Winchester Model 71

About the Winchester Model 71

The Winchester Model 71 is a lever-action sporting rifle introduced in 1935 as the modernized replacement for the legendary Model 1886, chambered exclusively for the powerful .348 Winchester cartridge. Built on a robust steel action with a two-thirds-length tubular magazine holding four rounds, it was prized by elk, bear, and big-timber deer hunters for its hard-hitting flat-point bullets. Roughly 47,000 were produced in 24-inch rifle and 20-inch carbine forms before it was discontinued, and it remains a sought-after collector's piece today.

The Model 71 was the direct successor to and a streamlined redesign of the John Browning-designed Winchester Model 1886, and it was the only rifle ever chambered for the .348 Winchester, the two being introduced as a matched pair.

Winchester Model 71 specifications

Its top-ejecting action prevented centered scope mounting, so the great majority of Model 71s lived their lives as iron-sighted buckhorn hunting rifles. Early guns (below approximately serial 15000) have a long tang; later guns a short tang. Browning produced a reproduction in Japan in 1986-1987.