If Winchester brought back the .351 WSL rifle today...

[Ownerus]

..... Today, if "it" can't be CNC machined then it isn't going to happen.....

If it can be made the old fashioned way, it can be made using CNC equipment once tooled and fixtured. Plus many "old" processes are still used in modern manufacturing.

 

[Kruel J]

I wouldn't even give it a look. I am not into calibers that are virtually impossible to find ammo for. Nope, no reason and plenty of other calibers that can do what the .351 did.

 

[284guy]

1. Winchester would fly all their prostitutes (i.e. "gun writers") to an all-expense-paid week-long Bacchanal wherein the new and wondrous virtues of the "brand-new" .351 were extolled.

2. Winchester would commit to buy large amounts of advertising in various brothels (i.e. "gun magazines") to run the articles resulting from 1.

3. We would see cover stories like "The .351 Winchester, Is It The Ultimate Round?" and "That Perfect .351"

4. The gun biz hangers-on and wannabes would pick up the "vibe". Paid sock-puppets would flood postings on various gun boards. Winchester would have made prior arrangement to "sponsor" (i.e. pay off) the largest gun boards. Any naysayers would be silenced by the Dolores Umbridge Brigade (i.e. moderators).

5. The .351 would become "the latest thing."

6. EVERYONE knows the latest thing MUST be the best, because it's new! If it wasn't better, they wouldn't have introduced it, right?

7. A BUNCH of camouflaged cretins would buy it.

8. It would take reality a few years to catch up with it and eventually it would fade into oblivion like so many "new" cartridges.

But in the short run, sure it would sell.

Very few people have lost money overestimating the gullibility of the American consumer.

P.T. Barnum was wrong - it's more like every ten seconds.

So essentially follow the 6.5 creedmoor

 

[Captain O]

Availability? Usally not much demand for something not available. Survivability? Yes. If and when it's available, it would need demand to stay that way.
Dont know about the Mini-14, though similar, being a better platform than an upsized M1 Carbine (other than economically, being already in production). The Mini is a large rifle made small. I'm suggesting a small rifle made a little bigger. The Mini is kinda big and boney compared to the carbine. I think the carbine could be re-designed a little larger but not end up as big as the Mini-14. Would it make economic sense? Probably not. I want it anyway
And why would a .357 mag type cartridge be "less efficient" in a .30 Carbine upsized rifle? It's pretty popular in small lever guns.

The .357 Magnum uses shorter bullets for the bullet's mass. They work well in a lever-action rifle, as does any rimmed cartridge. The "ballistic coefficient" of the longer bullet aids in penetration. The "longer" 110-grain .30 caliber FMJ bullet tends to penetrate more deeply making better use of the 14.5 grains of H110 propellant. (The 110-grain soft point bullets for the Carbine have the same bullet length and meplat profile).

On the other hand, the .357" bullets for the revolver cartridge are wider in diameter and tend to use bullets with a flatter meplat. This enhances drag. The case is of the same length (33mm) yet operates at a lower maximum operating pressure. (.30 Carbine @38,500 PSI vs. .357 S&W Magnum @ 35,000 PSI). With these differences, the greater mass may go to the .357, but the higher velocities can be achieved by the .30 Carbine.

Remember, "Shot placement is king, penetration is queen. Everything else is 'angels dancing on the heads of pins'."

 

[Certaindeaf]

.The "ballistic coefficient" of the longer bullet aids in penetration. The "longer" 110-grain .30 caliber FMJ bullet tends to penetrate more deeply..

Very doubtful. Hardly anything penetrates farther than a heavy Keith (on the right) slug. It'd be a fluke to ever recover one over many lifetimes of moose hunting..

 

[ageingstudent]

I wouldn't even give it a look. I am not into calibers that are virtually impossible to find ammo for. Nope, no reason and plenty of other calibers that can do what the .351 did.

You will never learn to swear under your breath properly when looking at ammo that is over 2 bucks a round.

If the .351 used something like a .357 (as I noted earlier) I think a lot of folks would really enjoy it. It's way too spensive presently without reloading for it. If you don't enjoy tinkering why would you? I get that. I can't always get out to shoot as much as I'd like, but my shop is just a few steps away and I do like to tinker with older guns and making ammo to get them shooting and shooting well. Come out and shoot mine sometime. You can't beat my ammo availability and price. Free to you is good no? Besides, it's kind of the great great grandpa of today's self-loader.

 

[Stomper]

Pass

Water?

Gas....

 

[Kruel J]

You will never learn to swear under your breath properly when looking at ammo that is over 2 bucks a round.

