Turning my Browning 71 into an A.I. has been just a little frustrating....

My buddy says I am a dumb-a _ _ for even molesting a high grade Browning in such a way. So maybe this is payback from the ghost of John Browning? He is probably pissed at me by now.

So I take the rifle to a local smith with a good reputation for the ream to A.I. and to add a Skinner bolt peep (hey, I am already molesting the rifle...so I may as well do it up good!).

Told the job will take 2-3 weeks.

After some prodding, I finally get the call to pick the rifle up 2 months after dropping it off.

Low and behold...the bolt peep is mounted on the barrel? Holy hell...how did that happen, given there were written and verbal instructions given by me personally?

After a lot a weeping and gnashing of teeth, they say they will make it all good. What am I to do?

So 45 more days pass and I get the call to pick up the rifle. Yeah, you can see where they filled the holes. Dang. Maybe my buddy was right? I am a dumb-a _ _!

I work the action....something does not feel right. I drop the hammer and can tell the lock time is like double what it should be. I hand the rifle back and tell them to disassemble and put it back together correctly!

Another week passes and I finally have the rifle home.

I load up some fireform loads. Made a bit of a false shoulder by running a 358 plug into the neck, then sizing most of it away but leaving about a quarter inch to get a tight closing. I annealed the neck prior to the expansion/sizing, then annealed again prior to loading...the second time putting the flame a little closer to the shoulder.

Fireforming went well and I was thinking all my troubles were behind me (queue chuckle from buddy).

I loaded up some of the previously fireformed cases and had them out to the range today. I had been single-loading up to now and decided it was time to run some up the tube and shoot her like she was meant to be shot.

Well, guess what? That fat A.I. case won't feed with a 200gr Hornady seated to 2.795". Further trials back at home show it won't even snake its way into the tube at 2.785....and by now, the entire cannelure is inside the 2.24" long case (.01" under max). Edited to add: by feed, I mean into the tube through the gate!

So now I am thinking I either need to file a bevel on the inside of the frame cutout for the loading port (MORE MOLESTATION) or I have to shorten my brass ala Hornady Leverevolution brass. God alone knows how much shorter I will have to go....I have not experimented with that, yet.

Momma said there'd be days like this...

Anyone else ever had such an issue getting A.I ammo past the loading gate?

No BAMCIS is what Momma meant.

I found the limit with the 200gr Hornady.

Trim brass to 2.20" and seat to OAL of 2.75....just makes it through the loading gate.

Still have a neck slightly over 1 caliber.

Will take the necks down to 1 caliber to give some leeway.

I think I can live with that.

Now to find out what happens with the Barnes and the Alaska Bullet Works!

Where's the FUN in that?

That's a lot of work for what, other than tinkering?

Longer case life

Less bolt thrust (important with rear locking lugs)

+200 fps with 250gr bullets

And tinkering.

I wouldn't be using that 'smith any more!

Your buddy’s assessment was spot on.

Oh, well, at least it wasn't one of these:

Long tang long barrel



Long tang short barrel



Short tang long barrel

Tarbe - sorry to hear of the lousy job the smith did. I hope you can find a solution.

Ron - your pics of original M71’s show how when Winchester switched to the short tang they also moved the point of the comb forward. IMO this was a bad move as the hand is now crowded by the point of the comb. On my Browning, which copied Winchester’s short tang design, I had the point of the comb moved back to create a much more comfortable grip.

Yep, long-tang-short-comb
sadly became short-tang-long-comb,
and they even made the forward tip of the comb pointy instead of rounded !
That's progress !
Trimming that comb backwards is the ergonomic thing.
I will consider doing it to my Browning M71, which will be left as a standard .348 WCF with even more resolve after reading about the gunsmith from hell.

A little grinding with a 3/8 and 1/2 inch sanding drum on the inside of the receiver where the shells make the transition from the gate into the tube would alleviate your loading troubles. The backside of the gate can be massaged as well to allow it to open slightly further.

You might feel the need to get this done rather than shortening brass so you can get a good crimp, especially for heavy recoil with hotrodded 250s.

Oh damn Tarbe, if i had a barrel i'd send it to ya, just gave my 'smith a 1 of 3000 45-70 round carbine barrel off my Browning '86 i had Turnbull make into a 50-110 WCF, hope it all pans out for you.

Thanks for the nice thought!

I think I have it all sorted, now that my head is at least halfway out of my posterior....:)

Tarbe-
Do not be discouraged by the ankle biters. You have an excellent rifle, with 250 gr bullets, its
a lever action 35 Whelen. I have one on an original 71 that has flattened moose in AK.

My other two 450s are on pre-war long tang Winchester Model 71s. You can go anywhere in
North America with that 348 AI rifle and not be undergunned at a grizzly potlatch.
Use a Lee factory crimp die. Make sure you full length re-size to ease by the loading gate.
Browning has tighter tolerance ID than Winchester, which may account for your issues. RM

Yo welcome neighbor, it's all good, we are after all, shooting game and consuming same ; ]

RF,
You seem to have done well by just leaving fine rifles as made by Winchester. Nice to look at and shoot well.

In all fairness to the "Gunsmith from Hell", he does seem to have gotten the chamber ream to A.I. correct.

He just missed on the placement of the bolt peep by about 13 inches.

This hurts! Good luck!

Things are headed in the right direction.

I fire formed another 20 Starline cases yesterday. I am 40 for 40 with the Starline.

I will need to order a taller front sight...the Skinner is a bit higher in the back and I am still high at 50 yards with the rear aperture screwed all the way down.

Any new vids out, North61? I love your content!

This is a very good argument for just sending guns to Turnbull. They are not cheap, but they seem to get it right.

Jfe mentioned "short tang" and as from the factory, my Miroku/Winchester1886 .45-90 had that.
Fortunately it bounced out of the Bakkie in RSA and my friend who was using it, repaired the wood damage and moved the point of the comb hack just enough for Marbles sight to fold back and
lock into position as designed. Mo better now for using the folding barrel sight on large game or close up shots on game.