The .357 Magnum revolver cartridge was devised by Elmer Keith and Phillip Sharp of Winchester Rifle and ammunition makers in association with Smith & Wesson in the 1930's. The cartridge was based upon the .38 Special but with much more power. The .357 Magnum was released for sale in 1935 and its popularity has never waned.

Below is pictured a modern Smith & Wesson Model 27 .357 Magnum.

In the 1930's the US Law Enforcement Agencies realized that they needed a more powerful handgun to combat the rise in organized crime as brought about by the Gangsters like John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone and other note-worthies that rose to infamy during the Depression and Prohibition era.

At the time the only handgun capable of penetrating a car or more ostensibly a 'Get-Away Car' that 'hoods' were now using more and more was the Colt .38 Super Automatic.  Introduced in 1929 the Colt .38 super was an adaptation of the famous 1911A1 Colt .45 Government pistol and was the most powerful handgun round at the time. The .38 super as seen below in the Colt Combat Commander , is still used today and is still respected as an accurate and powerful bullet to fire.

Gangsters were also beginning to wear the first bullet proof  vests and when one of these was tested it was revealed that a bullet needed to be traveling at over 1000f.p.s (feet per second) to be ale to penetrate it.  Most handguns at that time had muzzle velocities of around 600 to 800 f.p.s 

However, the Colt .38 super with a muzzle velocity of over 1200 f.p.s managed to penetrate at medium to close range, but semi-automatics like the Colt .38 super were not favored by many Law Enforcers due to the nasty habit of guns like this jamming up especially when your life may depend on every valuable shot, so the relatively under powered almost un-jammable revolvers were the weapon that was most relied upon.

The Law Enforcement Agencies needed to combat the wearers of bullet proof vests and the cars they drove too, so a more powerful round of revolver handgun ammunition was earnestly sought.   The popular .38 special revolver cartridge was looked at with aims of improving it.  The cartridge case was extended by 3.2mm so that it would not fit into an ordinary .38 revolver and the charge of powder was modified, increasing the pressure within.

The .38 special revolver has a C.U.P Copper Unit Pressure rating of 16,500 units and the .357 Magnum now had 35,000 units of pressure...twice as much.  This new round was tested on the early Bullet proof vests and was very successful as the bullet went clean through the vest, also the .357 magnum could damage an engine block of a car if fired at close range.

The Law Enforcement Agencies now had a handgun to be reckoned with...the .357 Magnum a gun which could drop an assailant with one shot in the torso even wearing an early bullet proof vest. 

Below is pictured the Model 327PD, of which PD stands for Personal Defence and the .357 Mag is more than up to this task !

The term 'Magnum'  was coined by Major Doug Wesson of Smith & Wesson, he was a well know connoisseur of  expensive Champagne and a double size bottle  is called a 'Magnum' of which he regularly ordered.  This name sounded appropriate to him to express the larger and almost twice as powerful cartridge. 

Also the new cartridge had to be distinguished  from the normal .38 So the caliber of .357 was chosen as all .38 cal cartridges can be fired in a .357 magnum revolver but .357 Magnum cartridges cannot be fired from a .38 revolver.

Six .357 Magnum Cartridges. nearly actual size 

Automatic pistols have always had more fire power due to the fact that they have a magazine inside their handles that can accommodate more bullets that a revolving cylinder can. The Colt .45 can hold 7 cartridges whilst the modern Austrian Glock can hold 18 or even 20 cartridges.

Even though the .357 Magnum cartridge can now be found chambered in a semi-automatic such as the Desert Eagle, it is for all intents and purposes a true revolver cartridge.  For many years the revolver has always held only 6 cartridges, such as the Model 620 as featured below, a nice traditional gun...

...more recently however,  Smith & Wesson have devised a revolver that holds 8 cartridges and this puts it on par with the magazine capacity of many semi-auto pistols. Below the image depicts an 8 shot .357 Magnum revolver with the cylinder swung out to show the spaces  where the cartridges go...all eight of them !

 These eight shot revolvers don't have the sleek streamlined look of the traditional Smith & Wesson, but looks can soon give way for those extra 2 shots that might be life savers in a shoot out, so I would favor the higher capacity over looks any day.

Below is a limited edition Smith & Wesson model 586-7.  and as the number 7 after the model number depicts...its a seven shot revolver.

If Smith & Wesson were to make larger ammunition capacity revolvers as the standard now, I envisage that they would become equal to semi-autos from the retail point of perspective.  You can never have too many rounds in a magazine or cylinder and as I have said, that extra round could be a matter of life or death, specially for the many police patrol officers who often get into shootouts.

I think that the 586-7 is a nice looking piece, based on the distinguished combat magnum its an ideal revolver for all occasions.  Be it with an officer on patrol, an enthusiast down on the range, collectors, marksmen, military or even as suitable material for a web page ;-)

However, as a limited edition S&W will not often manufacture any more than whatever quantity they have specified for it.  However I always believe that public opinion en mass is often listened to by such companies as Smith & Wesson.  This was exemplified during the 1970's when they put their model 29 .44 magnum into full production after Clint Eastwood popularized it in the Dirty Harry movie.

The .357 magnum 586-7 as seen below would probably have had the same success if it had been used instead of Harry's big .44

Photographs of the 586-7 by Chris Bushnell
www.chrisbushnell.com

However as an update to this page, Smith & Wesson actually manufacture the 686P which is a 7 shot stainless steel, 5 inch barrel revolver, that is in supply and demand production.  The image below is of this gun, and it has to be said that the standard 686 and 586 six shot models have become Smith & Wesson's all time best seller.  It is now understood that these seven shot revolvers are now actually enjoying the same success.

As with the majority of revolvers there are different barrel lengths to suit the owners needs, a longer 6, 7, 8, or 10 inch barrel revolver fits nicely into a holster attached on the belt, a bit shorter 3 to 6 inches and a shoulder holster is more suitable to 'pack' the revolver, shorter even still and the revolver with its 1½ in barrel fits into your jacket pocket or a ladies handbag...

...and that's a lot of power to pack into your handbag, hardly a ladies gun but even so these snub-nose 357 magnum revolvers are indeed very popular as a ladies gun. Below is a very practical but recoil intensive snub-nose 8 shot 357 magnum revolver.

The recoil when firing a .357 Magnum with a 1½ barrel such as the Airweight version below would be something to behold and a strong and firm grip on the revolvers butt would be highly recommended. Also the accuracy with such a short barrel would be measured in feet rather than yards !

The revolver pictured below is of a Smith & Wesson Performance Center 8 shot tactical revolver.  Model 327 TRR8.  The underside end of the barrel is specially grooved to accept a bolt on laser sight whilst the top frame is set to accept a telescopic sight...both ideal for those longer and more pin point accurate shots.