1895 Winchester and the 35 Whelen. Build one?

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy,
I found a great deal on a new Browning 1895 Winchester chambered in 30-06. It's one of the early ones without the tang safety. It's a wonderful big rifle that handles well and shoots jacketed and cast bullets with aplomb.
Here's the deal: The .30-06 is a cartridge capable of performing well at ranges far beyond the limits of the open sights of the '95. Even with the Lyman peep sight, the .30-06 is wasted in a lever gun. On the other hand, I feel that the .35 Whelen would be effective as far as I could see with a much heavier bullet than the '06.
Has anyone chambered a lever gun in .35 Whelen successfully? I'm wondering about brass life, the Whelen v. Ackley Improved Whelen, feeding, rifling twist, etc.
I envision a 20" barrel with express sights, a barrel band sling swivel, and a big ivory dot on the front. Should I do it?

Thanks for your input,
Bitterroot

[StrawHat]

The editor of Rifle magazine has converted several of the Browning 1895s to a variety of cartridges.

Not 35 Whelen but a couple of 375 and 411s.

Should you do it?  Well....what is the matter with the 06?  Just because it can be used for 1000 yd target work doesn't mean it can't be used for 100 yard brush work. 

Load it up with 220 grains of lead @ 2100 - 2200 fps and it is good to go.

The Browning 1895s should not have the headspace problems the original Winchester had with the 06 cartridge.

Conversion will be costly, barrel work and sights will be the two big ones.

Would I do it?  In a heartbeat, I had one reworked to 405!

[gwindrider1]

You should check out the .375 Scovill.

[G Curtis]

I have a Takedown '95 that was a 30-03. Bore was rusty beyond repair. Had it bored to .357 and chambered to 35 whelen. Great shooter but it kicks like a mule with the crescent buttplate.

Would I do it again. YES!

I have been shooting the Nosler 250 grain partitions, very accurate.

I also would second the notion of 220 RN in the 30-06. I shoot this in another '95 - originally known as the 30-03. Long neck brass is formed from 35 whelen brass. I can hit a 4 foot square steel plate at 700 yards with the original buckhorn sights.

[Blackhawk44]

"Here's the deal: The .30-06 is a cartridge capable of performing well at ranges far beyond the limits of the open sights of the '95. Even with the Lyman peep sight, the .30-06 is wasted in a lever gun."

OH NO !!  I wish one of you had told me before now.  Without knowing any better I mounted a Mable's tang sight on one end and an XS striped blade on the other of my '06 Browning '95, tried a couple of handloads then proceeded to shoot bench groups of 1.25" at 100yds and 2.25" at 200yds.  It has proven pretty effective on game at 175, 185 and 235 measured yards.  Where we hunt in the canyon country and in West Texas, 150 to 300 yard shots are common and I've yet to feel handicapped.

Personally, I believe that the better definition of the striped blade over a bead front helped the functional accuracy more than anything.  I was amazed how much easier it was to call shots at range.     

Heavier bullets?  Why not try some of the premium 180's and 200's which behave like they're even heavier.  That  narrows the gap to the Whelen while retaining some ranging capability.  I'd try what you have before you go too far, but that's me.  BOL     

[Foggy]

As Strawhat stated the editor for Rifle Mag. has done a couple there was an article in the same mag  same issue about a guide in Alaska that uses a 95 converted into a Whelen , along with a 375  & 411 Hawk/Scovill for ammo the Whelen is the least expensive of the ammo

[crash87]

A number of years ago I bought a 95 Winchester to have redone to a 375 Hawk/Scovill. I read everything I could get my hands on, which wasn't much, but I really wanted one. After sitting in a dark corner and pondering on just how many grizzly Bear I would be facing here in Wisconsin I decided to go with the 35 Whelen. I had the late Richard Nickel rebore it to a 35 cal with a 1:12 twist so I would be able to shoot up to 300 gr bullets, pretty much duplicating the 405 Win. As it started out as a 270 the only chamber work it needed was to have it neck reamed for the Whelen. I never did shoot those 300's but 250 gr Speers @2399 using Relaoder 15 with astounding accuracy did the trick on Wi Whitetails, with authority I might add. I've found, so far' that every rifle I've had rebored have shot better than there previous chamberings, so far so good. I hunted Alaska in 2003 with Ed Stevenson the outfitter/guide who uses those converted 95's for general duty and back up work in Alaska. Currently he uses the 411 but has in the past used the 375 among others. Man those rifles take a beating. As I was also hunting sheep as well as Brown bear I took one rifle (338 Win). In hind sight it would not have been that difficult as I had thoiught to bring 2 rifles. I wish now I could have confronted that bear with the 95....maybe "next" time. Go with a rebore and the Whelen you'll never look back...... CRASH87

[Rangr44]

[Has anyone chambered a lever gun in .35 Whelen ]

A .30-06 needs no chamber or feed work to make it a .35 Whelan, just a rebore/rerifling.

Jesse Ocumpaugh, from Oregon, does rebores all the time for $145 + S&H, with a six weeks turn-around.  His contact is (541)942-1342

[WyoStillhunter]

Great thread.  I've been intrigued by the 95 for years but never quite gotten to the point of scratching that itch.  I love my Rem. 700 Classic in 35 Whelen. It has worked just fine on antelope, deer, elk, and mountain lion.

My first reaction to the original post was, "Why not just load 220 gr. '06 bullets and call it good?!"  I have read about Ed Stevenson and his various 95s and together with the last two posts I would say that the chambering the 95 for 35 Whelen would be a satisfying project.  However, I doubt I would shorten the barrel.

[S.B.]

Go for it! Stay with the regular Whelen, I'd think brass wouldn't last long with a Ackley Improved?

[One Eye]

Would I do it?  In a heartbeat, I had one reworked to 405!

Interesting.  Aren't the newer repros already made in 405?  Was your's an original 1895?  I have always wanted a 1895 in 405.  Call it my TR rifle.
Dan

[Rangr44]

Original M-1895's were available in .405, as were the Miroku's after ca.2002.

Some folk, about Y2K, either couldn't await the promised Winchester revamp, didn't want to pay that freight, preferred the no-safety Browning M-1895, and/or already had an 1895 on hand in .30-40 or .30-06 & went for the rebore conversion.

Only it was found that the Browning rebore to .405 didn't always come out right, as (due to a manufacturing process) there's a hard spot under the Browning front sight that causes the rebore drill to wander, when a rebore over .375 was tried on them.

[Tencubed]

Gotta echo what Blackhawk44 had to say about the '95.  Dad left me an original '95 in 30-40 that has taken more than it's fair share of game over the years.  He carried it as a saddle gun when we were working in the mountains and would take grouse by shooting their heads off or knock down a coyote at long distance with the same 180 grain Remington Core-Loc loads.  Later when I started reloading he shot a lot of 165 grain stuff and said it was a better all around bullet for the rifle.  When after a bear or elk in heavy brush Dad always had a few 220 grain loads on his belt that would "anchor most anything up close" as he put it.

I too wish I had known the Lyman receiver mount peep and blade front were ineffective cause as best I can recall that rifle seemed to kill things pretty dang dead.

I have an original in 405 and a couple in '06 but still prefer the old 30-40 even as battle scared and worn free of blueing as it is.

Mike