Pop's old 348

Got my wife to set up some things to take some pictures of Dad's old model 71. Dad is 81, born in 1936 and bought this gun new when he was 16 so it was probably made in 1951. Says if he remembers right he paid a little under $100 for it which was a good bit of money for a gun back then.

In his hands it was the demise of dozens of whitetails, and 1 black bear. Along with ammo getting harder to find, in the mid 70's he had a bad eye injury so he retired it and bought a 99C in a 308 with a scope on it. He had to shoot left handed for several yrs until his sight healed up in his right eye.

The old leather army sling was torn so I removed it....the leather pad he put on sometime to help soak up some of the recoil. Just a neat old gun. Not sure which one of us boys will end up with it but it wont leave the family.










Took this picture to show the years of use where he carried it.

Very neat. Old guns have great character, and when we have the story that accompanies the guns, it makes them all the better. The Model 71 was/is a great firing platform that simply didn't catch on as it should.

I love that old gun Dr Mike. Always did. Good balance, and might be biased but a good looking gun that feels like American quality as soon as you pick it up.

That’s a great old gun, but I’m thinking it needs to go on another hunt. Keep those memories going, I’m sure your Dad would like that.

lefty315":32cs3pc8 said:

That’s a great old gun, but I’m thinking it needs to go on another hunt. Keep those memories going, I’m sure your Dad would like that.

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There's 8-10 loaded rounds left in that old box of Winchester 200 gr silvertips. Plus he says he has a reloading die for it somewhere so that wouldn't be impossible on a fair weather day.

A great looking piece. Yeah it needs to hunt.

It shouldn't leave the family. That's a very special rifle.

Guy

I love rifles with a story :wink:. I am glad it will stay in your family hopefully it will make it out into the woods a few more times too knock down a Whitetail or 2 .
Thank you for the post & photo :wink:.

Blessings,
Dan

That is a great story

A true American Classic.

JD338

Very cool. There are a few people on here who own 348's that can give advice on reloading for it. It would be neat to see it take a whole bunch more deer and bears in the future.

gerry":1ap3ig8v said:

Very cool. There are a few people on here who own 348's that can give advice on reloading for it. It would be neat to see it take a whole bunch more deer and bears in the future.

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I think Fotis, Scotty, and Cheyenne all have 348's and still use them.

What a great story, thank you for sharing that with us

Neat old gun with lots of history. Good article in Dec. issue of Handloader Magazine on the .348

I agree, it is a very special rifle, or at least, it would be in my family. I would leave it as close to original as possible and certainly keep as many of your Pop's "enhancements" as you can.. Shoot it, hunt with it, and pass it on. Looks like a great little rifle.