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Old School Gun Test: Winchester Model 1907 .351 SL

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By Mike “DUKE” Venturino, GUNS Magazine
Photos: Yvonne Venturino

It is truly a shame gun-haters don’t read firearms periodicals. Then at least they might understand what it is they fear so much. Take for instance their phobia of “automatics with bullet clips.” They are actually “semi-automatics” or “autoloaders” and they have “magazines for cartridges,” which are not “bullet clips.”

But this fact would shake them to their roots: semi-autos with detachable magazines are old news. In fact Winchester began introducing them as early as 1905 and in 1907 began cataloging one that stayed on the market for 50 years! It was used to arm many police departments and prison guards, one was there in Louisiana that day flinging bullets at Bonnie and Clyde when they died in their car and several thousand served as “assault rifles.”

Yes that is true. The French bought thousands of 1907 rifles and millions of rounds of their unique ammunition with which to fight Germans in World War I. Yet it is most likely if not perfectly provable the vast majority of Winchester Model 1907’s were used for ordinary deer hunting. Standard magazines for the .351 held five rounds but Winchester also offered ones of 10-round capacity. I’d bet the French and law enforcement organizations bought most of the 10-round magazines. They certainly are not common today for I tried to buy one myself but rejected paying their going prices of $175 to $200.

Model 1907’s would have been fine deer hunting because the limitations of their iron sights suited the range and power of its cartridge. Its chambering was referred to as “unique.” The .351 Winchester Self-Loading most certainly was unique. To the best of my knowledge every other American .35 caliber rifle cartridge produced before or since carried 0.357- or 0.358-inch bullets. The .351 WSL actually used 0.351-inch bullets. Nominally they weighed 180 grains, were usually jacketed softpoints and were propelled from the 20-inch barrel of the Model 1907 at about 1,800 fps.

Since the sights on Model 1907’s consisted of a blade front with open rear, its practical range was about 150 yards. Ideal (Later Lyman) tang sights were sold for them but wouldn’t have caused them to reach out appreciably further. The front sight would blot out most deer at greater distances.

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The Model 1907 .351 WSL is rather heavy for a carbine at just more than 8 pounds, yet offers decent power out to 100 yards or so.

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Standard magazine capacity for the Model 1907 was five rounds but 10-round ones were also sold.

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Although most people only called it the “.351,” Winchester officially named it the Model 1907 SL.

My desk dictionary defines a carbine as a short, light rifle. That presents a conundrum in reference to Winchester’s Model 1907. With its 20-inch barrel it most certainly is short. On the other hand nobody would call it light. At over 8 pounds it weighed about as much as any bolt-action sporting rifle of its era.

Why? Because unlike later semi-autos it did not rely on gas bled away from powder gas to cycle its action. Instead it used a direct blowback type of function as with .22 semi-auto rifles and handguns. To keep the blown-back breechblock from severely damaging the Model 1907 frame it had to be heavy. Likewise, the frame itself had to be sturdy. The result was a short, heavy rifle and not a true carbine.

After acquiring a very nice condition Model 1907 along with 38 rounds of old Remington factory loads, I devoted myself to gathering up loading tools, components and load data and then shooting it. Devoted is a good word to use there because none of those things mentioned were easily obtained. That’s with the exception of reloading dies. An email to Redding had a set here quickly.

Next I needed cartridge cases. I thought I had some. Not! Every one of the old factory loads split on firing. Usable cases can be formed from some others with a mite of work and know-how. Why bother? A firm over in South Dakota formerly known as Jamison and now Caltech actually catalogs properly headstamped and ready to load .351 WSL brass. I bought 150 rounds. Nominal case length is 1.38 inches and case form is considered semi-rimmed. I measured several of my cases. Rim diameter is 0.407 inch and case body ahead of the extractor groove is 0.375 inch. That makes the case a bit more than semi-rimmed to me.

Bullets came from three sources. My friends at Buffalo Arms over in Idaho offer a full-metal jacketed (FMJ) 0.351-inch diameter bullet weighing 181 grains. Some of the same weight and FMJ style were also found on an Internet auction site. Their maker is unknown to me.

While perusing Buffalo Arms website, I also checked their list of bullet molds for one suitable. No luck but at least they had custom made 0.352 inch lube-sizing dies available. I also checked Lyman, RCBS and Redding/SAECO mold lists. No luck. Then I found an outfit in Salt Lake City called Accurate Molds and visited their website. They indeed offered the exact mold I needed: roundnose/flatpoint taking regular .38/.357 gas checks and weighing nominally 175 grains. They offer their molds with cavities cut in aluminum, brass and iron. I’m an iron sort of guy and that double cavity mold was nothing short of perfection. Once at proper temperature it dropped two good bullets with each pour. Mine weighed only 166 grains because they were cast of very hard Linotype alloy.

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A Remington factory .351 WSL softpoint load (left) compared with Duke’s handloads consisting of a 181-grain FMJ bullet of unknown make and its loaded round, a Buffalo Arms 181-grain FMJ bullet and loaded round and Duke’s own 166-grain cast bullet from custom Accurate Mold and loaded round.

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Duke’s cast bullets gave the best results in his Winchester Model 1907 .351 WSL. This 100-yard group is 2-3/4 inches.

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The only viable source of reloading data Duke discovered was in an old Lyman Reloading Handbook No. 45. Note the split cases Duke got by
shooting the old factory ammo that came with the rifle.

Finally, the last loading item needed was information. That was the hardest to get. None of today’s manuals even mention .351 WSL. I actually did find it listed in a 1927 vintage Lyman Handbook but that did little good because none of the powders mentioned therein still exist. Finally in the back of Lyman Handbook 45 from the mid-’60’s I found a little data under their section for “Obsolete and Semi-Obsolete Calibers.” Listed were charges for Unique, IMR4227 and 2400.

In my rifle Unique would not give reliable functioning, I had no 2400 and could find none in this component-starved time. Groups with IMR4227 were lousy. Then my brain kicked into gear when it dawned on me that one of my all-time favorite propellants with cast bullets is Accurate’s 5744 and its burning rate is very close to 2400 and IMR4227. It worked beautifully with the Accurate Molds’ gas check design. Groups at 100 yards were about 2 to 3 inches for five shots. Velocities ran in the 1,650 to 1,700 fps range. I settled on a charge of 17.0 grains of 5744 as my most accurate. It was also 100 percent reliable.

So if you hear some numbskull rattling on about how dangerous these “new automatics” are and how they should be outlawed, just ask them why Winchester Model 1907’s have not been considered “dangerous” for over a century. They will do anything an AR or AK will do except look ugly.

Thanks to the GUNS Magazine team for this post. Click here to go to GunsMagazine.com.

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