338 W&W IMP ??

I have an idea it is the same cartridge head as the 45-70 which is what the 1886 was standard with. It would be a job to work a 45-70 bolt to 30-06.
It would be interesting if it is a 338 using a 45-90 brass. But so far no idea.

The 33 Winchester was a very common chambering. We have one. There were several "wild cats" made before Winchester jumped in with the .348 and out shinned them all. There is an Ackly Improved 33 Winchester that there are still dies available for.

Sure will. As I find out more it will be here.

So is this a re-barrel or is it still an original 33 Win barrel ? If its an original barrel most likely it simply an improved Ackley type chamber. Going way back to the beginning publications from Wolf publishing of Rifle, and Handloader magazines one of the issues of Rifle ran an article authored by Dave Corbin about improving the chamber of the 38-56 cartridge in the 1886 Win. Opening up the chamber to an Ackley improved type gave substantially more powder room and correspondingly improved ballistic performance.
I once had a model 71 Win re-barreled to a 375-348 Ackley and that was quite a performer. This rifle could be chambered for a 338 cartridge on the 348 case but I think the 348 case takes a slightly larger shell holder than the 45-70 case.

Probably be a good cast shooter no mater what the chamber shape. That model 71 I mentioned chambered for the 375/348 Ackley was a hand full but it didn't feed reliably so I let it go. I was living in the Alaska interior at the time and thought a bear gun that wont feed dependably is not something I want to use.
My Marlin 45-70 Old Boo had that base covered though as it feeds so slick sometimes I think it missed picking up a cartridge so I check the chamber and sure enough there is one of those cigar size cartridges in there. Old Boo even feeds empty cases as slick as can be and that right there is the test for feeding dependability.

Yep those 71's are very dear to the sellers anymore.
I am the happy owner of one that was made about 1955. Was made into a 50 Alaskan and also came with the original barrel.
And why I like caliber 50 lever actions so much still evades me.

Ahha glad you asked. The 33 wcf is a favorite of mine for several reasons. For one it came out in the 1886 Win which I love. It was also the last chambering for the 1886. It was also chambered in the last refinement of the 1886 the extra light weight model which is what I have.

Another reason it a favorite is that its parent case is none other than the readily available 45-70. It is really simple to make 33 from 45-70. The steps I use are to first anneal cases then run them through an rcbs form die then trim to length in an rcbs file trim die and done.

Actual caliber of the 33 wcf is 338" so any 338 caliber bullets can be fired in it but  because it is a tube feed best suited to flat nose bullets. Win also chambered some 1885 rifles in 33 so spitzers are good to go there.

Ballistically you can think of it as a beefed up 30-30 doing with a 200 grain bullet what the 30-30 does with a 170 grain bullet. The 33 can leave the 30-30 in the dust with heavy bullets up to 250 grain then approaching but not equaling the 348 wcf.

The 33 was the last factory chambering for the 1886 in theory but the model 71 is nothing more than an 1886 fancied up a bit and offered in a pistol grip configuration. When loaded to the same pressures with equal bullet weight they are not that far apart but since the 348 has far greater case capacity and is .010" larger in bore diameter the 33 will always be the little brother to the 348. Personally I prefer the 33 to the 348 because its ballistics are adequate for anything you would use the larger case for and the biggy for me is that 45-70 brass is always way easier to find and far cheaper than 348.

For anyone that likes the win 94 for its ballistic performance combined with its light weight and compactness you will like the 33 in the light weight version even better because the weight and length are not so different but the 33 can put the 30-30 to shame ballistically.

There ya go whats not to like right. I am crazy busy right now filling orders but if I can remember I will try to get a picture of my rifle and its ammo.

I agree about the feel. When handled side by side my 71 feels kind of chunky and not as well balanced as the more slim 33. They made the 33 on the 86 receiver with full rifle length barrel and full length mag tube but in that form I dont see any gain over other cartridges available on the same platform. I feel that when they came out with the extra light weight model they hit the ball out of the park with a perfect combination of caliber and rifle dimensions and balance for a hunting woods rifle. It was their final masterpiece for the 1886.

The model 71 got all the glory because it had appeal for two groups. It was the only rifle chambered for the 348 cartridge and the 348 cartridge was the only cartridge to ever use a 348" bullet. It appealed to collectors because of the numbers produced.
At the same time it also appealed to hunters because it stayed with the traditional lever action platform that many people were used to and liked and trusted and it was chambered for a very powerful cartridge. Early on it became known as THE BEAR GUN for use in Alaska on brown bears. Ballistically it also appealed to the GI's returning home from the war and having gotten familiar with the 30-06 pushing a 180 grain bullet to 2700 fps. Winchester specifically targeted those numbers to appeal to those people with the 180 grain bullet at an advertised 2700 fps and they even stated in their advertising "" just like the 30-06""

It was too late though because lever actions were kind of loosing favor to the bolt actions in the hunting fields until nostalgia entered the equation and brought lever actions back into favor. For some of us the favor never left !

There was the Browning BLR. The Browning was a complete departure from conventional lever actions as I believe was the Win 88 as well. The Browning used a rotating locking bolt head that allowed a 20,000 psi increase in chamber pressures over conventional rear locking lever actions. It also use a rack and pinion lever mechanism that was extremely smooth in its function. In the BLR we now had a lever action that was strong enough to handle cartridges that were formerly limited to use in bolt actions. I tried them but didnt like them because to me the balance was off just like with the win 95 and even though to a lesser degree the Savage 99. When I took to coyote hunting as a business when I was a young man the rifle that fit me best and that I could shoot best off hand was the Browning B-78 which is a sort of copy of the Win 1885.

For me with the 26" heavy round barrel that rifle hung perfectly and was the easiest rifle to steady for off hand shooting something you have to do often hunting coyotes. The B-78 with a 26" barrel in most cases was shorter over all than a bolt action with a 24" barrel. In high velocity cartridges that extra 2" of barrel could coax and extra 100 fps velocity over a shorter barrel. With the short receiver the balance point is closer to your body when shooting off hand and the heavier of the two barrels the round barrel had the perfect weight to still make it muzzle heavy which seems to help dampen out the wobbles shooting off hand. I had a pair of them one for daily use and one as back up. My daily use rifle was in 6mm Rem and the back up in 22-250.

I much preferred the 6mm over the 22 because with the 100 grain bullet I most often used it could penetrate a coyote from end to end and just flatten them on a rear end shot on coyotes that were running straight away which is a pretty comon shot for a coyote hunter. The 22-250 with the bullets we had then that were compatible with the 1/14" twist then used would not make it past the hips to reach the vitals. It would break a hip and stop and brother let me tell you a coyote can go a long ways with a broken hip if the vitals are not reached. To this day I still prefer the 6mm caliber for coyotes and still mostly still use a 100 grain bullet but now I launch them from the 30-06 case which gives me another 100 fps over the 6mm Rem.