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?

I had a win .M 71 , I didn't hunt with very much because it was to heavy to tote around all day.

They are noticably more heavy, but I guess that is what made it feel solid to me.

I owned a Japanese made M94 as my first rifle. I enjoyed it as a blacktail deer killing machine, but had to sell it. Seemed good to me then, but I had no experience to compare it against other rifles. Then I owned bolt action rifles exclusively for 30 some years. In the last two years I have bought 99s and enjoyed them for their carriability, handling, and the rotary magazines, not to mention the variety of rounds which can be shot from them. Recently I flirted with a Browning BLR, and bought one brand new. It looked interesting, had a magazine , was well fitted, etc. but I had it for less than a week before I decided that it paled in comparison to my 99s, and I traded it off for another 99. There are other interesting and well made levers guns out there, but I just see no comparison between them and the 99 inasfar as handling and loading, let alone beauty.

Found this thread thru a search for the model 71. I was considering posting a similar request to the OP's in the Savage forum. After reading the above comments, glad it did not. I have not been on the fire very long, but long enough to get to know many of the posters here, including whose opinions to value and whose to ignore.

Anyway, I did post it up on the "you know who" forum and got some friendly advice. Of course, it was 'buy the gun".

Charlie

Probably couldn't have started with a tougher crowd than Campfire Savage 99 guys to bring up a Japanese made clone of a Winchester.

Some say the Japs made a better rifle than the original Winchesters they copied. I wouldn't agree or disagree in the wrong or right company, as it were...

The Miroku Brownings are fine pieces of machinery.

The M71 is also an excellent rifle.

Like the SMLE, it is a fun itch to scratch.

But 308 levers are much more useful.

Forgot about this thread, and the responses it got. Hunted the gun pretty hard this deer season, killed a deer with it and really enjoyed the gun. Did it perform better than the 99's ? , definitely not. I wasn't able to get the accuracy out of it that I got with the 99's because the trigger is not as good, but it was good enough for deer hunting in PA. Was it heavy? Yep, but I'm a strapping young buck so not a big deal😉. Was the recoil a little much? It's not a bench rest shooter to begin with and like so many guns you don't feel a thing when you pull the trigger in the field. I have zero regret that I bought it, and have no plans of getting rid of it. The scout mount I put on it worked great too!

God Bless

MM

Say 77 Hail Mary's and whip yourself profusely and you may be forgiven my son.

Oh my Lord, a scout scope on A 71 Mochester! What is this world coming too???

cb

When I said I killed a deer with it I didn't actually mean I shot the deer with the gun. I was sitting very still and the deer got so close that when I raised the gun we kind of locked eyes. When we were staring at each other I noticed his eyes drift down to the gun for a split second. That's when his deer jaw just dropped, his eyes got really big and he pressed his front hooves to his little deer chest. He reared over backward and that was that, I figured I better put my tag on him since the horror that is the scope mount on my browning is obviously what killed him. Looking back I'm just glad nobody else was killed.


MM

Next year hunt with a post war 99R. Instead of scaring the crap out of the deer you can club em into submission. You may never have a need for buying ammo again. Good show!

I ran the action of a 357 browning model ninety something
..loved it. It was the same action as the win 71. They are sahweeet. But they are HEAVY. And when you buy one your Wallet will be EMPTY! The wallet will stay empty if you need ammo. So I don't own onem

Uh, it's not the same action as the 71. The 71 (both Winchester and Browning) were only offered in the one caliber- .348 Winchester. The actions used for the pistol cartridges were/are the M92, a lot smaller than the 71 by several pounds. I agree though that they are sweet.

I had a M71 Browning back 25 years ago. Wonderfully well made, smooth, and accurate rifle. When I woke up to the fact that I had absolutely no use for a mule killer like that, I sold it (and bought a M1920 Savage .250-3000 with the money).

I don't kill mules....I pay stupid money 4 them. But I think them 71 s are one of browning best efgorts. Other than the heft. By the way thanks 4 correcting me....I stick my foot in my mouth enough need all the help I can get.

I don't know if it was a painful thread for the OP. Anyone talking up a Winchester/Browning design on a Savage forum has got to expect a little chiding. It's kind of like a Marine recruit singing his praise for the Army or a Greenpeace activist drinking beer in a logging camp. Just a little unexpected and out of place, and certain to provoke a stir. But we all know how these thing go.

No pain experienced, I just keep repeating in my head" I'm rubber you're glue,,,,,,,,,".

MM

This is my youngest boys Browning with a scout set up, is a very nice set up to shoot. He took a bison with the rifle when he was 13. Both eyes open makes for fast target acquisition and the dominant eye zero's. Would make a freat set up for a dgr (another project of mine). I have always thought it would make a great way to scope a 99 takedown without altering just find a donor barrel fit it and install the mount.

Scout setups work, no doubt. Fast acquisition.