Winchester 1895 .35 WCF yeeeha

[ANick57]

As one might expect by the title, *someone* just got his grubby mitts on a pretty darned nice 1895 in .35 WCF., date of manufacture looks to be late in 1903. Bore is bright, internals look like there's not been many rounds cycled through the gun at all. The blue is decently intact, as in largely all there with some thin areas, no notable rust. The wood is, by my inexpert eye, as finished original, with only some amount of character marks thumped into the wood over the decades. It has had a sling attachment dovetailed into the barrel with a mate in the buttstock. And it does have the 38 Lyman in place and looking healthy.

I have yet to get the camera setup for the obligatory portraiture, so for now you will have to take my word for it. The grin on my face should be enough evidence though.

Why the .35 WCF? Did I want a rifle that not only hasn't had ammunition stocked since before VHS and Beta were feuding? No, not at all. I wanted a rifle that the quest for brass was on par with the Search for the Holy Grail !!! Actually, I found a source for Jamison unfired, new brass, which from the price, might have put that more on the way of Jason and the Golden Fleece. Be that as it may, I have the rifle, I have the brass in a quantity just below hoarding and comfortably above expected use which means that sometime this year I will get to eat something other than Top Ramen. Dies are on order, due at the door in the next day or two.

Granted, the magazine length is a limiter, but with bullets choices in .35 for the Whelan available, I'd think that something might be borrowed for the WCF. Not being a tube magazine, pointy bullets are a possibility, as long as they'll stabilize in the 1-12 twist of the 95. Allegedly, though the .405 had a bunch more energy at the muzzle, the .35 retained energy better out further. That said, the round is not a .25-06. The test will be what kind of accuracy can be achieved and to what ranges using the stock sights? That of course is its own quest, but I'd think 200 yards is a viable max.

So, the great experiments are getting lined up. I've found a few loads on line, but I'm starting to look for older reloading manuals that have information for the .35 WCF. There's a caveat on the older books of course. Powders, even the same named powder, can change over time. So there's also going to be some validation of powders to work out. My thought there is that a given powder listed for the .35 WCF that is also used in something like the .30-06 will let me compare current loads for the '06 against that older manual's data and give a clue for the current powder in the .35 WCF. It's not at all a perfect plan, but with judicial use of cross-checking sources and a bit more prowling of the web, I'm somewhat confident I can find a starting point or two.

I haven't found much recent activity around for the .35 WCF, but there are a few old archived threads to be found. I'll be mining those, but thought I'd put a little fresher feeler out here.

Thanks
ANick

[Reverend Al]

Congratulations on finding your 1895 in .35 WCF! I'm also a lover of all things .35 calibre and I found and bought a similar '95 rifle a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, so far it's still on the "back burner" along with several other project guns, but at the time I bought it I dug through some of my older reloading manuals (mostly vintage Lyman editions) and made the following notes for future reference. I bought 100 rounds of Hornady .405 brass that I will reform into .35 WCF and if I can find a suitable source of .30-40 Krag brass (a lot tougher to find up here in Canada than our common as dirt .303 British) I'll try extruding it out to full length to form some more .35 WCF brass since I bought a Kal Max Case Stretcher from Red River Rick a while back too. (With the dies to lengthen .30-30's into .32-40 and .38-55's, .303's and .30-40 Krag into .35 WCF and .405 WCF, and .45-70's into .45-90's and .40-82's). I can try lengthening some .303 Brits too, but the .30-40 Krag would give me a head start on lengthening them to .35 WCF.)

.35 WCF Loading Data

Maximum loaded COAL of 3.15 to 3.20 inches to fit in 1895 Winchester rifle magazine.

For Lyman # 358315 200 grain

4759 17 grains 1550 fps
4198 27 grains 1700 fps
3031 33 grains 1680 fps
4064 35 grains 1730 fps
unique 12 grains 1450 fps

For Lyman # 358318 250 grain

4759 20 grains 1600 fps
4198 25 grains 1550 fps
4895 40 grains 1950 fps
3031 34 grains 1675fps
4064 36 grains 1720fps
4320 17 grains 1550fps

[Reverend Al]

As always, given the age of the manuals I used to source them please take the above loads with a large grain of salt and start low and work up carefully. The old manuals showed heavier loads with the heavier bullets than they did with the lighter bullets so as always with vintage guns I'd tend to be a bit conservative to start and go from there ...

[jrmartin1964]

Congratulations! A Model 1895 in .35 Winchester is on my "one of these days" list.

Here's load data from Lyman's 42nd Edition (1960), the last from them to provide load info for the .35 Winchester:
Attachment 196534
Usual disclaimer, grain of salt, all that sort of stuff applies!

Ken Waters' book "Pet Loads" includes his November 1990 article on loading for the .35 Win., but bear in mind he was using a Browning 1895 of recent manufacture - originally a .30-40 - that he had re-bored and re-chambered.

[MT Chambers]

You'll like that gun more and more, mine is in .303 British.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Have no regrets getting a 1895 ! We do await even an ugly photo of your fine 95 / 35.
I guess if I could have any it would be a 95 in 375 Whelan .... But I am content with the book end calibers... 30 Gov and 405.
Mike in Peru

[Beerd]

Hey there, ANick!
WELCOME to Castboolits!

More than one of us here is envious of your latest acquisition.
..

