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 66 .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 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 27 which was the first Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver.

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.

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.

The .357 Magnum even though it can now be found as a semi-automatic such as the Desert Eagle, it is by and large a Revolver round.  For many years the revolver has always held only 6 cartridges.

Recently However Smith & Wesson have devised a revolver that holds 8 cartridges and this puts it on par with many Semi-Auto pistols. Below the image depicts an 8 shot .357 revolver with the cylinder swung out to show the spaces  where the cartridges go...all eight of them.

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.

The recoil when firing a .357 Magnum with a 1½ barrel 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 Smith & Wesson's current offering.  The Model 327 M&P R8.  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.

The full specification of this new Revolver is printed below.

I could not create a web page about the .357 Magnum without mentioning perhaps the most famous 357 of all time. The Colt Python.

The Colt Python was introduced in 1955 by The Colt Manufacturing Company, Hartford, Connecticut USA and is considered to be the finest quality handgun ever produced.

The Colt Python was known as 'The Rolls Royce' of handguns because of its superior finish, high quality parts, excellent accuracy and smooth trigger pull. This along with the over-all exquisite operation of the gun in general with adjustable sights and a very robust design with extra metal thickness all round.

The Colt Python has perhaps the most instantly recognizable  shape of any handgun in the world, with its full barrel under lug with heat dispersing ventilated rib also giving a serious look and feel to the gun.  The finish of the 'blueing' which is the acid dye that makes guns  blue-black in appearance was of the highest quality on any revolver ever made.

The Python also had excellent engineering qualities not just great looks in that when the revolver was cocked to fire, the cylinder locked up tight during the hammer strike which increased the accuracy.  Most other revolvers do not use this level of tolerances.  The cylinder gap and breech cone were also of a very tight tolerance, keeping more of the expanding gases in to force the bullet up the barrel increased velocity and accuracy.