Description
ORIGINAL CONDITION SPECIAL ORDER!
What you are viewing is a highly desirable, all-original Winchester Model 1895 Non-Takedown Rifle which was manufactured in 1912 according to records.
Because it is a second-generation variation (scalloped receiver) produced during the prime era of custom civilian orders, a rifle in this specific serial number block with special order features is highly sought after by collectors.
The Winchester Model 1895 lever-action rifle with serial number 65837 was chambered for the heavy-hitting .405 Winchester cartridge, known to be favoured by a certain big toothed US President.
Coming with special factory options places this genuine 1912 commercial sporting version in .405 W.C.F firmly in the top tier of the collectable Winchester market anywhere but especially here in Australia.
Introduced in 1904 the .405 Winchester uses a 300-grain bullet traveling at roughly 2,200 feet per second, producing about 3,225 foot-pounds of muzzle energy with ”noticeable” recoil & was famously dubbed “Big Medicine” by President Theodore Roosevelt & designed solely as a dangerous game cartridge.
Designed by John Browning, the Model 1895 was the first Winchester lever gun to use a non-detachable box magazine instead of a tubular magazine, allowing it to safely fire powerful spitzer bullets.
Because the heavy-recoiling .405W round was almost exclusively bought for brutal big-game hunting safaris & finding an unrefinished 1912 specimen that escaped damaging African field use is extraordinarily rare.
In addition to the scrapes & bumps hunting rifles experience in the bush, how many were hurriedly dropped after two misses on a charging (insert scary African animal intent on killing you here) before the 3rd shot was able to be fired (& how often)?
Factory Special Order Features
Because the standard configuration for a Model 1895 rifle was the curved crescent metal buttplate, a factory-ordered flat shotgun butt is considered a verified special-feature upgrade by collectors & commands a premium over standard crescent models, especially in .405 caliber!
On a massive recoiling caliber like the .405, the crescent steel buttplates were notoriously painful to shoot, prompting buyers to special-order the wider, flat shotgun-style plate to better distribute the recoil.
Another special feature upgrade is the addition of this rifle of the multi-leaf “African Express” folding sights, just along from the .405 W.C.F. visible stamped on the left side of the barrel.
Supporting our claims of originality, the highly coveted “WP” (Winchester Proof) marks on the top of the frame & barrel are extremely sharp, crisp & deep, proving the metal surfaces are 100% original & have never been buffed, sanded, or cold-blued.
Again looking closely at the photos, you will see the “B” under the S/N & may wonder what this means. This is not part of the serial number but instead was part of the internal Winchester factory mechanical modification mark that has a very specific meaning for the Model 1895.
Early production Model 1895 rifles experienced occasional feeding jams & extraction tension issues, particularly when Winchester started transitioning to high-pressure, smokeless cartridges so Winchester engineers redesigned the internal receiver geometry, modified the carrier/magazine spring tension & updated the bolt-locking system to ensure smooth cycling.
Once a receiver frame was milled & updated with this new, improved mechanical standard at the factory, workers stamped a “B” on the tang to instantly let assembly line workers know which version of the internal parts (carriers, links & springs) belonged inside that specific frame.
For the Winchester collector, this is an excellent buying advantage as it confirms that this 1912 specimen features the fully matured, reliable “second generation” internal mechanical configuration. This means the rifle was factory-built to handle the violent pressures & cycling demands of the heavy .405 Winchester cartridge without the feeding bugs that plagued the earliest 1895 variants.
Not surprisingly, reliability of the ‘must go bang when trigger pulled‘ kind was sorta important to the owners of 1895’s chambered specifically for very pissed off & Dangerous Game!
By all accounts, the combination of an unmolested solid, non-takedown frame on a rifle with a factory flat shotgun-style buttplate & African Express folding leaf sights solidifies this 1912 rifle as a premium, highly desirable configuration!
While “takedown” variations (rifles that separate into two pieces) technically command higher prices, a solid-frame rifle in remarkably crisp, complete & although not quite flawlessly “Mint” condition, is easily described as a preservation piece & easily commands this value.
Many serious collectors often prefer solid frames for the .405 caliber because they are significantly more robust & never suffered from the mechanical looseness or frame-stretching at the take-down joint caused by thousands of pounds of “Big Medicine” muzzle energy.
Winchester actively offered checkered hard plastic shotgun-style buttplates on special-order & Deluxe sporting configurations during 1912 so finding a flat shotgun buttplate on a solid-frame .405 rifle means it was almost certainly a bespoke order.
Hard plastic buttplates offer zero cushioning & so original .405 owners rarely shot these rifles for leisure which may help to explain how this rifle managed to survive in such great original condition for over a century.
The barrel retains beautiful, deep original factory blue as can be seen in the photos. The receiver shows honest handling wear along the high edges & toward the front, which is incredibly common for Model 1895 actions.
The wood has its share of an honest life lived & the fit to the metal is excellent, meeting tightly at the receiver tangs & showing beautiful grain, (see photos).
The finish on the timber appears to be a historic oil finish with some faint handling compressions & some minor loss of original finish near the magazine, entirely expected of an original rifle from 1912.
The bore could be considered in the same condition as what you see, so great.
This beautiful rifle came from a significant Winchester collection & we want to see it stay here in Australia but it will sell very well in the US at auction if it doesn’t find a forever home down under.
If it stays with us, we’ll likely seek a letter from Cody’s confirming the configuration is all correct when we get time.
Any serious Winchester collector should want this in their collection & we have priced it to sell so don’t hesitate if you think this is for you.
View the photos carefully & make your decision based on what you see as they form the main description & override all written information so ask for more if desired.
Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & this is sold on an ‘as is’ basis.
As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting. Call for shipping cost to your dealer.
