I got in late on this discussion but would like to address the 1907 and .351 SL cartridge as a "failed attempt" comment. Sometimes I think we look at these older rounds from the perspective of 2010. A 180 gr bullet traveling at 1950-2050 fps doesn't sound like much. However, from 1907-1935 this was hot stuff in a short package that could be had in 10, 15 and even (supposedly) 20-round magazines. The 351 cartridge was also one of those that just seemed to out-perform paper ballistics. There are many accounts from the 1930s where this round punched completely through a car, bullet proof vests and even pentrated engine blocks. That may not be very impressive when you look at the paper thin metal on a current Oldsmobuick but back then the cars were made with thick steel. The 45acp round would bounce off cars on occasion! 1920s and 1930s lawmen and badmen alike LOVED this rifle and the cartridge. I've listed these elsewhere but every gang had at least one 1907 including Dillinger, Nelson, Van Meter, Karpis, the Barrow Gang, on the wrong side and FBI agents like Doc White, Charles Winstead, among others, of the good guys. Charles Askins and other border patrol agents would shell out their own money for 1907 Winchesters. Given that your life was at risk no matter which side of the law you are on, I don't think that these men would buy anything that didn't work. What eventually doomed the 1907 wasn't poor performace or weight; it was complexity, cost, and the flow of surplus weapons to the private sector after WWII. Like it or not, the 1907 Winchester was one of the significant historical weapons of the first half of the 20th century that no one has ever heard of. Finding or reloading .351 ammo is a challenge but well worth it.
John
