348 winchester rifle

[brookief]

Hi there...new to this website...I love the guns and just inherited my husbands fathers levergun rifle...348 winchester...His dad was was on a submarine ...the USS Guardfish.. with Winchester Springfields son...they fought the war together and were strong buddys and his son said that when they got off this boat there was to be this rifle coming out..and it would be waiting for at least 10 of his buddies...they recieved this rifle..mint condition it is...there were 10 boys that got those rifles...anyways...any one know of these men.We think there were only 100 of these rifles made...father in law was 20 years old at the time....interesting if any stories on these guns are around and who owns them.....i would love to know how much one of these rifles are worth?....not selling as it is being passed down thru the son to the grandson and then thegreat's if we make it to see it happen...hope to hear something

[Pete44ru]

Welcome to our fire, brookief !

While ther were many thousands of Winchester Model 71's made, in a couple of differing details, I've never heard of your special edition before.

It's very exciting to hear of, and a great story, to boot - well worth the $$$ investment to obtain a letter of authentication from the Winchester Museum at Cody, WY (aka: the Cody Museum).

Some pics would be nice - especially of any engraved dedication/plaque that may be attached to the wood or metal - or paperwork that may have been also kept with the rifle.

.

[brookief]

Hi there....I will update some more info on this rifle..i just got it today...i will take some pics of it in a few days..promise...thanks i am really interested on my info on it as it must have been exciting for him when he recieved it from the original builders son... my husbands father bought ten more of them when he recieved his so there are more of these originals.. up in new hampshire area.....i will be on again thanks..hjope to hear more from anyone else too

[kimwcook]

Hi brookief, welcome to the fire.

I would take Pete44ru's suggestion and get the rifle lettered. It would answer some of your questions and it definitely won't hurt the value. Now, you need to put together the ambiance so the value of the rifle is commensurate with the history.

Good luck and again welcome to the forum.

[Sixgun]

No letters available on a gun of that vintage--Get some DETAILED pics---as many as you can---taken without flash and a good set focus----barrel markings, tang area, receiver area, length of barrel, wood, buttplate, sights--etc. and we will instantly be able to tell you what you have ------------------------------------Sixgun

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Oh man, I can't wait to see this one. Sounds like an unusual 71.

And welcome to the joint. There are lots of people with 71 knowledge around here.

[Jarhead]

Welcome...

Looking forward to your Pics and additional Info. Sixgun knows his stuff and he ain't kiddin'

[Old Savage]

Winchester Springfield ?????

[C. Cash]

Welcome!

[Gun Smith]

Winchester Springfield as a person's name has never shown up in any literature I've read over the last 60 years. I believe the names may have been mixed together by a family member many years ago. There were over 47,000 M.71's produced. It is considered very collectible and it is POSSIBLE it was a special run of guns for a special purpose. There may be some markings on it that MIGHT identify it as different. In mint condition by collector standards it's worth well over $4000.00. There has never been a Winchester or Springfield as a crew member of the U.S.S. Guardfish.

[Pete44ru]

http://www.guardfish.org/deceased/deceased.htm

.

[O.S.O.K.]

Welcome to the board! Looking forward to seeing the pics of that special rifle. Very cool.

[71fan]

http://www.guardfish.org/deceased/deceased.htm.

Wrong one...that one was commissioned in '65. Here's the WW2 one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Guardfish_(SS-217)

Perhaps it was the son of an exec who worked at the Winchester plant when they were making the Garands during the war. Anyway, I am very anxious to see the pics.

Brookief: Here are a few articles on the 348, found from a link on our main page. By the end of WW2 there were about 22,000 Model 71 348 Winchesters, and by the end of production in 1956 there were about 47,000. A large percentage of those rifles are owned by the membership of this forum The 71 is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Winchester leverguns, and the last of the classic models.
http://leverguns.com/articles/taylor/model71.htm
http://leverguns.com/articles/model71_info.htm

[brookief]

Good morning!
Thank you so much for all the response! very interesting for me.I took pictures of the rifle but cannot find a place to put them in....so I wrote down what i saw on the gun....on the barrel its says Made in Usa Winchester Repeating Arms Co. New Haven CT.....under the barrel the number 24130 which is in front of the lever and then under the lever in back of it is a round emblem also with Winchester Repeating Arm Co. this is all there is...I really don't think it is a special one...just one of the many guns that were made in that time zone.its in excellant shape...my father in law is 86 years old so the stories keep getting longer on stories of the USS Guardfish...And yes i think that he may have knew someone that worked for the company when they were just coming out and he was able to buy up quite a few of them and friends of his have them somewhere up and around the new England states....it also has that screw type on top of the barrel for the sight also...the wood has embedded criss cross ornament in the stock handle on both sides and on the wooden part of the underneath of the barrel...hope this helps...thanksyou men know your rifles and i love the information u have enlightened me with...Apprieciate...it and yes i am one to have the Rights to Bear Arms Lady....I own a .30/.30 win Marlin lever and a .410 Savage that i love for small animal hunting....have gotten a couple of nice does with my Marlin up north..haven't hunted here in Ocala FL yet...ok

[71fan]

Your rifle dates to about 1947, and with the checkered stock it is a deluxe version. I'm not sure what the "screw" on top is but I'd bet it is a reciever sight mounted to the side of the rifle, or the 98A bolt peep sight which is integral with the bolt. The 98A was common on the pre-war deluxes but is not seen too often on post-war 71s.

If you want to send some pictures, PM me and I'll help you get them posted. I use hunt101.com but there are several photo hosting sites to choose from.