Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors I fell in love again

I've been shooting 99's since I was 14 and have never killed a deer with another rifle, but I picked up a browning 71 on a whim this fall and I think I may be wavering on my favorite. Everything on the rifle is just solid, and the action is slick, really slick. The cartridge itself, 348 Winchester , has a cool factor that is hard to describe. Has anyone else handled one of these, what are your thoughts ? Besides that this is a crazy person's post that is.

MM

You're a pretty brave dude to come on the Savage forum bragging on a Winchester copy. Its kinda like walking up on the gallows unassisted and putting the noose over your own head !!!:):):) You have my sympathy.

I have had three over the years, all deluxe, two with bolt peeps. One had been converted to 45/70; I bought that for trade/resell purposes and never shot it. Kind of wish I had kept all three, but had to scratch other itches.

Shot the two .348's some, with both factory and handloaded ammo, but never killed anything with them. They are great rifles, made at the confluence of workmanship and modern materials. I don't know what the current availability is of components, but if you are going to shoot much, you had better reload. I believe you're looking at about three bucks a shot.

there is a winchester forum

Dude! 'SACRILEGE' Go to the Winchester threads and talk Savage if you have a double death wish. GW

I know i am stepping heavily on toes, but I think I am asking an honest question

ten thousand giveaphuques.

"Besides that this is a crazy person's post that is."

Pretty much explains the thoughts and the question

It's an honest question, but why ask it on a site dedicated to the love and preservation of the Savage 99? It's kind of like telling your ex's parents that you are falling in love with a new woman. Just not done. Surely there is another forum for such a question.
Besides, it's made in Japan and has two tubes, not one.

You guys are tough! I realize the OP is familiar with 99's, and probably deserves the scorn, but some of us flirted with those floozy Winchesters before we saw the light!

I love my 99's but I have a Browning 71. Very well made and fun to carry and shoot. It is a rifle I will never sell!

I posed the question on this forum because the people who use it love the model 99 as I do and have a great appreciation for its design and function. I am not asking the opinion of some people that may have handled one a couple of times and have very little experience actually hunting/shooting different models and calibers of it. Makes sense to me and is probably the most direct route to get the information that I am looking for. They are guns after all, not wives or family and I think we can discussions with this in mind.

MM

Nice recovery MM, I'm game for debate. How is the accuracy in those Browning 71's? Accuracy is one of the things 99 seems to do better than most levers, with the advantage of using pointy bullets of course.

Not really looking for a debate on which one is better, maybe just some shared experience by some on this forum that have handled both firearms. Accuracy seems good from my standpoint, but found out through the process I don't really care for shooting with a peep. Like I said I've been shooting a 99 of some sort for a couple decades, but always scoped. I'm having my gunsmith install a scout mount on the browning to solve that problem, and as far as positive and negatives go, the 99 definitely has it over on the browning with ease of installing a scope. Hornady makes pointy bullets with the red rubber tips so you can use spire points, but I don't think this gun was made for long range shooting. I'm looking to load up heavier round nose bullets and see how they shoot. One thing about this gun is that it punches on both ends. Looking forward to some more input, and no hard feelings for insults given, I don't take internet insults too seriously.

MM

I got a half dozen original Winchester model 71's, there real nice guns!! but i never had to talk about them on the "SAVAGE" forum !!! you need to go to the Winchester "CLONE" forum !!!! Oh ya there aint one !!!!!

There are lots of old threads on the Winchester 71, the Browning remake, and the 348 in the archives.

There is a Winchester collectors group on the Campfire that has some very experienced folks too.

My thoughts are that Brownings suck, except the old school A5, and they should have their own forum. Guns with hammers suck too. Hammers are for nails, not rifles. That is all

Their ok for a young stud who likes to hunt from a tree and buy high priced ammo. Who lifts weights and likes to get punched around. I know a guy that owns three that can verify that.
Won't reveal his name on a Savage forum as he is not ready to come out at this time. GW

I had one (a plain grade) for a spell 20+ years ago. I rather liked it, but got tired of being belted with each pull of the trigger. Kind of wish I hadn't got rid of it though. Only thing I killed with it was a groundhog, and since big game hunting such as to justify a mule killer like that wasn't in the cards, away it went. That's pretty much why I never owned a magnum of any sort too.

Nothing wrong with Browning/Winchester lever guns. Fit and finish is better than the average post-mil 99 in any event.

I like a lot of different guns, Savages being just one of them. I can't imagine limiting myself to one make/style of gun- I would get bored pretty quickly. That pretty much describes my take on women, too. Besides, more than one of the regulars here has posted about non-Savage rifles in the past, what's the big deal?