Winchester 71

[daisygordoninc]

My wife got a Winchester 71 for my birthday yesterday, found it at Cabela's. It was made in 51, a deluxe model
very clean. I have been looking for one for almost 10 years, bid on many but always they went for more than I
was willing to pay. I have had the Hornady FTX 200 gr. bullets and 348 brass waiting for this opportunity. I have
not seen any ballistic info on that Hornady bullet in the 71, have any of you come across that. Can't wait to get
to the shooting range after I make up some bullets this week. It was one of the very few Winchester lever guns
I did not have. I am a happy camper. Has anyone hunted large game with a 71 ? What are your opinions?

[2X22]

Pretty cool find! You probably won't be sorry, I know that I love mine, a 1936 model.

I've used both the 200gr Hornady with a heavy load of 3100 and also a 200gr cast with nearly an identical powder charge all work well on elk, out to 212 yards, the furthest I've tested it...

Mine also will group in the 1" range, give or take a 1/2", for 3 shots at 100 yards.

[7.62 Precision]

The Winchester 71, in my opinion, is about as fine a levergun as ever made, if not the finest. It is an improvement on the Winchester 1886, and the Wincheter team that designed it went all out an all aspects, including a redesign of the stock.

All that Winchester learned about building leverguns over the years culminated in the Model 71.

The action was an improvement on the '86 action, and Winchester considered it to be simply the continuation of the '86 line, merging the most popular configuration of the '86 with the current most popular chambering and improving on both.

The caliber is a great balance. It is a bear gun that you can use to shoot deer, or a deer rifle that is great to have in bear country. It is hard to really beat the .348 in many ways. In fact, while there are other calibers that are better in this way or that, there are none that I know of that have the same balance of advantages.

The rifle balances like a dream. It is one of those rifles that aims itself when you lift it to your shoulder. Part of this is the legendary balance of the Winchester lever-action rifles, the extra lightweight '86 in particular. This combined with the redesigned stock that is really designed to shoot, and looks good, too.

The .348, for some reason, is one of these cartridges that you just seem to be able to instinctively hold over correctly for perfect hits. It penetrates really well on large, dangerous animals, yet works fine for smaller animals as well. It has a great balance of power and recoil.

The reliability is astounding. The action is like butter - there is never any feeling of forcing a cartridge to align with the chamber. If the rifle is level, throwing the lever open usually results in the cartridge entering the chamber on its own, before the bolt even moves forward. The cartridge is so tapered that it slides right into the big chamber.
The Model 71 will also function upside down. Most leverguns will drop cartridges in that situation, or at least jam.

These rifles are very popular up here, and have long been considered the "Alaskan rifle." Growing up on a homestead, the meat we ate fell to my dad's Model 71.

I have shot deer and moose with a model 71, and my dad has shot those and bear as well. I have never seen anything but outstanding performance on all animals shot. It is my favorite levergun.

[BigSky56]

daisy, 71s like 64s are a hunters rifle Ive found that the flex tip will blow up on anything bigger than a deer I use hdy interlocks in mine and beartooth 245 gr cast. lymans #45 shows a load of 53 grs IMR 4895 pushing a 200 gr jacketed for 2450 fps and I get 3/4" group @100, if I hunt in bitter cold weather I load RL15 and am still working on a load with RL17. elk fall down when hit with the hdy I have gotten 30+ " of penetration. danny

[Sixgun]

This is my most accurate levergun and is my number 1 silhouette rifle. This rifle had the trigger pulled about 700 times last year, and about 500 times this year so far and we still have 4 matches and the Pa. State Champs yet so another 500 rounds is still to come, all with a 215 gr. cast gas checked bullet traveling 1625. It's a pre war standard, balances like a dream, and I don't even have to aim at the chickens, pigs, turkeys, or rams.......it does it automatically.

