At the beginning of June I was in Reno for a few days with my brother while he was on R&R from his unit in Iraq. Walked into a gunstore and immediately spotted something interesting hanging on the wall. Like a light from the heavens it called out my name and I know I had to have it, even after I saw the price tag :?
Apparently the previous owner had sent his Winchester 71 to Harold Johnson of cooper's landing for a custom conversion. HJ is well known for being the only smith of his time to do .450 and .50 alaskan conversion (afterall he did invent the .450 and .50) and is regarded as one of the best smiths of his era. Big game hunters would often wait up to a year for him to do work and a typical conversion would cost $1000...back in the 70s and 80s. This of course not being your typical conversion with the custom foregrip and very unusual barrel cap, along with a tuned trigger and lever. So while the price tag was considerably more then I was ready to throw down I realized that all the custom work and who it was done by made it a very good buy.
It is a bit front heavy as one would expect due to the heavy barrel, foregrip and barrel cap. But damn does it ever feel good in your hands, and has great sites on it for a quick target acquisition. The 500 grains .50 alaskan is also well reputed from putting down even the largest of North American Kodiaks/Bull Moose with ease.
Now time for some pr0n:
Apparently the previous owner had sent his Winchester 71 to Harold Johnson of cooper's landing for a custom conversion. HJ is well known for being the only smith of his time to do .450 and .50 alaskan conversion (afterall he did invent the .450 and .50) and is regarded as one of the best smiths of his era. Big game hunters would often wait up to a year for him to do work and a typical conversion would cost $1000...back in the 70s and 80s. This of course not being your typical conversion with the custom foregrip and very unusual barrel cap, along with a tuned trigger and lever. So while the price tag was considerably more then I was ready to throw down I realized that all the custom work and who it was done by made it a very good buy.
It is a bit front heavy as one would expect due to the heavy barrel, foregrip and barrel cap. But damn does it ever feel good in your hands, and has great sites on it for a quick target acquisition. The 500 grains .50 alaskan is also well reputed from putting down even the largest of North American Kodiaks/Bull Moose with ease.
Now time for some pr0n:
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