The 348 Winchester was introduced in 1936 in the Winchester Model 71 lever action, the final version of John Browning's Winchester Model 1886 action. 348 Winchester is the only cartridge the 71 was chambered to, and the 348 was never chambered to other factory rifles. With a fat rimmed case it is one of the fastest and most powerful cartridges ever housed in factory lever actions. Its Model 71 was manufactured until 1958; the 348 Winchester was popular with elk and bear hunters, and its hard-hitting flat-point bullets found favor with big timber deer hunters. In recent years Browning/Winchester have reissued the Model 71 in 348, with the current factory load featuring a 200-grain bullet at 2520 feet per second.
