Posted: 4/16/2017 2:39:33 PM EDT
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For post 348, I'd like to discuss the .348 Winchester. Does anyone have one and still shoot it? Thoughts about it?
I use the case solely to make .41 Swiss brass for reloading. It has a unique case head diameter that makes it great for reloading this, .43 Spanish Mauser, French Gras, Italian Vetterli, and other obsolete cartridges. I think it's ultimately based on the old .50 blackpowder cartridges of the mid 1800s, but no other "modern" cartridges use this same case head. I never see anyone actually use .348 win itself. Do they primarily sell this brass just for handloaders or do people still use it? |
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I'd kill for a good condition Model-71 in .348 Win. They are very hard to find and very expensive when you do see one.
And I dont think anyone is even Loading for it anymore so you have to be a handloader. But it may be the best big game Lever gun/cartridge ever made. |
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IIRC Winchester made a number of 94 Angle Eject in that caliber.
Supposedly the .348 matches the .358 which is pretty much to .308 what .35 Whelen is to 30-06. Probably stomps all over .30-30. Jeff Cooper would approve since he thought if you couldn't do it with 30-06 you needed bigger bullet of something like .35 Whelen more than added velocity and recoil of .300 Win Mag. |
I have an original 71 deluxe and about 20 boxes of ammo.  10 or so that came with the gun and the rest found cheap when I had the money so I bought them all.  (.223 round for size comparison, the .348 bullet weight more than the loaded .223 round  )
.348 was developed specifically and only for the Winchester model 71 which was a product improved model 1886, made a little stronger and easier to make. 71's were used to make some pretty wild wildcat rounds like the .50 Alaskan, the boat tale base of a .50 BMG bullet loaded backwards to form a giant solid being one of the more ridiculous. Got the rifle from my grandfather, he used it moose hunting once in Canada and dropped some 1700 pound monster with it. Guess everyone else had bolt guns and magnified optics and they were in heavy brush going to the next clearing, Moose gets startled jumps up and his having irons allowed him to just snap shoot it while everyone else was fighting to get in the FoV.   I guess that's where they really shine and are still relatively common (not a common gun to start with) in Alaska and Canada.Â
Vintage ammo runs around $70 a box.  Brass as you know gets made in limited runs since it forms a few different popular wildcats and historic military rounds.  Some companies do a yearly run on new  ammo for hunters and a few make bullets. The rifles for the ammo run about 1500-3K bucks and are split between the standard and deluxe lines, and original Winchester guns and later Japan made Browning remakes. Another company Pedersoli, has made some 1886 model 71 thing that I guess is just a 71 chambered in .45-70 which would be  pretty rad. 1886's/ 71's can take YUUUUGE rounds, being made to accommodate .50-110 (.348 is a necked down shorter .50-110). When I first saw the gun I got as a kid the rounds looked like freaking artillery shells.Â
.348 ballistics are not terrible. Heavy bullets going at a pretty decent clip for being what in the modern age is a pretty funky diameter bullet. Big hitter is the 250 grain at 2300 fps stuff. More traditional weight was 200 grain at 2500 fps. So hanging in there with .30-06, but without the SD giving -06 the way better range advantage. The trade off is the .348 is making that .30-6 power at a lower chamber pressure. 40k CUP vs 50k cup. So it just thumps away in a pretty medium-heavy weight rile. |
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Quoted:
For post 348, I'd like to discuss the .348 Winchester. Does anyone have one and still shoot it? Thoughts about it? I use the case solely to make .41 Swiss brass for reloading. It has a unique case head diameter that makes it great for reloading this, .43 Spanish Mauser, French Gras, Italian Vetterli, and other obsolete cartridges. I think it's ultimately based on the old .50 blackpowder cartridges of the mid 1800s, but no other "modern" cartridges use this same case head. I never see anyone actually use .348 win itself. Do they primarily sell this brass just for handloaders or do people still use it? I Use it to form Swiss Vetterli as well but also have a model 71. Whats your preferred load for the swiss? Fun fact. The cartridge was developed with the help of the geman Dr. Gerlich, of taper barrel fame. |
| I have my great grandfather's model 71, until it is time to pass it down again. I have loaded for it and shot it some. My goal is to take it on a hunt soon. I need to either make a part for the rear peep, or win the lottery & find a replacement at the same time. The last one I saw on gunbroker brought over $500 (talking the fragil little part for the integral peep sight on the bolt here, not the rifle). |
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Quoted:
I have my great grandfather's model 71, until it is time to pass it down again. I have loaded for it and shot it some. My goal is to take it on a hunt soon. I need to either make a part for the rear peep, or win the lottery & find a replacement at the same time. The last one I saw on gunbroker brought over $500 (talking the fragil little part for the integral peep sight on the bolt here, not the rifle). 
They have an amazing array of old style sights. |
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Quoted:
I Use it to form Swiss Vetterli as well but also have a model 71. Whats your preferred load for the swiss? Fun fact. The cartridge was developed with the help of the geman Dr. Gerlich, of taper barrel fame. |
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Quoted:
IIRC Winchester made a number of 94 Angle Eject in that caliber. Supposedly the .348 matches the .358 which is pretty much to .308 what .35 Whelen is to 30-06. Probably stomps all over .30-30. Jeff Cooper would approve since he thought if you couldn't do it with 30-06 you needed bigger bullet of something like .35 Whelen more than added velocity and recoil of .300 Win Mag. You might be thinking of the .356 Winchester, which was available in the M94. It's essentially a rimmed .308 case necked to .35 caliber and loaded to lower pressures than the parent cartridge. |