RARE Winchester Model 1907 07 Bayonet Lug Self-Loading Police Rifle .351 SL
SOLD FOR: $2726
LSB#: 230206SH001
Make: Winchester
Model: 07 (previously 1907), Police Rifle
Serial Number: 50576
Year of Manufacture: Ca.1946 (Production paused in 1943 at 49552 & resumed intermittently in 1945, finally terminating at approx. 58733 in 1958.
Caliber: .351 Winchester Self Loading (.351 W.S.L.)
Action Type: Blowback Operated Semi-Automatic with 5-Round Removable Magazine
Markings: The barrel is marked “MANUFACTURED BY THE WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS CO. / NEW HAVEN, CONN. U.S.A. SELF LOADING MODEL 07 PAT. AUG. 27. / DEC. 10. 01. FEB. 25. 02. FEB. 17. DEC. 22. 03. AUG. 21. OCT. 30. 06 JULY 5 .10 / -.351 CAL. / WINCHESTER PROOF STEEL / MADE IN U.S.A.” and the top has “WP” in oval, found again on top of the receiver. The lower tang is marked “X”. The upper tang is marked “WINCHESTER / TRADE MARK / MADE IN U.S.A. / MOD. 07. S.L.”. There is an Interarms import mark on the left of the receiver.
Barrel Length: 20”
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade integral to the bayonet lug assembly mounted to the front of the barrel. The rear sight is a “V” notch dovetailed into the rear of the barrel. The top tang is drilled, tapped and filled for a tang sight (none present).
Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two-piece smooth walnut with flat-bottom half-pistol grip, straight comb, checkered steel buttplate and sling swivels front and rear. The stocks have fairly light wear with some nicks and scratches. There are no chips or cracks. The LOP measures 14 1/8? from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The plate has wear around the edges with the face gone to a light patina with generally well defined checkering. Overall, the stocks are in Very Good-Fine condition.
Type of Finish: Blue
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is semi-bright with sharp rifling. There is some scattered minor erosion, mostly at the muzzle-end. In this writer’s opinion, the bore rates 8 out of 10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 25% of its metal finish. There is some strong finish in protected areas and some scattered remaining finish. Most exposed surfaces have gone to a light patina with scattered minor surface oxidation. There are scattered light nicks and scratches with a few areas worn to white. The action shows operational wear. The screw heads are lightly marked. The markings are clear. Overall, this rifle is in Good-Very Good condition.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this rifle. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This rifle includes one 5-round box magazine marked “-.351 CAL-” on the bottom and a leather sling.
Our Assessment: The Winchester Models 1907/07 is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic rifle produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company beginning in 1907 with production ending in 1957. It is fed from a 5 round capacity, detachable box magazine located immediately forward of the trigger guard. The only cartridge offered by Winchester as a factory chambering in the Model 1907 was the .351 S.L., pushing a 180 gr. bullet out of the barrel at about 1850 fps., more than twice the energy of a modern .357 Magnum shot out of a pistol.
The Model 1907 followed the semi-automatic models 1903 (rimfire) and 1905 (.32 or .35 Win), preceding the model 1910 (.401 Win.), all designed by Thomas Johnson, a key designer for Winchester who also designed the Model 12 shotgun. This series of Self-Loading rifles tells an interesting tale as John Browning had previously designed rifles incorporating helpful features like a bolt handle for Winchester, which Winchester had patented for Browning, only for the two to fail to reach an agreement and the innovations go to Remington for production under the Browning patent. Thus, many of the awkward features on this rifle wear done to avoid patent infringement by Winchester on a patent that they had paid for but Remington was benefiting from. France ordered 2,800 of these rifles from Winchester during WWI and would modify them to fire fully automatically and equip their troops with larger magazines for trench raiding.
This rifle was made early after the war and is an interesting Police variant. It shows the improved features found in later rifles. The stocks are much thicker than the early examples which were well known to develop severe cracks with normal use. The charging plunger has had a finger-groove tip installed, which anyone who has operated the earlier smooth, round plungers will immediately recognize as a needed improvement. The magazine release tab is larger and serrated. Rounding out the updates is a sturdy checkered steel buttplate and a set of sling swivels. Distinguishing this Police example is the bayonet lug mounted to the barrel and sturdy fixed sights.
This example is in Good-Very Good condition, showing signs of service use, but retaining a good bore and strong mechanics. The import mark on the receiver indicates that this rifle went somewhere and its condition indicates it did something, but shipping records in this serial range are not available. These Police rifles are fairly scarce in their own, a foreign sales example will take a prized place in a Winchester collection. If you can get your hands on a Krag bayonet, it will display well and certainly be a conversation starter. Please see our photos and good luck!
Please forgive any typos, I was educated in California. -Bud