If the .351 used something like a .357 (as I noted earlier) I think a lot of folks would really enjoy it. It's way too spensive presently without reloading for it. If you don't enjoy tinkering why would you? I get that. I can't always get out to shoot as much as I'd like, but my shop is just a few steps away and I do like to tinker with older guns and making ammo to get them shooting and shooting well. Come out and shoot mine sometime. You can't beat my ammo availability and price. Free to you is good no? Besides, it's kind of the great great grandpa of today's self-loader.

I appreciate the offer, and don't get me wrong. I enjoy older guns and calibers. But you are correct sir, I don't have a shop to set up a reloading bench and even if I did I wouldn't go that far off the trail to load for the .351 when there are so many more calibers that can do what it can. But I sure can appreciate you reloading for it and would love to someday have a shop where I can get set up and enjoy rolling my own!

 

[Captain O]

You will never learn to swear under your breath properly when looking at ammo that is over 2 bucks a round.

If the .351 used something like a .357 (as I noted earlier) I think a lot of folks would really enjoy it. It's way too spensive presently without reloading for it. If you don't enjoy tinkering why would you? I get that. I can't always get out to shoot as much as I'd like, but my shop is just a few steps away and I do like to tinker with older guns and making ammo to get them shooting and shooting well. Come out and shoot mine sometime. You can't beat my ammo availability and price. Free to you is good no? Besides, it's kind of the great-great grandpa of today's self-loader.

There's something to be said for that. As Ownerus stated, the .351 WSL would be something housed in either an M1 Carbine platform or that of the Mini-14. (a bit more robust platform, given to a bit longer life).

 

[Kruel J]

There's something to be said for that. As Ownerus stated, the .351 WSL would be something housed in either an M1 Carbine platform or that of the Mini-14. (a bit more robust platform, given to a bit longer life).

But the .351 has been reviewed as of when it was still viable as not being the best deer round and really should be considered for critters at 50 pounds or less. And accuracy being only "fair"? No, not interested.

.351 Winchester Self-Loading (.351 WSL, .351 SL)

 

[Certaindeaf]

. You can't beat my ammo availability and price. Free to you is good no?.

 

[Kruel J]

I once woke up with a Tom Peterson haircut...........

I Woke Up With A Tom Peterson Hair Cut

 

[Kruel J]

I remember hearing that song when I was in HS.....lol, seems so long ago.......

 

[Certaindeaf]

My .351 WSL is called a 9x19. lol. I know, the volkscardridge.. but it's pretty handy, especially for handloaders.

 

[ageingstudent]

View attachment 394154

Wow you nailed it. Win.

 

[ageingstudent]

But the .351 has been reviewed as of when it was still viable as not being the best deer round and really should be considered for critters at 50 pounds or less. And accuracy being only "fair"? No, not interested.

.351 Winchester Self-Loading (.351 WSL, .351 SL)

I don't know why that is the case. If you consider the .357 mag out of a lever gun adequate for deer in brushy terrain to 100ish yards with the right hunting projectile the .351 is no different. Loads for .357 mag rifle are identical (or nearly so) to .351wsl data with slow magnum pistol powders. I've read that a lot but it's silly. I've shot mine a ton and it would have no issue taking down a black tail or a large 2 legged varmint out to the extreme edge of 150yds. At 50 yards it dents my 1/2" steel plate with authority. I think it gets a bad rap from the earlier .32 and .35 versions. This target is from last December. It's plenty accurate at 125 yards and it knocks that plate around harder than my M-1 carbine. For some reason a lot of old gun writers downed the cartridge and I suspect it was out of respect for J Browning parting ways with Winchester.

I've never taken mine up to a full load, but for a straight wall carbine cartridge it's plenty good even a whole grain under max load.

 

[Kruel J]

If you're popping AR500 plate at 100+ yards not even a .308 can leave a dent. Let alone a .357 magnum at full load. I would highly suggest swapping to at least AR400 for your target, as softer steel can actually cause much more of a ricochet.

 

[ageingstudent]

If it can be made the old fashioned way, it can be made using CNC equipment once tooled and fixtured. Plus many "old" processes are still used in modern manufacturing.

I don't see why it could not be, the guts are simpler than most modern autoloaders and there is no lock up. Tolerances are pretty loose. Mine never jams even when it's filthy.

 

[ageingstudent]

If you're popping AR500 plate at 100+ yards not even a .308 can leave a dent. Let alone a .357 magnum at full load. I would highly suggest swapping to at least AR400 for your target, as softer steel can actually cause much more of a ricochet.

Yes well it's a "we think it's pretty hard" plate. Its not ar500 hard. Nothing comes back it's canted and swings. I don't shoot it close up with jacketed, so there's really nothing to come back. Funny, the same load in a .357 mag revolver won't dent it at 25 yards but the .351 from the longer barrel will at 50. Science.

 

[slingshot1943]

I think theWSLs are a cool collectible and still reasonable priced.