Another Oddball Headed For The Safe, Range, and Field

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I had not been home for more than 15 minutes from today's usual Tuesday Lunch With Old Partners, when Buckshot called me with some very hot intel concerning the local toy store we infest. He was on scene and took a look at a Browning Model 71 variant in very nice OEM shape, with a ridiculously-low price attached. He wasn't interested, but thought I might be--so he called.

Mind you, about a month before another original Winchester M-71 landed here, in modified/drilled & tapped condition with asking price of $1800. Hard pass. I was a mite excited, and drove immediately to the shop to see what was up.

Oh Em Gee. I don't think it has been fired, if it has then not much at all. Absolutely pristine. Roughly half the price of the beat-up original, all-in. WRAP IT UP. No-brainer, really.

A small shopping spree ensued, RCBS shell holder/Redding die set/100 pieces of unprimed W-W brass and RCBS neck expander spud were gathered for just under $225. The W-W brass (at Graf's) ran 86 cents each vs. the Starline at $1.72 per copy.
 

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
can I be envious and hate you just a little bit too?!?! NICE Score! Saw pass by at a show cpl years ago and just wasn't in position. If it passed by today, I'd own it.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Oddball?? Really?? Come on, I know your putting on about that. Your going to love it. Put a good receiver site on it and have fun.

Couple or maybe 5 years ago I picked up a Winchester 71 that had a little work done to it. It looks to be an original carbine 20" barrel that has a full magazine held on with a flat band like the mid 1940's 94's had. It has a Lyman steel receiver site as well. The one bummer some where along the line it was changed to a short 12.5 inch pull on a Montecarlo replacement stock with a recoil pad. I started hunting for a original stock on Gun Broker, EBay and other sites. Remanufactured that needed to be fitted and expensive originals. But I was vigilant and a original short tang butt stock in good shape came up on EBay for "buy it now" for $20 plus postage. I don't think it was on EBay longer than 15 minutes. Now it sits on my 71. The finish on the gun looks like it's all original and in good shape. The carbine length barrel with the full mag looks and shoulders well. Finally found a mold for it, a LEE 6 cavity 225 350 from a group buy new in the box along with a H&I die for $75.

Anyway you will like the Browning, all the Browning levers I have ever picked up have been excellent rifles. Have fun.
 
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CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I think "Oddball" is an apt description. .348" factory calibers are one in number, the 348 WCF. Even the shell-holder is an odd one--the RCBS #5, which fits exactly one factory chambering--the 348 WCF. Hornady discontinued the gas checks for this caliber in the recent past--thankfully Gator Checks fills the need and Accurate Molds' 348 WCF-intended bullets are sized for the Gators (shank size .319", .014" thickness). Gone also are the Hornady jacketed bullets in .348" diameter. This will likely be an all-cast-bullet proposition, both lead alloys for targets and 87/12/<1 alloy for critters in Kalifornistan. Two mould designs--a gas checked version, and a plain-based as well.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
I have a round tin of Hornady 348 checks still unopened. Good to know about the Gator checks. After finely finding a second hand 348 mold, I think the cobbled up 71 I have will be my bum around the valley rifle. This one is a little lighter, I suspect because of the shorter barrel just feels that way.

CZ pictures are in order. The Winchester or the Browning are some of the finest looking rifles out there, so share with a picture or two.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
My BIL has one that's minty, it was his fathers. He doesn't shoot it and isn't a reloader. I tried, unsuccessfully to acquire it. Even my sister was on board with that. However, I did acquire a mint Hollywood Senior Turret, complete with 12 gauge dies..............two powder measures and two shot measures.

P1010436.JPG
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I had a pretty dang nice 4 digit serial numbered deluxe with factory peep site model 71 for a little while.
I ran some stuff through it and it shot pretty well.
I just could not see myself ever wanting to drag all 27lbs. of it around the mountains here scuffing and scratching it all up, especially when I have several other 6-7lb. rifles that'd do the same thing and cost about a third as much.
plus I already had a model 86 Browning in 45-70 kind of a toss up between the 2 as far as I can shoot open sights anymore and I have 45-70 stuff on hand.
so the 71 got swapped for a nice varmint shooting rig and 8 lbs of data #9 powder.


4895 is a fine propellant for the 348 and it's 200gr. bullets.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I will get some pics posted once the rifle lands here in 27 days (but who's counting?)

