretty much confirmation that it was manufactured as a Saddle Ring Carbine.
Like Winjester said, the original hand guard and rear sight are REALLY tough to find, and expensive when you do find them. I've been waiting for months for a gunsmith to alter a surplus handguard to work with mine. For a rear sight, I am using a reproduction 1879 Trapdoor Springfield rear sight.
I like the look of yours just like it is. If mine had come to me like that, I would have not played with it at all. If I am not happy with the repro handguard/sight setup, I just may have it drilled and tapped for a Ukranian Lymann 38 I have stashed away. But the repo setup will get a thourough testing first, before any non reversible changes are made.
I found a man who is a real professional at what he does, and that is to duplicate older, hard-to-find parts. Jack Schwartz is his name, and his business is East Taylor LLC. He manufactures a replacement front handguard and a rear sight for the Win. 95 carbine, along with other firearm parts. His work is virtually indistinguishable from the original. His website is www.partsforantiqueguns.com/. His phone # is (912) 839-4769, and is located in Statesboro, Georgia.
He, IMO, is a real credit to his profession!
Winjester
Here is mine just like it. I have the handguard for it. Mine also came without a rear sight. A old friend of mine gave me and put on a non original sight he had off something else. We did not drill and tap. It is 30 army, (30/40). I have shot it and it is accurate. The handguard wont fit over the new rear sight. I have owned it for about 35 years.
The rear sight looks like a Buffington sight that was used on the later Springfield trapdoors. Did the existing mounting holes line up with this sight?
Winjester
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