Winchester 1907 followed me home, now I have to feed it...

[Rusty Goose]

Hello all,

I have been looking for a Winchester model 1907 for a while and finally found the one I wanted at a decent price. I really like the old law enforcement guns, a decent Remington model 8 is also on the list, but down the road a bit.

Now the hard part. I have located 17pcs of .351sl brass and will try modifying .223 and 357 Max brass to see what works in the rifle and is easiest/cheapest to run.
I do need to find dies and a source for 180gr lrn boolits. I don't presently cast lead, maybe it's time to gear up.
Also it is in need of a new buffer and probably a recoil spring for good measure. Numrich is out of stock, I tried Jack First, Homestead parts to no avail. Any other suggestions?
Pics to follow.

Rusty

[rintinglen]

223 is the cheapest and easiest. Take a mini chop saw and lop off the case at the base of the shoulder, trim with your trusty case trimmer and Bob's your uncle. The only fly in this other wise nifty ointment is that the case rims are a tiny bit too small. A worn extractor can have some difficulty with that. Accurate 35-180C is a number to keep in mind, although Lyman made a bullet mold for the 351, the 350-319. 350 legend can work also, though you will have to resize the case all the way to the extractor groove.

Another annoyance is that these can fling brass into the next county with hotter loads, which, when you consider how much time you have invested in them, is a major nuisance.

[Battis]

I use .357 Mag brass, rim sized to .408” (drill press and file). I do not cut an extractor groove.
Cast bullet .352 (Accurate Molds)
Wolff Springs has springs. Buffers are hard to find - maybe you could make one.
https://www.gunsprings.com/WINCHESTE.../mID120/dID324

[Shanghai Jack]

I use .357 Mag brass, rim sized to .408” (drill press and file). I do not cut an extractor groove.
Cast bullet .352 (Accurate Molds)
Wolff Springs has springs. Buffers are hard to find - maybe you could make one.
https://www.gunsprings.com/WINCHESTE.../mID120/dID324

Mag or Max???

[Battis]

I use .357 Mag brass. I tried the .357 Max brass but, in the two rifles that I used it, the case mouths were getting dented during ejection, so I ended up cutting them down. That doesn't happen with .357 Mag brass.
I use 17 grs IMR4227, which is a compressible powder.
The case mouth of .357 Mag (or Max) brass is slightly too wide for the .352" cast bullets, so, to get neck tension, I reduce the case mouth using a .9mm crimping die (before loading) down the neck for the length of the bullet. Works great, though I usually expand the case mouth slightly. I then seat and crimp with .38/.357 seating die. Sounds involved but it's really a simple process.
In the pic, the case on the left hasn't been run through the .9mm crimping die. The case on the right has.

[koger]

A buddy of mine has two of these rifles. His best solutiong is to use .350 Legend brass,cut them to length and load them with 158 gr to 200 gr slugs and they shoot fine. The 350 Legend brass might have a slightly bigger rim than .223. He was at the local shooting range and picked up around 200rds of the brass free.

[cwtebay]

I have been very fortunate to find new and older brass over the years, but have made a few hundred from 357 max brass. I tried the 357 mag route with little success in magazine function in the 1907. I don't own a lathe, but chuck them in my drill press and have a jig that guides my file - finishing with emery cloth. I do find it beneficial to cut an extractor groove. I believe that I am on the 12th or so trip around with most of my brass made this way. I lose far more to the flinging than to brass compromise.
I now have a purpose built mold, but for a long time I used a Lee mold for 35 Remington that I planed off to make 180ish grain bullet that I sized through a bolt that I had drilled out and burnished to the size I desired. I use a variety of powders to achieve my preferred velocity. I did powder coat my bullets and my current mold is GC'd (but I think that I may start powder coating them also). Some brilliant fool made a Mosin action mate to a 351 barrel that I couldn't pass on for a picture of Grant several years back - she's my test gun for the 1907 and 1905.
I heeded some sage advice and secured enough buffers for my herd of WSL rifles to last a bit, springs are fairly easily obtained from Lee Spring with your desired parameters. Disassembly of the rifle beyond breakdown and forearm removal can be a daunting task! I borrowed a Winchester spanner wrench and copied it in the last century and I'm glad I did! A can opener on a swiss army knife will do in a pinch. I strongly advise taking it apart inside of a dry cleaning bag ( or a similar clear plastic bag) the first time - the spring tension just seems to let go all of a sudden.
I just got lucky and found a 10 round magazine for a 32 WSL 1905 and a handful of tang sights for the series recently so my interest in my self loaders is once again piqued! I have a 1907 that letters with a long lost Maxim suppressor, so I am currently drumming my fingers waiting on the paperwork to come back to build one.
There's a YouTube channel called 'logcabinlooms" that has a good bit of useful information about using aftermarket magazines.
Apologies for the longwinded rant but I love these rifles, and hope you have a wonderful time getting to know yours!


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[Rusty Goose]

Thanks for the info. I have been watching the 'logcabinlooms' videos, good info there for sure. I've had mine all torn down and back together again. That recoil spring does not disappoint! I am in need a buffer of course, Numrich is out of stock like everyone else. I'm looking into other compounds that could be used, Nylon?

Now that I finally have this one in my hot little hands (and still have not fired it), another has landed at my LGS for a pretty low price.... I feel like a kid eyeing a second pizza while the first is still in the oven.

[Battis]

They are addictive. I started with the .351, then the .35. I actually found dies for the .401 about a year or so before I found the rifle. I have a .32 which is pristine. I read that the .32 WSL caliber is the most useless round ever made - too small for big game, too big for small game. I eventually found a .22 at a decent price (the required .22 Win Auto ammo is available).

[Rusty Goose]

cwtebay-
I'm making a replacement buffer for mine out of Delrin rod, I have diameter but unsure of the original depth dimension. Would you mind measuring one of your spare buffers for me? I'm sure it is not a super critical dimension, but I would like to close as I can.

Rusty

[missionary5155]

We have a Model 1910 in .401. We make brass from 7.62x39 and it takes time to produce 50.
I had read these rifles fling brass with authority. Fired the first 5 rounds one at a time for "sight in" with a "screen" brass catcher.
Looked OK at 25 yards.
Moved the target frame to 50 yards. Loaded a 4 round mag. All smiles I plopped down on my rug and fired those 4. Nice looking group.
Then spent the next 15 minutes looking for brass and only finding 3 well over 15 feet away in all directions to the right.
Solution... Get a cheap AR brass catcher. With the velcro and 12 gauge black electric wire our 49 pieces of brass are still shooting.

[yankee_81]

I dont know if you ever got the info you were looking for, but I've got a spare buffer in my parts stash at home. I'll try to remember to measure it when I get home from work and post dimensions on here.

[Rusty Goose]

Thank you Yankee 81.

[yankee_81]

I looked all over but couldn't find my spare buffer, I checked my order history from way back in 2019 and realized I only ordered one... I would have sworn I ordered a spare.

with that said, my original buffer was in really great shape so I went ahead and measured it for reference. .650 OD, .315 ID and .310 thickness. my recollection from install was that the new one was only slightly thicker than the old one, I suspect the new one was more like .350 thick, maybe as much as .375 but definitely not any more than that.

[Rusty Goose]

Thank you very much!