Can Winchester .348 be downloaded

You are a candidate for.....

bushmaster1313 said:
Toying with idea of getting a Winchester 71 but the recoil of the 348 Winchester is said to be brutal.

Could I get a custom loader to use a bullet lighter than 200 gr and use less powder for an easier time on my shoulder

100 yard range is all I need
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You are a candidate for becoming a reloader. I load all of my guns so that they can shoot like a .22 to bunker busters and everything in between.

It would be great if you can find someone that can help you make the load you want. If this is important to you, it may very well be worthwhile to get into. If you were to do that, you will find that there is a BIG new world out there that can either be just simple enough to make some special bullets that you would like to delve deeply into. It's not hard to learn, but you have to be a careful sort of person.
 
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" The cartridge case was not based on a standard head or rim design. That rules out reforming a common case."

That is correct, and it would be difficult to find even an uncommon case that would work as a basis for reforming. At one time Brass Extrusion Laboratories (I don't know if that company still exists) made .348 brass but I am not sure that anyone is today. As I said earlier, brass does show up occasionally on GunBroker, and one may find some .348 ammo or brass at gun shows. A year or so ago, I bought a full box of fired .348 brass for $10 at a gun show, just in case I ever needed it. So far, I haven't.
 
I'm only reporting this to give the original poster and better idea of what he'd face if he buys a Model 71. On a smaller forum that specializes in brand R. a member is advertising 96 pieces of Winchester virgin .348 brass and 135 Hornady bullets to load into those cases for $250.

On the good side it would be a lot less costly than assembling cartridges for a .577-450 Martini-Henry British service rifle. I bought one of those once for $99 then never got any further than buying the RCBS shell holder.
 
It looks like Quality Cartridge is doing a run of .348 Winchester brass. According to Midway USA they will have some in stock the first week of October. They are costly @$2.20/piece but I have seen them for twice that.

A 20 piece box of 348 Winchester Brass will run you $43.99 but it's a rare cartridge.
Quality Cartridge Reloading Brass 348 Winchester Box of - MPN: 994107

I know nothing about this company, I just saw it when looking on the Midway USA site.
 
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The 348 WCF case is based on the 50-110 WCF case.

50-110 new commercial brass is available,,about $1/piece from Starline,ect.
Actually being able to form the 50 down to a tapered 348 w/o a handful of different dies, a decent size press and a lot of time is another thing. I'm sure it can be done, I've seen some pretty radical case forming done.

My best advise for the OP would be to get into a simple single stage reloading press, set of dies, ect. Load your own to your own specs. It isn't hard to do, you'll know exactly what they are and the equiptment never goes to waste,,there's always another gun begging for ammo.
 
The .348 Win cartridge was at one time available in 3 bullet weights: 180gr, 200gr and 250gr, so should shoot 180 grain OK. Barnes Bullets used to offer 250gr but I don;t recall if they offered 180's. At one time Browning offered a replica model 71, and I bought one. I can verify that it has very stout recoil off the bench. I later bought one that had been rebarreled to .348 Ackley improved that had even more recoil. All my reloading was done with W-W brass and 200gr jacketed bullets.
 
2152hq said:
The 348 WCF case is based on the 50-110 WCF case.
50-110 new commercial brass is available,,about $1/piece from Starline,etc. Actually being able to form the 50 down to a tapered 348 w/o a handful of different dies, a decent size press and a lot of time is another thing. I'm sure it can be done, I've seen some pretty radical case forming done.
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I don't know where one would get a reforming die set to convert .50-110 cases to .348. It would likely involve at least two sizing dies, possibly three. And if such a set even exists (or custom made), it wouldn't be cheap. Donnelley's guide to cartridge case conversion (which is very extensive and detailed) does not provide much guidance regarding the .348. Not a job I would take on if there was any way I could buy .348 brass somewhere. The .348 standard reloading die sets are not that expensive.
 
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Always wanted to shoot a Winchester Model 71. Came pretty close to buying one on an occasion or two.

It seems that the Winchester stock design, while fine for 19th century black powder fueled cartridges, is brutal when coupled with 20th century cartridge intensity. I confess that even the Winchester 94 Carbine is not my favorite rifle for bench rest shooting.

If the recoil of the Model 71 in .348 Winchester is thought to be bad, try cozying up to a Model 1895 in .405 Winchester. The stock design that works fine with a Model 1873 rifle is punishing when bullet weight is 300 grains and muzzle velocity is 2300 fps.
 
I had a 71 for a while and actually shot it quite a lot. I never found the recoil that bad. Components for the 348 even back when I had mine were hard to come by. Bullets difficult to find in stock and brass was really hard to get. Most of mine I got by finding loaded ammo and shooting it. I liked the 71 but the reloading hassle finally made me move it on.
 
I have a 71 rifle and load cast bullets for my reduced loads. One thing you have to remember is that if it doesn't have a peep sight on it the barrel mounted rear sight might not have enough adjustment to shoot to the same point of aim as the jacketed loads.

After I contacted Hodgdon about recommended starting loads for Trail Boss I never received a response so I didn't use it. I tried 3031 with a suggested Lyman load and had hangfires which are not pleasant to say the least.

If you buy the rifle pm me and I will share my loading data with you.
 
There are quite a few people trying to sell loaded ammo or brass on Gunbroker, the price is pretty steep though.
 
DWalt said:
I don't know where one would get a reforming die set to convert .50-110 cases to .348. It would likely involve at least two sizing dies, possibly three. And if such a set even exists (or custom made), it wouldn't be cheap. Donnelley's guide to cartridge case conversion (which is very extensive and detailed) does not provide much guidance regarding the .348. Not a job I would take on if there was any way I could buy .348 brass somewhere. The .348 standard reloading die sets are not that expensive.
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That the 50-110 is the parent case of the 348 was simply my point,,it's not a one-of design spec as is often times cited.

Challenge a case forming/ bullet swaging junkie to make 348 from 50-110 and many will do it. But it's take a bunch of odd reloading dies and more work than seemingly necessary to make one from the other.
They just do stuff like that because they can.
Others like us scrounge around and buy a couple boxes of the still available precious brass and are satisfied with that.

I do some case forming for the odd calibers I reload for, mainly metrics. But something like that transformation I wouldn't even try to do.
Making scrap brass out of new unprimed 50-110 cases isn't a good use of time & money!
 
Keep in mind that this is a HUNTING RIFLE, not a range rifle or a plinking rifle. You should be able to handle recoil for a few shots at game and to sight-in.

The problem is in getting fresh factory ammo. You don't want to be facing an angry moose or bear and find your ammo lacking.
 
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