A friend inherited his father's M71 348Win and wants to shoot it and eventually hunt deer with it.

Since he knows very little about rifles, he has asked me to find some ammo OR get some brass/dies and load for it.

It seems that factory Winchester 200gr ammo is non-existant and Buffalo Bore has some ammo available but they are rather proud of it. Any other options?

If I were to load for this rifle, anyone have a clue where I could get some brass? I know Hornady makes a 200gr bullet.
Anyone have a pet load for this bullet?

Anyone have a set of dies they might sell?

AND, NO...he won't sell it or I would already own it!

Thanks.

WN

Midway has it in stock

Thanks, noKnees.

I just checked Midway indicates it's "coming soon".

In the mean time, anyone else have some possible alternatives?

He wants to shoot it ASAP--like a kid with a new toy!

WN

The 50 case size is in stock at midway

Try a 200gr Hornady pushed by a proper dose of RL19 and a CCI 200. Very accurate and kills'em dead!

Ah...now I see it. Brass not ammo.

Thanks!

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5982768/Re_FS_348_ammo

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth..._WTS_Remington_Hi_Speed_348_#Post6021099


Couple recent posts from here


Saw 6-8 boxes on someones shelf not too long ago??? Can't remember where it was, thinking Cabelas in Owatonna, MN?

I shoot the Horn bullets and 4350. 4320 will throw some decent groups, but I couldnt get the desired energy/velocity. Have fun with it.

BTW I shoot the same load in my original Deluxe rifle and my Browning carbine.

Joseph

try wisconsin cartridge or reeds ammo.

also, i see it at gunshows all the time for around $35-50/box. i keep saying i need to start buying the ammo so i have an excuse to get a '71. love them guns but can't afford it.

I use 60 grs. IMR4350 under the 200 gr. Hornady in Winchester brass and CCI 200 primers. Velocity runs 2402 ft/sec. and I have found adding more IMR4350 offers very little speed increase. Note that this was with an old lot of powder, so new might be different. I'd go H4350 and maybe add one grain to the above load, after carefully working up, of course.

Whelen Nut,

In my Browning reproduction M71 carbine (20" barrel) both Varget and RL-15 shoot a lot better than H4350 with the 200-grain Hornady, at close to 2600 fps. Dunno if they would work as well in other rifles, but the best load with either powder was 58 grains.

If for some reason he can't come up with brass quickly, I might be able to spare a little.

Barnes makes some good 220 and 250-grain bullets for the .348.

The best ammo available for Deer is the Winchester 200 gr. factory load. Look around, it is available.
The 200 gr. Hornady is a tougher bullet than the factory Super X, and plenty of data is available there. Hawk bullets are excellent choices, but pricey. Same for Barnes. Same for Woodley. Same for Northfork.
Problem with using the 348 for Deer is that the cartridge is really at its best for bigger game. Most bullets are designed for the demands of bigger, heavier critters.
Buffalo Bore ammo has locked up some 71's due to extreme pressure. If you buy it, use it at your own risk-besides, way too much of a load for Deer. Might check with Quality Cartridge-they won't be cheap, but they load all sorts of calibers.
He'll have to keep his pants on, might take time, but you can get what you need for the 348.

Thanks guys for all the good info.

I found some factory ammo squirreled away in a ma & pa gun shop last week so I will start with that for now. Can't wait to start loading for it.

WN

Hi WN,

I have 2 mod 71, one is an original deluxe rifle, the other a Browning repro (carbine). In France we don't have access to US powders so i handload with finnish VN and french Vectan. The burning rate being close to 4895 to 4350. I ordered bulllets from Hawk, they are effective and accurate enough for big game hunting.
May be you could try their 160 and 180grs for deer. SD is not too good but deers are not buff or elk. If i remember well, depending on quantity you order, Andy can offer different jackets thickness.
Have good hunt
Dom

Thanks Dom

Actually, I've used Hawk bullets in 35cal so I am familiar with them. Good suggestion.

WN

I've had an original 71 deluxe for years. I have only shot the 200 grain silvertip factory ammo in it. You could probably get some on here if you put a thread in the classifieds. Pretty accurate with iron sights out to 200. I've killed two cow elk with mine. Worked pretty good and fun to carry.

