Winchester 1895 wildcat

[Thebear_78]

I find myself in possession of two Winchester 1895 lever guns. One that was rebarreled to 35 whelen the other a bone stock 30/06. I had been toying with turning one into a 400 whelen but......then I saw this wildcat.

A fellow Alaskan cane up with a very interesting wildcat for the 1895. It’s called a 41 OM. It’s basically a 9.3x62 necked up to .410 caliber. He is getting 2400fps with 350gr swift in a 21” barrel.

Below is 358 win, 9.3x62, and 41 OM with 250, 300, 350 gr swift bullets.

Now I just need to figure out which one I want to have rebored. I had been planning on bead blasting the stainless barrel, new sights and possibly a scout scope. The whelen has some utility as it is and the 30/06 is unaltered but unlikely to see any real use. That said I don’t really need two medium/big bore 1895s. Sometimes too many options can be a problem.


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[salmonchaser]

While I am a fan of the 35 I would rebore that one. I would keep the 06 stock.


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[Thebear_78]

They are both Japan made Winchester’s, the 06 actually shows the most use. It’s still in good shape but has some bluing wear and patina. You can tell it was used in Alaska! The bore on the 35 is new and shiny, the 06 is definitely not new abs shiny. That’s why I wasn’t feeling too bad about cutting on it.


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[FOTIS]

Man, that 41 is not brandishing much of a shoulder. Any headspace issues reported? That would be my concern, especially since it is designed for the big stuff.

 

[Blkram]

There is also the 411 Hawke cartridge based on the 30-06 case.
Not sure off the differences between it and the 41 OM.
If memory serves, the 9.3x62 case does have slightly more capacity than the 06 case.

I know my 376 Steyr is based of the 9.3x64 case.
It is a great cartridge that should also work well in the 1895.

 

[26NosFan]

Blkram hit what I was thinking. 376 Steyr would be the cat's meow in an 1895.

 

[Thebear_78]

The 411 hawk is actually very close to the 41 OM. The hawk is .454 at the shoulder while the 41 is .451 at the shoulder.

The 41 has proven very reliable in the original 1895. The original designer lives in northern Alaska and often spends long times living in the bush. His choice if the 9.3 parent cartridge was based on availability and price. He wanted something simple without a lot of needless steps to load. His first cases were PVI brass that he sized by pushing an upside down swift bullet into the case she removed with a hammer style bullet puller. The brass spring back was enough for neck tension and he was able to load and fire those cases with no other prep. Using a 458 win for for bullet seating. He is even able to do it on a lee hand press.

He didn’t want to mess around with cylindrical brass, hydraulic forming dies or neck turning. Something simple, economical, and available.

The rifle was built by JES reboring by using a piloted 9.3x62 reamer and .410 throater.

Original designer initial firing.
https://youtu.be/WMYUeH2-a7c

My plan is to basically follow his blueprint. Have the rifle smithing done by JES and get a dozen or so loaded cartridges from him and send my fired empties off to get a Hornady custom set of dies and a lee factory crimp does made.

Half of what interests me in this cartridge is the “Alasko-engineering” of this project. Performance wise it really duplicates the 411 hawk and G&H 400 whelen. 350s at 2350fps, 400s at 2200fps.

 

[Blkram]

Should make a great thumper!
Best of luck on your project and looking forward to your reports.

Have taken elk and bison with my 376, and looking forward to harvesting game with my 9.3x62 and my 416 Taylor (350gr TSX at approx. 2400 fps -yes can load hotter but am happy with velocity and accuracy 1/2" groups at this point).
So much fun to play with the various cartridges!

 

[Thebear_78]

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[Guy Miner]

Interesting.

 

[gerry]

Took a look at the video you posted and it looks like a pretty cool round. Since that Whelen is in such nice shape and has a new barrel I would be looking at sending off the 30-06 for the rebore.