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February 13, 2026
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Good day gentlemen,
I am a new member but have been visiting for years.My “thing” is Winchester 71. I retired a few years ago from my work as an oncologist, i felt I had joined a club one of my patent had started. The TDO club. TDO- too damned old!
Anyway 10 years ago I got interested in lever action rifles. After getting a bunch of savage 99s I came across an article about the Winchester 71. A Browning 71 rifle came up for sale cheap because ithad a small area of pitting on the receiver, so I bought it. I loved the feel of it and shot it alot. Then a beaten up, broken stock (fixed with ugly yellow fiberglass covered with a maple leaf sticker) came up for $600. So I bought that. After that it was all downhill. I now have an as new 1952 Deluxe 71, 1948 standard with bolt peep, 1951 standard ,Browning 71 carbine, and a pair of high grade Browning 71s new in box rifle and carbine. The broke stock 71 is my truck/cabin, camping in bear country rifle. I replaced the stock with a nice walnut aftermarket stock, put a King reflector front sight and Redfield receiver sight on it The Brownng carbine has a Fastfire II sight on it. I love the feel of the 71 when I chamber a round ( as they say, if you know, you know!). I make a point of shooting a 71 every range trip.The picture s my “shooter” 71, I call my rancher 71 as I think the broken stock was from a horse wreck and I bought the rifle from a fellowwho lved in ranch country.
All my 71s are the short tang iteration. I have a hankering for a long tang 71 just to see how it 
Seekiing advice from other senior accumulators and collectors.
Thanks!
July 3, 2020
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Welcome aboard. There are many here that can identify with your present condition… I have no doubt that you will find expert answers to any questions you might have. If you can squeeze it into your now “empty” schedule, I would recommend attending the WACA gun show in Cody, Wy. in July… you will see more nice Winchesters there and meet & speak to some great people too. It’s a “can’t miss” for most of us. Cheers! Ben
May 26, 2017
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Welcome! Your never to old to get more Winchesters! Just a friendly warning the more your here the more attractive different models will become🙂
November 7, 2015
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Welcome! As you’ve already learned once you make room for a couple Winchesters it seems they start multiplying. There’s nothing you can do, all you try to do is be selective and maybe do some culling from time to time. Congrats on your retirement and gathering up a nice bunch of 71’s, hope you enjoy both for many years to come!
Mike
February 13, 2026
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Are rifles available for sale at that show?
November 7, 2015
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kujuak said
Are rifles available for sale at that show?
YES! There were five or six 71’s at last year’s show. If you need a few pointers on getting them back to your side of the border Henry Mero has that all figured out.
Mike
April 15, 2005
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Hello & welcome!
Just in case you have not yet read this – Summer 2021 (winchestercollector.org) I highly recommend doing so.
Should you have any questions, don’t be shy about asking me…
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
February 13, 2026
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Thank you one and all for your most kind and gracious welcome. I get the feeling this is going to cost me some money down the road. 🙂
July 3, 2020
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If you can attend the Cody show this summer, come a day early and enjoy a friendly dinner gathering at Fat Rack’s BBQ… buy your own meal and enjoy great food & conversation with some great people and Bert. 
ps… Bert I apologize… something ornery comes over me when I think of you… maybe envy of all that knowledge stuffed into that Santa-bearded head. 🙂
April 30, 2023
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Shots fired!
January 20, 2023
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TXGunNut said
kujuak said
Are rifles available for sale at that show?
YES! There were five or six 71’s at last year’s show. If you need a few pointers on getting them back to your side of the border Henry Mero has that all figured out.
Mike
“We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files,
We’d like to help you learn to help yourself.
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes,
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home.”
— with apologies to Simon & Garfunkel
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
September 19, 2014
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Zeb, good choice to quote! Tim
July 3, 2020
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Jeremy P said
Shots fired!
😂 I’m already buying Bert’s BBQ next summer. Gotta get my moneys worth!
February 13, 2026
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BBQ and folks who love Winchesters, sounds like it would be worth the drive.Any recommended lodging?Perhaps people have campers, motor homes, or camp??
July 3, 2020
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Lodging can be a challenge. Check the Cody Information Thread at the bottom of the forum list. I’ve rented a cabin via AirBNB in the past so I can get some peace & quiet… one very serious piece of advice, avoid the “Wyoming Inn”… the Bates Motel was a 5 star place in comparison.
November 19, 2006
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kujuak said
Good day gentlemen,
I am a new member but have been visiting for years.My “thing” is Winchester 71. I retired a few years ago from my work as an oncologist, i felt I had joined a club one of my patent had started. The TDO club. TDO- too damned old!
Anyway 10 years ago I got interested in lever action rifles. After getting a bunch of savage 99s I came across an article about the Winchester 71. A Browning 71 rifle came up for sale cheap because ithad a small area of pitting on the receiver, so I bought it. I loved the feel of it and shot it alot. Then a beaten up, broken stock (fixed with ugly yellow fiberglass covered with a maple leaf sticker) came up for $600. So I bought that. After that it was all downhill. I now have an as new 1952 Deluxe 71, 1948 standard with bolt peep, 1951 standard ,Browning 71 carbine, and a pair of high grade Browning 71s new in box rifle and carbine. The broke stock 71 is my truck/cabin, camping in bear country rifle. I replaced the stock with a nice walnut aftermarket stock, put a King reflector front sight and Redfield receiver sight on it The Brownng carbine has a Fastfire II sight on it. I love the feel of the 71 when I chamber a round ( as they say, if you know, you know!). I make a point of shooting a 71 every range trip.The picture s my “shooter” 71, I call my rancher 71 as I think the broken stock was from a horse wreck and I bought the rifle from a fellowwho lved in ranch country.
All my 71s are the short tang iteration. I have a hankering for a long tang 71 just to see how it handles/shoots. The one I have found looks original,in VG condition, sold by a reputable real gun collector. Fakes don’t seem a problem here n Canada.I figure because the market is so small, not worth the effort other than with Mauser 98s and Enfield snipers.
Seekiing advice from other senior accumulators and collectors.
Thanks!
Welcome!
The Model 71 is a fine Winchester rifle. I’ve only owned one and that was nearly 50 years ago. If I were to focus on just Model 71’s and make it my thing, I would be on a quest to acquire one of the very few made in .33 WCF and .45-70. I can think of examples of each of these chamberings that have come up for sale in recent years, and were discussed here. But, that’s the, “collector” in me – always looking for a piece more of a prize than the last piece.
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