Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Model 71 348 Winchester

Finally, thanks to RidgeRunner (Nosler Member), I have my (Brownning) Model 71 348 Winchester, plus enough ammo to keep me shooting quite awhile, even pitched in a set of dies and some 200 grain Hornady's.. Just can't say thank you enough to him. It is a dream rifle. Thank you.













I think I might have a problem though, the ladies of the house seem to really like the blued steel and wood... Can't say I blame them though.

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Nosler, if your listening, I could really use a Partition for this rifle... HA!

Can't wait to get out and give it a whirl on the range. Might try making a few milk jugs beg for mercy too.. :lol:

Beautiful rifle - enjoy.

Thank you! I love it!

Awesome!! Looks like you are screwed though. Is your wife going to let you shoot her new rifle .. Now you just need that .348 cal bullet mold that's in the classifieds.

HA! She is at work today, I am sneaking off to the range today.. If she wants to claim it as her own, that's okay, I will still get to shoot it once in awhile!

Nice rifle buddy. I know you've been on the prowl for one for a while now. Let us know how she shoots.

I've put some rounds thru it, sitting, kneeling and standing with some factory ammo. Feels good to just shoot it rather than being strapped to a bench. I've got some loads ready but I'm almost having more fun just shooting it! I'll get some work done soon though. From what I've seen it looks plenty accurate.

On my bucket list.....Congrats!!!

Picked up my 71 today and got a nice surprise. The shop owner had 2 boxes of 250gr Barnes bullets, 3 boxes of 200 gr Hornady bullets and 100 pieces of brass all for $50!

Man, you hit the motherlode right there!!!

I hear that. I guess I should have said, let us know how what you think of it after you shoot it. They are just a kick in the pants to shoot..

Son of a gun! I can't find a box of 250's anythings, anywhere! You really scored! Congrats.



Yeah, it is awesome. A ton of fun and recoil is actually pretty mild too. I did stuff one of the 200 grain Silvertips into the jugs.

Beautiful Rifle, Gorgeous wife,beautiful daughter and they like fine rifles!! You Ludicous Suck ya know!!

The Browning 71's are beautifully assembled pieces. I have a carbine that has convinced be I no longer need my Marlin Guide Gun.

I love to listen to the arguments about .444/.45-70, and how either the .444 shoots flatter, or the .45-70 can be made to shoot just as flat....Neither one hangs with a .348, trajectory-wise.

I have some Woodleighs 250's on order. Should be fun. I wished Hornadys or someone else made a conventional 250. The Hawk might be a decent option. They are decently priced.

I have some Barnes Original 250s that work very well in my 348.

Jorge, you are the man I was waiting to here from. Any game results from the 250's? Accuracy? Loads. Right now I am running RL17 in mine. Seems to work really well for accuracy and velocity. Like I said, I ordered some Woodleighs, but maybe I should have called Hawk or something cause it seems like all of the 250's aren't available right now.

I do plan on finalizing my zero with these..



I haven't benched the rifle yet, but so far, it seems to shoot real well.

Beretz: I'm at the office now, but if you do a search on this Forum, you will find my loads for the 250grain Barnes'. If memory serves me right, it was using H-4350 but I just don't remember the amount. Give me a few and I'll come up with stuff for you. j

Ta Da! : 348 thread

Excellent, thank you.

The woodleigh is the real deal, a few years back I tested many in the backyard. I quickly sold all my barnes original bullets. At one point barnes offered a x bullet 348 that was good as well but not available. Yep my boy took a nice bison with the woodleigh and then his cousin did the same with a 338 woodleigh.

CTW, that is great news. I have a box of 250 Woodleighs on their way to the house now. Looking forward to trying them out. Hopefully I will get a chance to stuff one into the water jugs. I love finding them big mushroomed bullets and seeing what they do. Granted it isn't a buffalo, but it does tell me what they should do when they smack game.

Crappy cell pic:


Thanks RAS!

WHOA! That is a beautiful rifle!

