Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Old 1937 M-71 348 Winchester

.348 WCF Accurate Molds moulds designed for the .348 WCF:

250-grainer most popular, 1.04" long without GC, might be stable in 1:12" twist at 860 fps MV or faster, lead bullet



300-grainer, 1.25" long without GC, might be stable in 1:12" twist at 1250 fps MV or faster, lead bullet



All I have for those is a midget Browning M71 with 20" barrel, never been shot:







SAAMI twist is 1:12", one reason the .348 WCF is such a good killer with jacketed bullets.
Might work OK with the heavier and slower hardcast FNGC.

I definitely need a peep for the safe queen.







http://www.skinnersights.com/winchester_26.html

Neck the .348 WCF up to .458 and blow it out and shorten it a trifle (from 2.255" to 2.145") to make the .450 Alaskan: Same gross case capacity as a .458 WM.
Amazing. Tempting, but short COL is required to work through the M71 even if it had a .458 WinMag throat.
So I better not rebarrel, with so many fabulous bolt action .458 WM rifles about.

Amazing amount of beauty here. The model 71 that is.

Sir Ron, ho lee damn that's a beautiful carbine, i'd not put that aluminum williams on that rig, would search high and low for an old/older steel Lyman or Redfield, and certainly not drill it for the skinner, that 300gr cast bullet would be a hammer, you could easily drive it 1800, bet it wouldn't lead with Lyman #2 alloy.

Theoldpinecricker, Thank You, indeed, plenty of 71 beauty to go around in this thread.

I'd agree with that! They do sell a reproduction 98a bolt peep that would be killer, but it's a fair chunk of change.

Ive got that exact same Browning rifle as above but i had mine punched out to 348 AI

Good advice on the sights. I am too seriously into the .458 WM+ to go get a $440 bolt peep and pay a gunsmith to install it right now.
I bought the Browning M71 High Grade Carbine thinking I might have a 50 Alaskan done with it.





I wised up.
Happy to keep it as a much more useful .348 WCF which came from a .50-110 WCF to start with, so why undo the perfection ?
It does seem that many have found the .348 WCF very accurate with cast bullets:

"I have a few M71 Browning repro's. they have virtually no throats to speak of and like .351"-.352" diameter cast bullets. i use a LBT 250gr. LCFN with RL-15 for a little over 2100 fps. the shank of the bullet protrudes into the case so the powder is topped off with shotshell buffering which protects the exposed sides of the bullet from the powder gas. these rifles are the most accurate lever guns i have ever shot."

more here: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?90799-348-Winchester-with-cast-boolits

Gator Gas Checks might be required for the .348 GC bullets.
Hey, I have gotten Gators before, using the .40-cal on my .395-caliber wildcats galore.

I have 200 rounds of 200-gr Silvertip loaded ammo to burn and a 100-count box of Hornady 200-gr FP Interlock before I need the cast bullets.
The Williams "Fool Proof" aluminum might survive long enough to see if the rifle will shoot,
and at least it does not cover the elk's golden hind end.

.348 WCF-AI, yep, some claim 500 fps more velocity with the AI. Whatever it adds would probably more than make up for the 4" shorter barrel's MV loss.
Near straight taper of the .450 Alaskan-AI can cause feeding problems.
Not so much with the .348 WCF-AI, and adds case life ?

You got it going on Sir Ron, and imho made the correct decision leaving that little carbine be, i had a '71 in 450 Alaskan, fireformed 348 Win brass with 200gr hornady bullets, i shot 350gr Hornady round nosed bullets at Warp10, that rifle kicked like a mule.

That'll work tmitch, a man could keep an eye out on ebay for one too.

Don't price the original bolt peep that is on your rifle. You might have a heart attack

Damn, i would have never thought one of those could even be bought, damn sure not in the market to replace it, people will laugh, and say it isn't so, and that's okay, but they wouldn't laugh for long squatted down with an ear pressed up against the backside of my 300 yard gong when those 250gr Barnes landed!

Your 71 really came out nice....

I have a very similar post war and to really add sex appeal, I installed a Montana Sling as they really seem to go with that rifle.

