Originally Posted by
Valentine
you seem to have the buy-i-tis real bad. I heard of a .338. But a .348 Win must be for one of those PA armored plated deer at thousand yards. Talking about a big caliber, I'm getting a .35 Rem ready for hunting in you neck of the woods. Not only is it old; it got paid for decades ago. Good luck with those armored plated deer. I'll try to avoid that area of PA.
.... Just a bit of history... The 71 Win. was produced from 1935 (only 4 units made that year) until 1957. It was made in .348 Win. only. Approximately 47,000 guns were made during it's 22 yrs. of production, and a LOT of them found their way across our Northern border to Canada and further up into Alaska. Production ceased on them due to the fact that they were costly to make, and were relatively heavy.
It's not about armor-plated deer here..
.. it's about nostalgia and a link to the past, just as the re-introduction of the 1895 Win. several years ago. The original Model 71's, of which I own a 3-digit ser. no., were made in two models.. a standard grade, and a deluxe grade which had checkering and the optional bolt peepsight. There were two different tang length models also, with the "long tang" being the earlier production, the "short tang" the later.
The next time you're at a gun show, see if you can find any originals. They are still "out there", but are commanding some serious money when found. That's what it's about.