I use hawk 270gr @ 2300 fps in my 71. They work great on deer and elk. Used reloader 19 with winchester brass and federal 210 primers. Did not like hornady 200gr bullets had alot of jacket core seperation same with 250gr barnes originals. Just my 2ct worth.

As of today, Midway shows that Winchester factory ammo will be available the 2nd of March. They do have three custom loads available now:

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?&sortby=1&itemsperpage=20&newcategorydimensionid=9861

I have a set of dies I would part with. Pm me if interested.

If I was going to build ammo for the .348 and model 71, I would definitely be all over your offer, HornSurgeon!

Also, Ken Waters who used to write the column "Pet Loads" for 'Reloader' and 'Rifle' magazines, one did an article on the .348 Winchester. The article included data for cast lead bullets as well as Hornady's one bullet selection!

hs--PM sent

SD--thanks for the tip about the Ken's article.

WN

Mule Deer

Thanks for the info about Barnes Originals and R-15. Good options.

WN

Hornady is now producing a 348 200-grain bullet with a pointy flex tip, their #3415. Grafs and Midsouth and perhaps others have it in stock.
--Bob

I would not recommend Reeds ammo... they acted very unethically in a deal with me... the details follow...

This may get to be a long story about how Reeds chose to act very unethically and I would recommend that no one shop with them again... read on if you feel compelled.

So the other day I order two boxes of 32-40 ammo from Reed's and through out the process it showed shipping cost of $0.00. I was pretty excited and thought the price was good and with free shipping it was a great deal... so much so that I went back and ordered a box of 300Savage in 130TSX b/c i have been wanting to try them also. I even sent Gary (Gnooah) a PM about the free shipping and that I had bought made two orders.

A few days later I get an email showing the agreed price, no shipping charge and stated my ammo was on its way. I got home very late last night and opened the mail this morning and found my ammo (just the 32-40, the 300Sav is apparently on back order)... looked great. Cleaning up the shipping mess I unfolded a piece of paper that showed my original order confirmation with an additional charge for shipping of $13. Credit card statement confirmed the charge.

I went back and verified all previous correspondence and even their currently online order tracker and none showed a shipping fee. I was now afraid they were going to ding me for that amount again when they shipped the 300 ammo so I dropped them an email and asked for an explanation and stated that I wished they would have held for the 300 also so as to avoid multiple charges.

I'll drop most of the details but we exchanged numerous emails in which he claimed their Terms and conditions page stated that all transactions include a shipping fee. I had already opened this page and read it... no such wording what so ever. I asked for clarity and he responded with a cut and paste that included this line about shipping fees on all transactions...

well I was worried something like this might happen so I had never closed the original page of the T&C...and I took a screen shot of it, and copy and pasted it to a word document. I then opened a new page to their T&Cs and low and behold he changed it!!! I actually still have both pages open.

I called him on it, told him it was dishonest, asked for a refund and an apology and he choice to go 180 degrees the opposite... he said some smartass remark about not knowing how I could have changed his website,etc etc etc.

I could go on and on but the end is what they did and how they handle this situation was incredibly unethical and unprofessional. I have attached screen shots of the two different T&C pages... not sure why they put it in the RETURNS section but I am guess he thought I would not have read that section. He further went on to delete my online confirmation page... good thing I already had a copy of that printed also...

I gave the guy a ton of opportunities to do the right thing. I was polite and up front with him, offered him reconsiderations, gave him my phone number and offered to have him call me and he chose to be an unethical weasel... so now I will tell everyone that I know about this and will file a BBB report and fight the charge on my CC.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg272/lohmaraj/newReedsTCpage.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg272/lohmaraj/OriginalReedsTCpage.jpg

I just did a piece on the .348 in HANDLOADER magazine a few months ago; there are a number of good combos. If anybody really wants to keep a .348 fed, handloading is the way to go.

One of the local stores even has a few bags of new Winchester brass on hand, so it isn't all that rare.

John,

Had to let go of all my various gun rag subscriptions when I medically retired too early. Which issue? I will try to get ahold of/ buy that one for SURE! I just sent you a PM about 348 Data, did not know about the article before I sent the request.

MARK

I also have a Browning '71. I feed it the 200gr. JSP Hornady over 48.0 grains of IMR 3031. I get 2233 measured fps with a calculated 2214 ft.lbs of muzzle engergy. I'm getting 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards with iron sights. Ireally like this rifle.