The .351 SL proved popular with police and security forces as the only chambering available in the model 1907, and was used by France in both world wars.

An experimental Thompson submachine gun was also made to fire .351 SL in 1919 but was never produced commercially.

[3] While a few gun writers in the 1960s criticized the .351 SL for being inadequate as a deer hunting round, and the round's power has sometimes been compared to a .357 Magnum carbine load, the .351 SL's killing power falls somewhere between the .30-30 Winchester and the .35 Remington.

Townsend Whelen praised it as a "good cartridge for deer and similar game in close timber.

[7] But for the handloader who has taken the time to replace the recoil spring and buffer in the Winchester Model 1907, the .351 SL can be loaded to its original velocities.