Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Redhawk 357 5.5" barrel

You could just about squeeze in some .22lr chambers in-between the .357's and make it a combination gun

17 Mach II

More interesting, from a handloading perspective, than the thickness of the cylinder walls is the cylinder length. In the .357 Redhawk you can load heavy bullets to long lengths, and, thus, increase powder space and, thereby, increase velocity above what other .357 Magnum revolvers can do.

Driving heavy bullets fast is what a tough .357 Magnum is good for. Light bullets fast are a waste of forcing cone.

Very good point, because you can't do that with the N frame .357's. The M27 has a shorter cylinder than even a model 19.

Barrel length?

Hard not to like 5 1/2", short enough to still be handy and long enough to be able to shoot well.

Yup, the 5 1/2" is IMHO the proper length for the bisley. Only gun I regret selling (unemployment has a way of whittling down your collection).

Holy smokes, its not hard understanding why they are rare based on this photo. I'd get it if you are a Ruger collector. Short of that I'd go looking for a good older Security Six.

That's why they now have an 8 shot Redhawk in 357

YEP!!! 5.5" Stainless Bisley in a good cartridge is THE hunting revolver in my book. From .41 Mag to .480, whatever round suits your needs.

I haven't done any handgun hunting since I moved to Nevada. But if I decide to take up big game hunting with a handgun again, I'll be picking up a Bisley. A 5.5 in .41 Mag would be the cat's azz for me. Although buying one in .44 mag or .45 Colt makes more sense, since I have brass, dies, and several bullet molds..and currently have none of that for a .41. But that could be my excuse to buy it all.

Wouldn't think of carry a 357 that heavy when the GP-100 is the best Ruger has made in this cal

You would be hard pressed to find any application a Blackhawk Bisley would not fit and fit well. For more flexibility, a convertible Bisley is a good choice. Particularly if you shoot 45 ACP's already.

I have a Blackhawk Bisley 45 convertible and a 5.5" Redhawk in 45 colt. It would be hard to part with either.

I've often noticed when my mind is made up for going one way, but the unique comes along and takes me a different direction, I often regret the result. Hope you don't.

Ah never regret such decisions. Odds are they were likely sound when made and unless they came back on you and kicked your ass then they are still sound.

If anybody is interested in this 357 Redhawk, PM me. I left it sitting at the shop in favor of something else.