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After a couple months of selling toys I finally have my Winchester 71. I have everything I need to load for it and I am looking for advice as far as preferred powders. I am all ears for any other advice as well. I am pleasantly surprised at how well I can see the sights. I see through the peep sight much better on the 71 than the rear sight on my 94. I also want to keep my loads mild. Thanks in advance! Chris
Congratulations on your acquisition of what appears to be a very nice long tang 71 with bolt peep! Having owned and loaded for perhaps a dozen or so 71s over the years, I can tell you that the .348 is not finicky to reload. Most any of the medium to slow burners seem to work well. I have had good luck with IMR 4350 and 4831 with 200 and 220 grain jacketed bullets. With cast bullets (RCBS 200), I have good luck with 3031. Loaded down to .33 Winchester velocity (2,200 fps), the .348 is pleasant and accurate to shoot. For an iron sighted lever action rifle, I have found all of the 71s I owned to be consistently accurate. They are the Cadillac of Winchester lever-guns!
I use a accuracy load from lymans #45 of 53 grs of IMR 4895 for 2450 fps with a hdy 200 gr interlock when I go into the alder thickets after elk I load up some Beartooth hardcast 245 gr pushed by 55 grs of AA4350 for 2200 fps. danny
Hunting is great but you only get to fire off a few shots with the full power loads......hopefully only one. For a fun day at the range shooting steel, 22 grains of 5744 and a 215 gr. cast bullet gives almost 1600 and don't hurt the shoulder.....or lengthen the brass. The Model 71 is my favorite silhouette rifle.---6
1st. Gen. Colt SAA’s, 1878 D.A.45 and a 38-55 Marlin TD
Congratulations on joining the exclusive club of proud Model 71 owners. They are great guns.
My 71 is not as well behaved as 65Bee's. It is pretty picky as to what loads it will shoot well. Here is a light practice load that has worked well in my 71: Winchester cases and primers, 24 1/2 grains of IMR-4198 powder, 250 grain Lyman #350482 cast lead, gas check bullet, Lee crimped, OAL=2.79". A typical fifty yard five shot group measured 1 11/16". Muzzle velocity ran around 1550 fps.
A near full power load is as follows: Winchester cases and primers, 53 grains of IMR-4350, 250 grain Barnes JSP, Lee crimped, OAL=2.79". A typical fifty yard five shot group measured 1 3/8". Muzzle velocity averaged 2069 fps. This is not a pleasant load to shoot.
Before you get involved in reloading for the .348 WCF you should do a little reading first. A good place to start is Ken Waters' article from the July, 1976 issue of Handloader magazine ".348 Winchester Pet Loads".
Take care, good luck, and be careful. Do your own research.
Yodar...Thank you for the advice. Any idea where I can find/buy that article? I consider myself a experienced reloader who is very cautious. Notice I didn't say I was an expert! Thanks. Chris
I just ordered the pet loads book. I figure even if the 348 info isn't in there it is a good book to have. I forgot to mention, my 71 is from 1937. I didn't even know what a model 71 was until I saw and shot a deluxe from 1936 a few months ago. I knew I had to have one! My 71 looks like it was carried a lot, shot very little, and very well taken care of.
The article on the .348 should be in the Pet Loads book ( a big binder actually). If it is not there, let me know and I will run off a copy and mail it to you.
The best single bit of advice anybody can give you for loading the .348 is to get the Lee Factory Crimp die. If you try to use the "roll crimp" method (built into most bullet seating dies) you're going to get inconsistent crimps, and likely buckle a fair number of cases, unless you trim all the brass to exactly the same length. The Lee die is a marvel, your loads end up looking exactly like factory loads. I even bought a spare, just in case they stop producing the die & something happens to the first one I bought. Incidentally, the first factory loads Winchester marketed in 1936 were loaded with IMR-4064, and it still works very well. I've been loading the .348 for almost 50 years, and the Lee die has been a real #!%@!(&#!!-preventer (necessary when you buckle a case).
My mind reader refuses to charge me..........
Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you somethin'. That ain't an optical illusion, it only LOOKS LIKE an optical illusion.
Another excellent bit of advice is to locate a neck sizer die for the .348. Most of the wear & "stretching" you see happens in the full-length sizing operation. When the metal is "squeezed" back to original size in the sizing process, it has only one place to go - the case becomes longer & the walls thinner. The critical area is near the base, just ahead of the brass web at the base. After just a few firings & full-length sizings, you can often see striations, like longitudinal "stretch marks", in that area upon close examination. Working the case like that is completely unnecessary, if you can find a neck sizer die. I don't know whether RCBS will provide one on custom order any more. If you can locate one, it's well worth the investment. I've been using one for many years, and have never had the slightest difficulty with the loads chambering in any of several 71s.
My mind reader refuses to charge me..........
Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you somethin'. That ain't an optical illusion, it only LOOKS LIKE an optical illusion.