HA! 487 P.C.! I darn sure didn't haggle, it was the posted price. The seller wanted it to move, and it did.

This example has a 22" barrel and 2/3-length magazine, and was not the CHUNK that a lot of 86/71 variants can be. Some of those can be artillery-weight ordnance items. This one feels like +/- 8#. I suspect that full-value loadings in the beast will have memorable recoil.

I do have priors with a caliber of this class--an 1886 Winchester take-down Featherweight in 33 WCF. This was c. 1990, and I messed about with it for over 2 years before a collector talked me out of it. It was not especially accurate with either the Hornady 200 grain flatnoses or the RCBS 200 grain castings. I did hunt with the thing for the 2 seasons it lived with me, and the deer stayed away in the thousands--just like this year.
 
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Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
CZ you might consider a Decelerator pad if you can stand the extra length. I would not consider it to an original Winchester, but like mine that's be played with..... Go for it.

The light weight takedown 86's which were primarily 33's and 45/70's spoke with authority on both ends, but they felt, handled and balanced nicely. YMMV.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
The weight of this 348 seems a bit less than the previous TD 86 x 33 WCF, but not greatly so. One can always take his or her foot off the gas at the reloading bench, too. Having lived with and survived a Ruger #1 in 45/70 @ 7-1/4# with Hornady 350 grain bullets at 2150 FPS, I think the 348 even maxed out would not be quite as memorable. 270 grain .366" castings run at 1800 FPS from the CZ-550 are not punishing; I have fired 50-100 in a day's time on several occasions. It's about a "12 gauge field load" impulse. Like my magnum revolvers, most of what will get fired from this 348 will be toned down to some degree. OF COURSE, at least a few loads at full-potential will get a test-drive......kinda like climbing mountains, "Because it's THERE".
 
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todd

Well-Known Member
wasn't the 348 brass cut down to make 500 linebaugh? (i have a 500L in tc encore with 23"MGM barrel)

i just luv them "oddball " cartridges. my 9.3x57 (husky m46) with 275gr wfn gc and some imr4895 should be considered an "oddball". i have a handi rifle in 45-70 and with 405gr fn and imr4198(ruger #1 load) going 1800-1900fps and i only shot it one time with that load, it was enuff fer me!!! now she goes trapdoor loads.

can't wait fer your pix!!!!!!!
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Perusing the Accurate Bullet Molds site a bit, have a look at #35-300B on Page 6 of the catalog. Thinking about having at least one or both of a two-banger mould cut as plain base designs, just extending that bottom drive band to the bullet base at full diameter. Length is 1.2072", and vCalc/Greenhill shows a 1-15" twist rate will support that length at 1300-1400 FPS with 10.9 specific gravity (jacketed lead core). Specific gravity of 8.6 (87/12/>1) shows 1-13" twist at 1300 FPS.

What say you folks?
 
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fiver

Well-Known Member
yeah, I still think about that model 70 in 300 H&H in just scuffed up enough shape to make a fine hunting rifle.
they were a titch on the upper end of price and I had to 'think about it' rather than Just suck it up and make a lower offer.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Sea Story Time.

C. 1995, I got invited out to a desert site known locally as a good place to shoot guns and plink. One of my neighbors and several of his friends from work at Honeywell brought out their war toys, and among the arms were two pre-64 Winchester Model 70s. Both were in 375 H&H, and I will NEVER forget their sequential serial numbers--4038 and 4039. The owner's story was that his grandfather bought both in 1938 for himself and his wife in anticipation of an African safari. WWII intervened, and it wasn't until the late 1940s that Grandpa got to make his African hunt. His wife declined to go, so just #4038 went along for the trip and got some firing done. #4039 was unfired, and still had its yellow and red Winchester hang tag in place on the trigger guard. The owner wanted to sell both, and to fire both before putting them on the block. He brought 40 rounds of new 375 H&H ammo out to play with. He asked what I thought he should do.

This guy didn't know what he had, and I sure as hell couldn't pay him what these rifles were worth. I gotta sleep at night. I told him that the unfired rifle should stay that way, and if he wanted to shoot one to use the already-fired example. We shot off the 40 rounds between us, 270 grain Silvertips IIRC. Within a week or so I got him hooked up with a Winchester collector of means and deep interest, and the owner was very happy with the sale he made of the two first-year-production pre-64s in 375 H&H. I got to shoot 5 rounds out of the fired rifle, and I was jazzed about that.
 
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