Is it possible there are Russian Winchester 1895 rifles in storage in Ukrainian caves?
I remember a while ago some news came out of Ukraine that an underground arms depot in Ukraine was found to have crates of well preserved M1 Thompsons from the US Lend Lease program during WWII. I don’t know why the thought popped into my head, but I was wondering if it was possible there were lever action Winchester 1895s purchased by the pre-WWI Russian government in there? I found an article from forgotten weapons saying they purchased 300,000 or so of the guns, so I’m wondering if it’s possible some were stored there and forgotten about.
Alternatively, what did the Soviet government do with the rifles after the Russian Civil War? Is it possible they even still have them? Or did they give them all to the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War?
Posted Jul 9, 2025, 4:02 AM UTC