School me on the Winchester Model 1907 UPDATE at post #18

[54ball]

George Nelson's (Baby Face Nelson) last gunfight was with a "Winchester 351". He killed two federal agents with it.
Witnesses thought Nelson was armed with a machine gun due to the high rate of fire.
Nelson was mortally wounded, and his wife dumped his blanket wrapped body in a church parking lot after he died in a flop house.

 

[2152hq]

Nelson got his converted full auto 1911 Colt that he used at the Wisconsin shootout with the FBI from a Texas part time gunsmith and leather crafter named Hyman Lebman.
Nelson killed an FBI agent with the Colt at that face off.
A converted to F/Auto and cutdown OAL Winchester Model 1907 would have been from the same source.

Another of the Colt conversions made by Lebman was found at the Lodge scene. It was thought to have been left there by Dillinger.
The gun was traced from Colt to 'Wolf & Klar' then to Lebman who bought it from W&K.

Lebman (sometimes using the spelling 'Lehman') always had the Feds after him. He converted the Winchester 1907 rifles to F/Auto and cut down their AOL. Made 'machine pistols' out of 1911 Colts. Some would dump out the entire magazine, he tried controllable full auto trigger as well. Both 45acp and 38acp calibers.
He put compensators on the bbls, extended mags.
Prior to 1933,,there was nothing illegal in doing so.

He was a very busy man and well liked by the Gangs a that time.
The NFA Act of '33/34 brought the Feds down on him with some more law behind them than they had previously.
He was eventually charged with Fed Firearms Violations under the NFA.
But very long court battles and then finally the start of WW2 intervened. The whole thing simply seemed to vanish in the court systems of the US and Texas. He never did serve any jail time AFAIK.
Interesting character for sure.

They have (or did have) at least one of his full auto Colt 1911's on display at the FBI. I don't know if any of the Win 1907 F/Auto cut down rifles are there also.
Just a gun tinkerer....

Added
Here's an interesting Win1907 conversion done during the Cuban Revolution using a multitude of mongrel parts:
The M1907 Cuban Winchester – Strikehold.net

 

[DWalt]

I have read a lot about "Nelson" but not much about his guns aside from the Hyman Lebman full auto conversion of a .38 Super Model 1911 used in the Little Bohemia shootout during which he killed an FBI agent. Most accounts of his last shootout with the FBI at Barrington IL mention only that "machine gun(s)" were used without any specifics as to what kind. Is there any reliable information establishing a certainty that there were converted Winchester 1907s used?

 

[2152hq]

This article shows pics the Lebman conversions of the Colts and the Winchester 1907.
It states a Lebman Winchester 1907 Converted F/A being used by Dillinger gang member VanMeter to kill a L/E Officer in a S.Bend , Ind bank robbery.

It says that Lester was 'likely' armed with a Colt 'Monitor' (civilian version of the Colt BAR) at his last encounter'.
Maybe they just don't know...

Pretty well established that Lebman was the Go-To Gunmaker Guy though.

1911 Baby Machine Gun and the Baby Faced Monster: Lester Gillis - GunsAmerica Digest

..and here's a pretty good discussion on that last shoot out with Nelson & the FBI.
Particularly the question of wether a Colt Monitor,,Winchester 1907,,or Colt Thompson were used by Nelson or Chase.
Winchester Model 1907 In .351 - Law Enforcement & Outlaw Firepower - Gangsters, Outlaws & Lawmen of the Early 20th Century Forum - MachineGunBoards.com Forums

 

[cwneely]

If you'll drop a 38 spl in the chamber you'll notice that it fits just fine. Thinner brass. If you get reckless and fire it, you'll find that it works as a fine single shot with good accuracy. If that was a +P you'll notice that it ejects. Now if you have access to a lathe you can turn the rims down to .405 and they will feed through the magazine. I wouldn't want you to try it since it breaks all the rules but if you've gone this far you will probably make up some 357s.

 

[2152hq]

Many 351 shooters make their brass from .357 Maximum brass.
Doing the trimming and lathe turning the rim down to .351 specs.

Some also use .357 Magnum brass and do the same.
Since the round headspaces on it's semi-rim,,the shorter .357 case and actually the 38spcl will work.

When converting the 357Max/Mag/38sp brass, it's advisable to when trimming the rim dia down to also add the wide, deep extractor groove into the case ahead of the rim as it is in the factory brass.
That allows the extractor on the bolt to close easily over the converted case and is not pushed outward to the extreme all the time.

Keep max pressures in mind when reloading. It's a simple blowback action, no other lock-up.
I think they were rated for pressure just under 30K which is still pretty high.
180gr bullets and 200gr will work the action best with proper loads.
Lighter bullets w/ heavier/higher pressure loads will generally not.

Lead .357d bullets thru the .352 bore is about as much as I'd want to go. I'd definetly not run .357d jacketed bullets through a .352 groove dia bore on a blowback action..but some do.
Their gun..

 

[sigp220.45]

No pictures, but I took it to the range today. My buddy was the ejected brass spotter. I could only get 4 rounds in the orginal magazine, but the cheapo Triple K loaded right up.

Its an indoor range with no going forward of the line allowed, so of course the first empty to eject launched almost dead ahead to the 20 yard line. Adios to that one.

I stood right next to the barrier between me and the lane to my right, and all but one after that ricocheted into fair territory and were recovered.

Recoil was noticeable with the blowback action, but not bad. All the rounds were in the black on a pistol target, but it was only 20 yards so no surprise there.

No malfunctions at all from either the 114 year old gun or the 70 year old ammo.

Its a fun gun and I'm glad I have it.

 

[Drm50]

I've wondered about 350 Legend, and if conversion would be practical.