Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Browning 71 348 Ack Imp is finished

The 348 Improved is finished and I picked it up today. It's one of the Browning high grade 71's from the 1980's with the engraving and plated reciever, short barrel.

Now I'm looking forward to work with this critter.

As a bonus I also picked up an cool old sporterized Waffen Gew 98 1915 Mauser. Kind of an cool piece and I couldn't resist. Man I'm like a kid at Christmas.

That's very cool....but....you know that without pictures it didn't happen!

Let us see that baby of yours!

With a good set of dies and today's bullets, you can turn that rifle into a
lever action 35 Whelen. I have one and they really are fun to stoke up and
run loads through.
Any jacketed bullet will do, but the Woodleigh-North Fork-Alaska BW bullets are
really ready for the Ackley.
IMR or H 4350 really moves em down the barrel. Of course, you will have no doubt its serious- at trigger time.

I think that I remember that you can get 200fps improving that round and that was with Ackley's old data and powders. Probably do a bit better than that with modern powders.
I've always liked the Browning 71's. Don't know why but I always have.

Hawk and North Fork make some heavy bullets that take the 348 Ackley into 35 Whelen country.
Alaska Bullets-Juneau.................also make a bonded core bullet like Woodleigh.

With these bullets, the 348 Ackley CAN become something of a bear rifle.
Browning did it right-no dangerous extra safety on the tang. Their steel is strong and barrels accurate.

Mine is a proven moose rifle with 270 Hawk bullets. This chambering was one of Parker Ackley's
favorites-because it delivered close to 200 extra fps- consistently with all bullet weights.

I was on the North Fork bullet site,has anybody got an opinion on the 200 CPS?

Parker Ackley was honest about his wildcats. He even said that the Johnson-Fuller 450 Alaskan was better than his own 450-348 IMP.-It fed better in M-71s.
If he said that the 348 ACK Improved would get close to or arrive at 200 FPS more-that is close to gospel. My 348 A Imp is on an original Winchester
Model 71 and it moves 250-270 gr bullets about 195 FPS faster than the 348-in all bullet weights.
The moose I shot in AK in 2007 -with the 348 AK Imp-is not here to defend himself.