.357 SIG revolver?

[c-bag]

With all the talk lately about revolvers chambered in autoloader cartridges I thought, why not one in .355/.357 SIG? The bottleneck would keep the rounds in place and you could still use moonclips, but you wouldn't have to bother when you're just plinking. The taper would also make reloads more positive under stress.

Could this round be pumped up to true magnum power, or does it even need to be when it's intended for defensive use?

 

[Nightcrawler]

Well...it really and truly wouldn't offer anything that .357 Magnum doesn't already. 10mm in a revolver offers heavier bullet weights (though it's only available in an N-Frame; for the same frame size you can get .41 Mag, .44 Mag, or .45 Colt).

I think bottlenecked cartridges don't work well in double action revolvers. There is a .44-40 DA revolver out there (limited run), but I don't think .44-40 is nearly as tapered as .357 Sig.

This'd be interesting, though: 9x19mm Ruger GP100. Overkill, right? Right. Well, you bore it out so it can take 9x23mm too. There you go!

 

[Josey]

Interesting. I would prefer a 38-40 though. They can be loaded to suit most any taste.

 

[Tamara]

c-bag,

The bottleneck would keep the rounds in place and you could still use moonclips, but you wouldn't have to bother when you're just plinking.

Actually, on modern revolvers chambered for auto cartridges the moonclip is only necessary for extraction (unless you want to pick the spent cases out with your fingernails or poke 'em out with a pencil). The rounds headspace on the case mouth just like in an autochucker.

The problem with .357SIG is that it has a combination of magnumlike operating pressures and a fairly steep shoulder. This will cause the case to set back against the standing breech after firing, causing the cylinder to be well-nigh impossible to turn. See "Smith & Wesson's Fiasco With The .22 Remington Jet Cartridge."

If you wish to duplicate .357SIG performance out of a revolver, most manufacturers offer a 125gr .357 Magnum load designed to allow the older platform to closely emulate the newer cartridge. Or do I have that backwards?

You could also have your .357 Mag roundgun set up to use moonclips. My PC627 does, and it works just as schweet with the rimmed revolver rounds as with auto cartridges, with the added bonus that the rounds eject fine with or without the moonclip.

 

[BluesBear]

Nightcrawler, technically the .44/40 is a bottleneck cartridge but in reality it is so slight that I consider it to be only slightly tapered. In my old Colt Sheriffs model the cases would fall from the chambers when using Remington Factory Loads.
I haven't had a chance to fire my new S&W 544 yet but I don't expect any ejection problems with it.

I have, however, fired several S&W Nodel 53 .22 Remington Jet revolvers. Factory loads are a little stiff in extraction and handloads are sometimes painful to extract. On occasion a whack with a plastic hammer is needed. You HAVE to keep the chambers DRY!


The only harder ejecting revolver I ever saw was my old S&W 1917 when I got the brilliant idea of making cylinder length shot cartridges from .308 Winchester brass. :banghead: That took three 5" wooden dowels and a rubber mallet. Dang glad I was only using ½moon clips.

 

[jimthel]

Why?

Supposedly, the bottleneck enhances feeding in autoloaders (not an issue with a round gun) and allows a .40 S&W platform to be readily used (there aren't very many .40 S&W revolver models).

Aside from the case setback mentioned above the .40 S&W would have a larger diameter case than a .357 mag which may reduce the number of rounds that could be chambered in a cylinder (e.g. the 686 can hold 7 .357 rounds but only 6 .40's in the model 646). Also, the .357 SIG was an approach to get near .357 mag performance in an auto. I think in a revolver the .357 mag when loaded to max loads would outperform the SIG in the same gun.

 

[c-bag]

First: thanks for the feedback
Second: I wasn't aware of the headspace issue; thanks for filling me in.
Third: It still seems it would be easier to put a shorter, tapered round into a cylinder under stress, but I'll concede this is a minor advantage

 

[caz223]

You can do a slight bottleneck, but not like the 357SIG.
It's just way too much bottleneck.
AFAIK, the reeder custom cartridges work fine, if you must shoot necked-down calibers.