357/44 S&W N-Frame Conversion

sheepherder · 11-12-2010, 02:19 PM

Taking pics of stuff for GB & eBay; thought I'd post this one...

S&W Mod 27-2 .357 Magnum nickle plated revolver; 8 3/8" barrel...with a spare .357/.44 Magnum cylinder & 6" barrel...

I used to wildcat back in the 70's & 80's; this was one that I converted to fire a bottlenecked .357/.44 Magnum cartridge. I had a .357 Automag at the time, and it came with the reloading dies. One day, while reloading for my .44 magnum Ruger Blackhawk, I ran a .44 magnum case through the .357 Automag dies. Looked pretty awesome...

I knew that S&W made an N-frame .357 (same frame/cylinder as their .44 magnum/think Dirty Harry), and a friend of a friend just happened to be selling a cased nickled mod 27...

I was able to pick up a spare mod 27 nickle .357 cylinder, barrel, and sideplate, so I was in business!

I made up two finished .357/.44 magnum cartridges and shipped them off to Clymer Tools to make a finishing chambering reamer. Turned out pretty good. I did a couple of these conversions, and they do make a nice flat shooting .357 round.

Some pics of the set...

sheepherder · 11-12-2010, 02:21 PM

This is not the 357/44 Bain & Davis cartridge. That one uses a much longer shoulder and a shorter neck. The B&D was supposedly made with the longer tapered shoulder because of cylinder rotating problems (it would allegedly back out of the chamber with a sharp shoulder) but neither I nor my friends have had any "backing out" problems, even with hot magnum loads.

I've been using relatively mild loads with my conversion...

158gr JSP and 158gr XTP's [JHP], both with 13.0grs Blue Dot...

11-12-2010, 02:19 PM	#1
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,183 Thanks: 1,400 Thanked 4,442 Times in 2,330 Posts	357/44 S&W N-Frame Conversion Taking pics of stuff for GB & eBay; thought I'd post this one... S&W Mod 27-2 .357 Magnum nickle plated revolver; 8 3/8" barrel...with a spare .357/.44 Magnum cylinder & 6" barrel... I used to wildcat back in the 70's & 80's; this was one that I converted to fire a bottlenecked .357/.44 Magnum cartridge. I had a .357 Automag at the time, and it came with the reloading dies. One day, while reloading for my .44 magnum Ruger Blackhawk, I ran a .44 magnum case through the .357 Automag dies. Looked pretty awesome... I knew that S&W made an N-frame .357 (same frame/cylinder as their .44 magnum/think Dirty Harry), and a friend of a friend just happened to be selling a cased nickled mod 27... I was able to pick up a spare mod 27 nickle .357 cylinder, barrel, and sideplate, so I was in business! I made up two finished .357/.44 magnum cartridges and shipped them off to Clymer Tools to make a finishing chambering reamer. Turned out pretty good. I did a couple of these conversions, and they do make a nice flat shooting .357 round. Some pics of the set... Attached Thumbnails __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...

11-12-2010, 02:21 PM	#2
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,183 Thanks: 1,400 Thanked 4,442 Times in 2,330 Posts	This is *not* the 357/44 Bain & Davis cartridge. That one uses a much longer shoulder and a shorter neck. The B&D was supposedly made with the longer tapered shoulder because of cylinder rotating problems (it would allegedly back out of the chamber with a sharp shoulder) but neither I nor my friends have had any "backing out" problems, even with hot magnum loads. I've been using relatively mild loads with my conversion... 158gr JSP and 158gr XTP's [JHP], both with 13.0grs Blue Dot... __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...