Winchester 1895 Saddle Ring Carbine in standard caliber .30-40 Krag. This scarce variant of the famed box-magazine John Browning designed rifle with serial number 75871 was manufactured in 1911. The majority of Winchester Model 1895s were actually in musket configuration and sold to Russia for World War I. Very few of these have ever returned to the U.S. and little is now known of their whereabouts. Aside from these, Winchester produced a number of Model 1895 sporting rifles. The least produced were the saddle ring carbines. The standard caliber for all but the Russian Muskets in this model was .30-40 Krag. For the first couple of decades of the 20th century, the .30-40 was considered one of the most powerful cartridges of the time. It was especially popular since its introduction in the 1890s as the first U.S. Government’s small-bore smokeless powder cartridge. It far outshot the classic .30 WCF (.30-30) cartridge with regard to velocity and sheer power. The Model 1895 also had the advantage of using one of the earliest box magazines which allowed the use of pointed bullet ammunition. Tubular magazines as used on most other lever action rifles can only be loaded safely with blunt nose bullets. The 1895 Saddle Ring Carbine was made in limited numbers, but was very popular with the Texas and Arizona Rangers. Interestingly, this example, was made in the second year of the Mexican Revolution. This particular carbine is also unusual in that it retains the wood handguard fitted to the top of the barrel. Nearly all 1895 carbines found today are missing this important part. This 112 year old Winchester exhibits smooth gray wear on the receiver and barrel. It also retains the original and correct military style tangent ladder rear sight with adjustable slide. The action is tight, the bore shows fine rifling throughout The upper tang shows all the correct Winchester Model 1895 designation markings along with all the small Winchester patent dates and address on the left side of the receiver. Interestingly, the forearm and handguard show “smooth” heavy wear consistent with saddle scabbard carry as well as some honest saddle wear to the left side of the forend and handguard- typical of the carbine being held by a right handed rider resting the carbine over the saddle in front of him. Intriguingly, there are seven very old and very worn-in “kill notches” shallowly carved in the left side of the forend just ahead of the receiver. One can only wonder what each stands for! Similarly, the butt stock, with correct original butt plate with sliding trapdoor for cleaning rods, shows “weathering” to the walnut which is typical of a carbine carried exposed to the elements over long periods of time in a saddle scabbard with the butt exposed to the elements. Model 1895 Saddle Ring Carbines in any condition are seldom encountered on the collector market today and those that turn up usually show very heavy use and often abuse. This is an fine original frontier example of a Winchester Model designed for the modern rifleman/lawmant toward the end of the Wild West years. Serial Number: 75871. This firearm qualifies as a Curio & Relic firearm, and requires FFL Transfer or NICS Background Check.