Originally Posted by
Irascible
If this is your first go around with an 1895, load the magazine by pushing the base of the cartridge straight down first, around the center of the magazine, and then slide it back as you push the rest of the cartridge down. I learned this from an old Winchester catalog. I got my 1895 in 35 Winchester from a guy who didn't know and pushed the cartridges straight down as one would with a modern bolt action. This ended up bending the lips of the magazine and screwed up the feeding until I read about it and had to bend the lips back into shape.
PS....This is true of an original 1895. I don't know about the Japanese/Browning clones.