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I found this extraordinary piece of writing on leverguns.com. The guy who wrote the article was quoting another article, and I have to quote it here because it's just outstanding.
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Highly recommended is Gil Sengel's "Cartridge Board: .348 Winchester" in "Handloader" 177, October-November, 1995, pages 14-15 & 44. Please allow me to quote Mr. Sengel's magnificent peroration on the Model 71 which ends that piece:
"Thus ends the technical history of the .348 Winchester. Please pardon us when we say all of that really has little to do with the "real" history. You see, the story of the .348 WCF can never truly be told due to its unique purpose. Designed solely as a powerful hunting cartridge for the finest big bore lever gun that has ever been, its history was played out in dim woods and along forested streams of the cold country. Dark spruce, black water, and white snow have felt its concussion in places where weather was bad and ranges short. Elk, moose, and big bears knew its report, too, but the only witness was the north wind.
"Those who brought this rifle and cartridge into being were some of the last men to know what relying on a rifle really meant. Not head hunting, not killing, but slipping as through a curtain, alone, into a land that is big, beautiful, and totally unforgiving. A good canoe, a favorite pack frame, a big Winchester with receiver turned dull silver from wear by countless pairs of mittens are all part of this history.
"Then the sudden violent shaking of the brush. A blood chilling half-growl, half-roar paralyzes mind and senses. Quick flashes of brown transform into a slobbering face of teeth and gray guard hairs standing erect, accented by eyes turned red with hate for reasons know only to itself. As death closes the final few feet, there comes, somehow, the crashing thunder of a Model 71 - again and again.
"Yes, the .348 Winchester truly belongs to another era. It was created for a place that is part fiction, part reality, part memory. Unfortunately, we have never been allowed to glimpse very much of it."
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Highly recommended is Gil Sengel's "Cartridge Board: .348 Winchester" in "Handloader" 177, October-November, 1995, pages 14-15 & 44. Please allow me to quote Mr. Sengel's magnificent peroration on the Model 71 which ends that piece:
"Thus ends the technical history of the .348 Winchester. Please pardon us when we say all of that really has little to do with the "real" history. You see, the story of the .348 WCF can never truly be told due to its unique purpose. Designed solely as a powerful hunting cartridge for the finest big bore lever gun that has ever been, its history was played out in dim woods and along forested streams of the cold country. Dark spruce, black water, and white snow have felt its concussion in places where weather was bad and ranges short. Elk, moose, and big bears knew its report, too, but the only witness was the north wind.
"Those who brought this rifle and cartridge into being were some of the last men to know what relying on a rifle really meant. Not head hunting, not killing, but slipping as through a curtain, alone, into a land that is big, beautiful, and totally unforgiving. A good canoe, a favorite pack frame, a big Winchester with receiver turned dull silver from wear by countless pairs of mittens are all part of this history.
"Then the sudden violent shaking of the brush. A blood chilling half-growl, half-roar paralyzes mind and senses. Quick flashes of brown transform into a slobbering face of teeth and gray guard hairs standing erect, accented by eyes turned red with hate for reasons know only to itself. As death closes the final few feet, there comes, somehow, the crashing thunder of a Model 71 - again and again.
"Yes, the .348 Winchester truly belongs to another era. It was created for a place that is part fiction, part reality, part memory. Unfortunately, we have never been allowed to glimpse very much of it."
