.351 Winchester?

L

LOLERCOASTER

New member
Me and my grandfather recently went through his very large firearm collection and re-discovered an old Winchester Model 1907, and a new, reproduced version. The only problem is, we have NO ammunition. Is this ammunition still available, or will I have to scour gun shows to find it?

Also, can someone tell me why the bore is so large for a small bullet?
 
Expensive as all heck, at $4.75 a round.
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And considering that the website says "Limit 1" for the rounds they actually have in stock, IMHO "scour gun shows" is probably the OP's best bet. :rolleyes:
Also, can someone tell me why the bore is so large for a small bullet?
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When this rifle was built, expanding bullets were not effective at low velocities, and the Model 1907 is limited to low velocities because it uses a straight blowback action. If you're not aware of what this means, you can find more info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowback_(firearms)

Blowback operation and high-powered cartridges don't go together well unless the firearm has a massive bolt and/or a very heavy recoil spring, which is OK in a machine gun, but not OK in a sporting rifle meant to be carried through the woods and operated by one person. Since power and velocity had to be relatively low, a larger caliber was used in an attempt to make it more effective on larger critters when using non-expanding bullets.

FWIW the competing Remington Model 8 used long-recoil operation, allowing the use of higher-powered cartridges; this is why the .35 Remington is still commercially produced but the .351 WSL is not. (OTOH the other Remington Model 8 chamberings- the .25, .30, and .32 Remington- are obsolete because they were relatively unpopular and were not picked up by other gunmakers.) IIRC Winchester could not use long-recoil operation for the M1907 because it would infringe on John M. Browning's patents.
 
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I owned one a few years back and all I can say is best of luck finding ammo. try gunbroker but paying $100 or more for a box is not to be unexpected. Fun Rifle to shoot but it aint cheap
 
I looked at the Old Western Scrounger website, all they have is collector rounds. Sounds like a copy of Catridge Conversions is in order.
 
.351 WSl Ammo

Load-X has it for about $2 a shot. Also, some of the vintage ammo guys at gun shows might have some as I got a 50 box of factory Remington for $85 recently. However, reloading is the way to go! Midway has the brass and dies. Graff has 180g bullets for a very reasonable price. I use 19g of 4227 and get 1650fps. These guns are realy fun shooters!

You say you have a reproduction? Never heard of such a thing! Very interesting.
 
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