leah’s rifle
January 22nd, 2012
I have some experience with lever-action rifles in odd calibers. Grandpa Burgess hunted with a Winchester Model 94 for decades, but instead of buying one in 30-30 (one of the most popular hunting calibers of all time) he purchased one in .32 Winchester Special. Whereas a 30-30 owner can buy ammunition at any sporting goods store or Walmart, you pretty much have to order .32 Win Special online.
I thought that was about it as bad as it could get until we were given Leah’s rifle.
Leah’s rifle is a Winchester Model 71, handed down from her father. As far as I can tell, it’s Leah’s rifle because all the other rifles are still being used, or have been given to her brother, which makes perfect sense. Although her dad didn’t use it a lot, he did take a couple of elk with it, and so it has some sentimental connection.
Model 71’s were only made in .348 Winchester, and .348 Winchester was only made for Model 71’s. It was the largest commercial smokeless cartridge made for a lever-action. Much more powerful than the venerable 30-30, the cartridge was more suited for dangerous game and larger animals like elk or moose. Approximately as powerful as the 30-06, it was favored in Alaska and Canada, where a quick-handling, powerful gun might come in handy. Leah’s 71 is a “Deluxe” from 1935, the first year of production, and although someone poorly refinished the stock, it’s in pretty nice shape. The larger problem is although approximately 50,000 M71’s were produced, no commonly available ammunition is still loaded. The one company who loads ammunition for it in small amounts charges almost $4 per round. Handloading is the only viable route if we want to shoot the rifle, although Winchester has announced that they are going to begin loading .348 again to go with another commemorative run of rifles (we’ll see).
While we only have a handful of shells left, we were given a number of old ammunition boxes that came with the gun. The box in the front dates back to the original run of ammunition in 1935, while the other boxes date from the 50’s, 60’s and later. I love old ammo boxes. The large swathes of primary colors and clear branding in fonts that existed for decades harken back to a classic age for American guns. It feels like a link back to the old west, where guns were a way of life and not a political argument.
Some guns come and go, while other ones earn permanent spot in the back of the safe. While this one might not make it out very often, it’s certainly a keeper and a fun piece of family history.






