Just about impossible to retrofit a Winchester 98A bolt peep on a M71 that doesn’t have a bolt that has been factory milled to accept one.

When I picked up a Mirkou Mod. 71 Deluxe .348 from a friend I did so with the intention of turning it into a Ackley Improved version. I changed a few things, like chopped the barrel to 22 inches and had t he smith drill and tap it for the XS peep sight, which is small, sturdy, adjustable and unobtrusive. Got a bunch of 250 grain super bonded Kodiak bullets and H4350 and Federal 215 primers to stuff in Starline cases. The barrel is Dyna Bore coated and with the weight of the rife the recoil ain't bad.

Just when I get it all done I took another look at the .375 Alaskan and 270 grain bullets at 2,500 fps mv and 250's at 2,600 fps mv and thought dang, why did I not go that route. I only hunt Alaska and either one makes a good moose and big bear round and Irarely shoot past 150 yards. It never ends does it and I should be content with the beauty I have.

I am a fan of peep sights, but I will have to see how my old eyes do with them this fall in low light compared to other barrel mounted open sights. I am thinking a barrel mounted "ladder" sight is another option. Besides, they look cool.

Gunner - the makeover of your original 71 looks great. You should be very happy with the result.

Originals down here are rare and very expensive. I got to handle an original pre WWII, 4 digit serial number deluxe model many years ago at a local auction. It was really nice and had all the gear: checkered stocks, super grade swivels, sling and bolt mounted peep. It was hardly used, if at all. The early originals with the long tang had much better ergonomics compared to the short tang models.

When selecting moulds for this calibre watch out for the front drive band, if there is one - make sure it’s short and that ideally it’s tapered, as there is no throat. Most bullet weights over about 230gr will likely protrude below the neckline. I haven’t found that to be an issue as the 348 GC’s have a solid crimp on the GC shank, unlike some other calibres.

I am now skeptical of the .348 AI-WCF:



I guess a 4" longer barrel would do more for my carbine MV than reaming it to AI, if pressure and throating are constant.

The 458 WCF looks like a great conversion. A friend has an early 71 with a terribly pitted barrel. This cartridge looks to be the perfect solution. Who does this conversion? Hopefully they can use the original barrel. Is there a 40 caliber version of this non blown out conversion?

That .458 WCF is just a figment of wildcat fever dying slowly within me.
Somebody has probably done it before, since the .348 WCF has been necked up to all larger calibers including .510".

Actually you have to blow the case body out a little to form that shoulder where it is.
Surprisingly it is almost the same capacity as the .450 Alaskan, which is just a few grains smaller than the .458 WM in gross water case capacity.

Start with a .50 Alaskan from Starline use some Imperial Sizing Wax on it and work it far enough into the .45-75 WCF FL die to produce a caliber-length neck.

Dave Manson could make the reamer. Custom reloading dies.
Even if the COL is limited by the lever action,
I would have that reamer throated like a SAAMI .458 WM, for many reasons.

All the .348 AI and 45/348 AI and 45 Alaskan and 50 Alaskan reamers drawings I have seen have very short/tight throats.

The .348 WCF has basically no throat.
The SAAMI chamber is only 0.010" longer than maximum brass length, with a 45-degree chamfer down to 0.346" diameter before the leade starts.
Therefore any throat beyond the chamber mouth is smaller than groove diameter and bullet diameter.
You would see partial rifling starting right at the end of the chamber case mouth !
Basically no throat.
Trim that brass religiously for a .348 WCF !
maybe the AI is good for something, reducing case stretching and need for trimming.
It would really be a humdinger if it had a longer throat.
The Dave Kiff/PT&G reamer for the .348 AI is leade-only starting at 0.349" diameter right at chamber mouth and tapering to bore diameter at 1*30'00" angle,
zero parallel-sided freebore, again, basically no throat.

Ron - I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned Winchester’s experimental 46 WCF, which was based on the 50/110 case.

Wow Gunner, that rifle turned out awesome!




I will have to remember that for my Browning! What powder are you using with the A Frames? I was fortunate to end up with a bunch of the old 200 grn Barnes X bullets some years ago and they shoot pretty well too...so well, I'm regretting not picking up the 220s as well.