Thanks. It has some nice wood. I do think I am going to have it checkered in the deluxe style and I am still debating on putting a recoil pad on it

Try it without a pad.. Mine has the steel plate and isn't really uncomfortable at all with 200's. The stock design is excellent on these rifles..

I'm storing that in the memory bank.

I needed some dies so I figured I would give Lee a chance and ordered the Pacesetters which includes their factory crimp die. I have not used Lee's before and they were under $30 with a shell holder included which is a lot cheaper than RCBS or Hornady so we shall see.

Well, I went out today to try and zero the rifle with the 200 grain Silvertips.. Again, I didn't feel like using the bench, just wanted to shoot off my hind legs and back in the front.. :lol:



243 Winchester for comparison...



Three of the lovely 200 grain Silvertips..



My first 3 shots were at the bottom of the paper.



I adjusted the sights and I shot right over the darned target, luckily one caught the paper so I cranked it back down..

The little 3 shots in the center were my next 3..

So I cranked it down, 3 shots, back up, 3 shots, a little left, 2 shots. Then, my final 3 were 2 shots in the orange and 1 outside. Worst group, but still acceptable I guess. The rifle is too much fun though. Just a fun handling rifle that seems very accurate if I steer it decently..



I think they would work on bear or moose though..

I see you were having fun. I'll bet you burned up the whole box of ammo and enjoyed every last second of it

You know it! Can't get enough of it.. Probably should give it a little cleaning now..

I think I will take mine Turkey hunting in the morning, you never when one might charge!

HA! Now your talking! Might as well be prepared for one of them cantankerous old toms!

I'm gonna snipe woodchucks with mine.
Tomorrow

They did make the X in 200 and 220 grains. I have a bunch of the 200's and they are excellent...they shoot very well and are unusual in that they expand with six petals instead of four. I wish I'd picked up a bunch of the 220s as well.

I'd like to work a load with a little more velocity with them but here they are compared to the 200 Hornady, both shot into water jugs:

beretzs,

When you get your 250s, I'd start with H4350. I also used H4831 with good results but the loads I worked up with the 200 Hornady and 250 Barnes gave me the same POI at 100 yards so I didn't have to change the Williams FP site.

Have you been having any trouble finding brass and/or bullets?

Not too much trouble. The Woodleighs showed up yesterday and I grabbed another box of 200 grain Hornadys. Got a ton of brass with the rifle. Local gun store has 4 boxes of 200 grain Silvertips as well, so when I can I will grab them.

Thank you for the info. I will give it a shot pretty soon with the 250's. Excited to see what they look like coming out of the jugs.

Ok when I picked mine up several years ago I'd stocked up on brass along with the Barnes 250s and Hornady 200s and could probably spare some if you were having trouble.

Thank you sir. I appreciate it. I think I have enough to keep me shooting for a little while right now.

Boy if these pictures don't convince people of the inherent superiority of Barnes' over cup and core, I don't know what will!

I would definitely want the Barnes for Elk. I don't think it will matter a whole lot on our puny Florida deer if I use a 200 gr Hornady, Silvertip, or either of the Barnes originals.

Jorge, did you decided on which powder to go with? I am waiting on the dies to arrive and need to get some more powder. I have cases of Kik 3F but I don't think it will do too well in the .348

No problem for a fellow '71 shooter

I love 'em in the 348, my regret is not picking up the 220's as well. They're impossible to find now....I'd bet they'd do anything the 250s would.

That is the truth.. The Model 71 guys do seem to find one another on the interwebs!

I am looking forward to getting out and running some of the 250's.

Got my Lee dies with the factory crimp today from Titan Reloading, now just powder left

Which powder are you waiting one?

Still trying to decide which one to use. There is only one shop that carries any variety around here and it is not a huge choice. They have Var get at the moment but are expecting some Hogdon and Accurate varieties in next week

Seems like anything from Varget on up to RL19 would work fine. Seems like most are just picking their favorite medium burning powder and getting to work. I have alot of 17 and 19. So, I am working with the 17.