Winchester Collector - Forum: Winchester Hunting, Shooting & Reloading

Bert H. on Your Thoughts on RL7

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:25:32 +0000

I have never used it... still have 3 lbs of IMR 3031.

Bert

TXGunNut on Your Thoughts on RL7

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:55:23 +0000

Rx7 is a great powder for medium caliber, medium velocity rifle rounds. I discovered it years ago when developing loads for the 35 Remington. It does well in quite a few other rounds. When Hodgdon released the LeverEvolution powder I discovered it is suitable or a bit better for some of the cartridges Rx7 performs well in. Both are good alternatives to IMR3031 but sometimes you just gotta go retro!

Mike

kevindpm61 on Your Thoughts on RL7

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:11:17 +0000

I love it for my 45-70

Dave M. on Your Thoughts on RL7

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 09:32:56 +0000

I think it's become my new favorite powder. As I'm loading several calibers with it, and having good luck.

Including 25-20, 32-20, 38-40, 44-40, 38-55, 375 Win. and 45-90.

450 Fuller on .348 Win. Factory ammo ?

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:52:21 +0000

The Winchester FP Silvertip 200 gr bullet is the bullet most frequently seen in new W-W .348 WCF ammunition. The older 150 gr bullet was abandoned by W-W due to a lack of SD and poor performance on game.

The Peters Cartridge Company near Cincinnati, OH. produced a 210 gr "Inner-belted" .348 bullet for their loaded ammunition until the 1950s. It was quite effective and came close to an ideal factory cartridge for the .348 Model 71 Winchester.

Those Model 71 owners who have owned their rifles for decades have learned to "load their own cartridges" to assure themselves of availability regardless of the whims of a fickle ammunition market. Quality bullets by Hawk, Swift, Barnes,Fury and Woodleigh may only be obtained generally in this manner. The older Kodiak- Alaska Bullet Works 250-gr bonded bullets are no longer with us. As also is the effective 200 gr Hornady bullet.

I still retain a box of the ABW Kodiaks, a few boxes of Hornady as well as an old box of the Peters 210 gr ammunition. Older sporting goods stores in Canada and the US may be the last holdouts for quality .348 bullets and ammunition.

MidwestCrisis on New Gun Old Sight

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 22:46:27 +0000

The original was a .35 or so. I’m in the middle of the elevation. 2” high at 30yds and dead on at 130 with the subs. The subs shot high at 30yds with irons. So I’m expecting to have to move elevation when I get more lever evolution ammo. With the subsonic rounds recoil is light. I think they’ll work sub 75 yds for new shooters.

Zebulon on New Gun Old Sight

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 22:29:47 +0000

That's pretty far up! Did it keep you in the middle of the receiver sight's elevation range when you were on target?

MidwestCrisis on New Gun Old Sight

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 22:09:34 +0000

Zebulon said
Before I forget to ask, what is the height of the replacement front sight you installed?
I've put a receiver sight on a new 86 45-90 but haven't sighted it in yet. I know it's going to require a higher front sight. The barrel is 2" longer than yours and is an octagonal of larger diameter at the muzzle, so the same would probably be a little off. However, it would be a place to start..

.41

Zebulon on New Gun Old Sight

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 21:56:50 +0000

Before I forget to ask, what is the height of the replacement front sight you installed?

I've put a receiver sight on a new 86 45-90 but haven't sighted it in yet. I know it's going to require a higher front sight. The barrel is 2" longer than yours and is an octagonal of larger diameter at the muzzle, so the same would probably be a little off. However, it would be a place to start..

MidwestCrisis on Hodgdon Leverevolution powder in 33 WCF loads

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 05:21:08 +0000

I remembered this thread from a while ago. I’ve been through a few boxes the lever evolution factory loads, 25-35 and 45-70 I’m very interested in making clones. Hodgdonon website tool doesn’t take the powder past the 444 Marlin. I think that’s what the original post was about. Reading back through the thread I think it’s 3031 that should be the choice. The thread ends there. I’m planning to make a flat nose , rather than rubber tipped. It would be nice if someone could tell their experience between 3031, 4198, 4895 if you’ve done it. Would save me a lot of $$ figuring it out for myself.

MidwestCrisis on New Gun Old Sight

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 18:19:59 +0000

The scope worked out. Wasn’t stacking rounds at 30 yds, but kept them on target once I was dialed in. Was able to ring the gong at 130 too. The glass in the scope isn’t that good. Going to look for another scope I can use with the mount. Also sighted in a Williams receiver sight on the 1886.

Zebulon on New Gun Old Sight

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 11:35:42 +0000

It looks right. And it should be able to stand up against recoil at least as well as, if not better than, the old varmint scopes without internal adjustments that were suspended in gimbals. We think of varmint rigs as soft shooting but a full house 220 Swift lets you know it when it ignites. Much more so a 25-06.

426crown on New Gun Old Sight

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 11:09:03 +0000

Well done.......................

MidwestCrisis on New Gun Old Sight

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 02:07:31 +0000

I got this Uberti 1885 Highwall, 45-70 a couple years ago. Luckily Illinois got a straight wall cartridge law the next year, so I did take it out one evening. That story is for another time. I’ve wanted another sight option since then, it had the full buckhorn, but tang sights for it get spendy. My rifle doesn’t have the factory d&t receiver, so without modifying my gun. The only option was a tang. I stumbled across the dove tail adapters but they are only 1.5” long, I asked turnbull if they’d make a longer one and they said no. So I made my own, I got a Williams 3/8 dovetail 1.5” weaver adapter with the center 6-48 set screw. Then found a mossberg/wards #10 scope with mount on eBay. $75 and it had the esthetic I was looking for. I drilled a hole in the scope base for the 6-48 screw, and used epoxy to help it hold between the dovetail and scope mounts. Planning to zero it tomorrow and see how it works.

This is more of a proof of concept than anything, have $100 in it all together.

Easty308@gmail.com on .348 Win. Factory ammo ?

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 22:19:05 +0000

Hornady made the most recent production of 348 ammo. It is LeveRevolution with 200 grain FTX bullets. They claim 2560 fps.I bought 4 boxes at $60 each.