To get the most fun out of any rifle, it needs to be shot whenever you feel like shooting, and the full power of the 348 is not a lot of fun, so the need for a reduced load with cast bullets is a must. The high cost of jacketed takes the fun out of it. For a bit over $200 you can buy a four cavity mould, a set of dies, and a sizing die and you can shoot till the cows come home for a few bucks.

Looking at and fondling is great but shooting is the cats meow.----6



This one is serial number 821 and I have yet to shoot it as I don't think it's been fired yet....maybe some day so I guess this one is not my " cats meow"

[Pete44ru]

This one is serial number 821 and I have yet to shoot it as I don't think it's been fired yet....maybe some day so I guess this one is not my " cats meow"

With that factory-optional 98-A bolt peep sight, it'd sure be my "cat's meow" - VERY nice !



.

[mod71alaska]

Congratulations on your new 71! For sure that wife of yours is something special!!!

If you want any Winchester factory ammo and can't find it, I have extra I will sell you at a fair price. Just drop me a PM. Also, check out http://shop.reedsammo.com/348-Winchester_c237.htm for new non-Winchester ammo very reasonably priced.

Good shooting!!!

mod71alaska

[Sixgun]

Victor,
Are you missing that pre-war NIB 71 Deluxe with all of the paperwork and hang tags yet?

Sorry buddy. Yours was the nicest 71 I ever laid eyes on and I've seen a lot-----6

[daisygordoninc]

Thank you for that info., very helpful, and there is no doubt I won the lottery when I married my wife
49 years ago. She loves the stuff I love.
Showed my 71 to one of my gun friends who is very knowledgeable and he was impressed. I wished I
could get picture posting to work, but have not been able to yet.

Gordon

[mod71alaska]

Victor,
Are you missing that pre-war NIB 71 Deluxe with all of the paperwork and hang tags yet?

Sorry buddy. Yours was the nicest 71 I ever laid eyes on and I've seen a lot-----6

No, Jack, not until you mentioned it just now and posted a pic of your beautiful 3 digit '36 Deluxe. Thanks a lot!

What I am missing, though, and suffering angst over are some Mini-Mags to use in a very nice and from what I am told a very good shooting '47 Marlin 39...good shooting, that is, if it shoots Mini-Mags! But I wouldn't personally know that as there aren't a brick of Mini-Mags in the state of NH. Only in PA!!!!!

[Malamute]

I like my 71 quite a lot. I've begun to think that it could fill the role of single gun that does the most. I like 94's quite a lot, but they are a but light for grizzly country, I feel much better with a heavier caliber, as well as possible elk hunting which I haven't done in a while.

Mine was rough enough I don't worry about using it, nice enough mechanically that its a perfect working gun (not the mechanical sense).

I'm not as fond of the pistol grip as many, nor the thick fore end, but it does come very close to being a very good all around gun for my neighborhood. As my eyes age, it may get a scope mounted on the barrel ahead of the receiver. Again, think excellent mechanically, not so great finish/stock wise. I have no desire to ever sell it, the value isn't an issue. I can only hope the next guy that gets it when I'm gone appreciates it for the working gun it is. I hope to restock it at some point, the butt stock isn't original, and was poorly fitted and over sanded at the edges. I don't mind the pad that's on it.

[2X22]

I like my 71 quite a lot. I've begun to think that it could fill the role of single gun that does the most. I like 94's quite a lot, but they are a but light for grizzly country, I feel much better with a heavier caliber, as well as possible elk hunting which I haven't done in a while.

I couldn't agree more with this. As was mentioned earlier, with a good bullet mold, sizing and reloading dies and it would fill most any role here in the US.

[7.62 Precision]

I like my 71 quite a lot. I've begun to think that it could fill the role of single gun that does the most . . .

I grew up on a homestead in bush Alaska. We could not buy any meat or produce, or anything perishable.

My dad had a number of rifles, but his model 71 was the rifle that was in his hand pretty much every time he went out the door. That rifle kept us fed for years. From blacktails to bear, it will do everything you need.