[ANick57]

Beerd,
Well, that combination always seemed to make a lot of sense, lever, .35, pointy bullet options. The funny thing is, I remember looking at the 95 back in my formative years and thinking it was just plumb homely!! Well, once upon a time I didn't care for parsnips either. Actually, I still don't like parsnips, but the '95 started to look pretty darned handsome! I found it on-line of course. One of the big outdoor companies (can I say the name Cabela's in here?) had it on the right side of the map. For $25 they sent it over to the more local store and I could go look at it, no commitments!!
Turns out, they'd just dropped the price. And there was a 10% off event going in the store... and there was just no way in the world I was going to leave it behind!! Got out of there eventually. I spotted a Win. 62A sitting on the back row of a case, looking sad, dejected and in need of adoption. Other than 4 holes tapped on the left side of the receiver for a scope mount, it was practically new. I doubt it has had a couple of bricks through it! Anyway, I was looking it over, being nice to it, and wouldn't you know it perked right up and wanted to play. Well, call me a sucker for a cute little .22, but I had to take it home too!

Reverend Al, can you order from Nacheez up there? They didn't have any problem supplying the .35 brass .. maybe not exactly cheap, but not too bad.

Okay... enough. Dodged a Monday, but there's still Tuesday morning coming to substitute for it.


Be well all.

[Reverend Al]

No luck to order brass of any calibre from the US up to Canada ... ITAR put the brakes on that with their regulations after 9/11. Funny thing is that shotgun components including brass cases can be shipped up, but nothing in rifle or pistol calibre brass. No problem though, I can get by with the re-formed .405 cases until I stretch some .30-40 Krag or .303 British cases with the Kal Max Case Stretcher ...

[26Charlie]

I should think you could use .358 Winchester loads for cast bullets only, as case capacity looks similar. I have a Savage M99 .358, and use 200 and 250 grain CBs with great success.

[ANick57]

Charlie,
Curious, what's the twist rate on your 99?

[26Charlie]

ANick57; never actually checked the twist on the M99. Just assumed it was the 1:16 standard for .35 Remington etcetera. Have shot the latter with 200, 250, and even the 280 gr Lyman 358009 fat RN with success.

[muskeg13]

Congrats. I've had good luck forming .35Win from new Hornady .405 brass. I just did an initial rough trim with a tubing cutter, used good sizing lube (Imperial), and slowly formed the cases in a .35 Win Redding sizing die a little bit at the time and rotated the cases before the next pass. I did a final trim and they were ready to load. It got fairly fast after the first few. Never tried the .30-40 route, and I hear they will end up a bit short. In a pinch, you may even be able to use .303 Brit brass,but they would have even shorter necks.

[Thin Man]

One of my friends is telling me that he is dangerously close to owning a Winchester 1895 in 35 WCF caliber. He is a handloader but prefers to use only original, properly roll marked brass for all of his handloading. His plan (if he buys this rifle) is to purchase a small quantity of newly manufactured 35 WCF ammo from Selway Armory. This ammo is Precision Cartridge origin priced at $53.99 per box of 20 rounds. With all the issues from converting 30-40 Krag and 303 British over to 35 Winchester I'm not sure I would disagree with his decision.

[ANick57]

One of my friends is telling me that he is dangerously close to owning a Winchester 1895 in 35 WCF caliber. He is a handloader but prefers to use only original, properly roll marked brass for all of his handloading. His plan (if he buys this rifle) is to purchase a small quantity of newly manufactured 35 WCF ammo from Selway Armory. This ammo is Precision Cartridge origin priced at $53.99 per box of 20 rounds. With all the issues from converting 30-40 Krag and 303 British over to 35 Winchester I'm not sure I would disagree with his decision.

No firsthand info on how it holds up, but I did get 400 pcs of (appropriately marked) .35 WCF Jamison from Natchez at $1.30 per. I went over to Selway to look at theirs, but all I saw was .351 Win (autoloader) brass?

[Shawlerbrook]

A 1895 in any caliber is a treasure. Congrats and can't wait for the pictures.

[Dan Cash]

I have a 1900 vintage 1895 with the Lyman sight as yours though mine is not so well preserved and is in .30-40. Over the last 7 years that I have owned it, it has become my go to rifle for any serious work and it has worked well on deer. I thought to claim an elk with it but could not get closer than 350 yards so passed. There is the odd buffalo in my country and I would not hesitate to use the 05 with one of my PP 215 grain bullets on one but your .35 would be better.

[ANick57]

Added the eye candy to the original post above.

Now, you will notice that one of these two is missing a lever? Well, that's because if I just took pictures of the 95, the 62a would get all huffy about the lack of attention. The older would get all defensive. Feelings would be hurt, etc., etc. So, I'll have to apologize for dumping the extra pics on you folks.

You might notice what looks like a smear or a bit of a fault in the bluing on the left side of the 62a in the larger version pic in the thread start post? Here's a closer look. It's a leaf and grass reflecting off the side... took me a minute to spot that.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Twist rate on the Savage 99 .358 is usually 1-12, for all years and Savage factory barrels.

[cwtebay]

Congratulations! A Model 1895 in .35 Winchester is on my "one of these days" list.

Here's load data from Lyman's 42nd Edition (1960), the last from them to provide load info for the .35 Winchester:
Attachment 196534
Usual disclaimer, grain of salt, all that sort of stuff applies!

Ken Waters' book "Pet Loads" includes his November 1990 article on loading for the .35 Win., but bear in mind he was using a Browning 1895 of recent manufacture - originally a .30-40 - that he had re-bored and re-chambered.

Hello, I don't know if this thread is still active but I would love to see a good photo of your Lyman manual on the 35 WCF. My sons and daughter and I all 6 use a '95 in 35 for our timber elk hunting rifle. Any "new " load data is very welcome!!
Thank you for your help.

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