Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Buffalo Bore 348 Win. too hot

I took my model 71 Winchester (348) to the range. After firing the third time the empty brass was hopelessly stuck in the chamber. No normal amount of tugging on the lever would release the spent round. So it was off to the gunsmith whose prognosses was that the Buffalo Bore people loaded the cartridge too hot. Buffalo Bore tauts their stuff as fast but within saami specs.

What to do? I ordered more factory fodder from Midway: Grizzly Ammunition, 348W. 250 gr. jacketed flat nose bonded core. Stay tuned. What are your thoughts?

I've never used Buffalo Bore in 348 but I have used the Grizzly. I've not had any problem with it. I tested it on some hogs but never recovered any bullets, I then shot, with a couple of other guys, a water buffalo. I recovered both bullets, good expansion, weight retention, and penetration. Grizzly makes good stuff.

Ricky

BB ammo walks a fine line with high pressures. This is the only way they can achieve their velocity claims. Just like in handloading, running flat out will eventually result in a bad situation.
Its important to remember that the .348" 250 grain bullet does not need hyper velocity to achieve both deep penetration and stopping power. Loads close to 2200 fps work just fine. The price paid by BBA's extra pressures can also easily result in shooting your 71 loose. 50-70fps won't make any difference in the real world.
You can shoot Winchester 200gr. factory loads, which will probably do fine for anything short of big angry beasts, or you can handload.
I've heard good things about Grzzly, but as far as I know, they are still only promising .348 WCF ammo.

I traded for a model 71 and received some Buffalo Bore ammunition with the rifle. The ammo box said the ammo would produce 2250 fps withe 250 grain bullets which is reasonable. I shot the ammo over a crony and got over 2400 fps which is too high. I then loaded up my own and found my rifle developed maximum listed velocity at 2 grains less than the listed load. So I think my rifle must have a tight chamber and that the BB ammo was fine.

Winchester or Western Super X 250 grain ammunition usually achieved real world velocities of approximately 2230fps. This load accounted for all matter of large and dangerous critters, and no doubt shot many holes through two legged miscreants. For the record, this was around 100fps short of claimed velocity, yet even so, acquired an admirable record of impressive stops.
Buffalo Bore has a fanatical following, as do any number of experts who will remain nameless here. BBA often runs its pressures to the absolute maximum, while SAAMI manufacturers settle for a mean in pressure. BBA has had pressure over runs in the past, and has attempted to address such issues with a short list of changes. Sundles, who owns BBA is bright, smart, and immensely opinionated. The only reason he would ever change anything is for liability, profit, or effectiveness.
When BBA works, it works great, but when it does not, well...
Maximum loads are not reachable for every weapon. Variables known and unknown continue to make handloading as much of an art as a science.
In my opinion, I would not use BBA as baseloads for my gun. Rather, I would use current Winchester 200 grain Super X, and measure expansion carefully above the the rim, on the web of the brass. I would then use new unfired .348 WCF cases, and build a load that equals the expansion of the super X fodder.
Real Winchester 71s are aging, never to be replaced, and my advice is to treat them with the respect they deserve.

If the ammo won't shoot safely in your rifle I might buy it and use it in my 348AI.

I've heard bad stuff about buffalo bore and .444 ammo from a couple of gun smiths. More or less, if you like your rifle, don't use this stuff.

Greetings! Very much enjoy the Forum although not posted, I find it a great community of folks of similar interests and decent repect.

I've seen several posts commenting on Buffalo Bore ammo being too hot. I have Browning 71 carbine and recently found some 348Win BB 250gr bullets on Gunbroker for a decent price. Now I am concerned about shooting these cartridges in my pet gun.

Would it be better to just pull the bullets dump the powder and reload with a powder & ammount more in line with factory specs for a 250gr bullet? In this case just starting with the primed shell from bb and their bullets.

Thanks for the help!
Cheers

If you reload, I can highly recommend 62 gr H4831 and 250 gr Barnes original at 2200 fps. It should work fine in your Browning 71.

I use Hawk bullets 180-250 G. in my 71's, hunt Alaska with it. Killed a few moose, bears. Never shot BB. I use mostly Northern Precision in my 71's in .450 Alaskan, 400G. does the job........ forget the load ,but Not at max, don't need to be super hot. One can't shoot that real hot stuff fast any way. And a sticky chamber at the wrong time... oh boy.
Cisco

The Winchester .348 Silvertips wound more game than anything else I have ever shot, and the new stuff is loaded down. The Silvertips should be in a museum.
Cisco