Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Your favorite smith and Wesson 357

And very fine examples too.

Yessir, me too local dirt, cant wait to find a nice clean one with a 5 or 6 inch barrel.

I loves me my 5" 27-2.

FYI- 4" and 6" are more rare in a Model 27.

Thanks, and nice to know what to be on the lookout for too, I would have thought a 5" would have been more rare.

I'll grant you that.

That's the spirit.

I thought that, too. Until I was educated.

Hello The Kid,

Looks like both the 357 cal 125gr XTP and CP 158gr hard cast have 300 thou nose to crimp length, so I should be GTG in an N frame.

Gunner the Kid hit it, Lyman #358429 is the Keith style semi wadcutter at 172 grs in 357 cases they have to be crimped over the top of the frt driving band in N frames, K and L frames they can be crimped in the crimp groove as they have a longer cyl length. Now if you go the Skeeter Skelton route he liked the Lyman #358156 with gas check that weigh 162 grs or so lubed and checked with the solid nose... I have that mold and the single cavity HP version ,both versions can be crimped in the crimp groove or use the crimp groove for additional lube. The RCBS double cavity 357-150 KT semi wadcutter gets you a 158 gr Keith type swc that can be crimped in it's crimp groove on all 3 models plus J frames. As someone else alluded to the K is the weakest of all the SW's. Even the little 5 shot chiefs in M36 or M60 have thicker cyls. I believe the 5" is much harder to find and the 3.5" also, they have been sought after by collectors since the late JC rose again. Now for a plan of action... any SW is a good gun and fun to shoot. Instead of owning 12 gd molds bite the bullet and find a 4-6 hole gang mold in 158 gr swc type buy it and make a cast of thousands at a time. You won't regret that. Oncet a man starts a using SW revolvers he all most forgets the other things in life..Local dirt ,your lucky you live where you do as the 3.5 & 5" SW's are rare birds up here in Dakota. Magnum bob

Thanks for all that Magnum Bob, when I get all these Cast Performance bullets shot up, i'll probably look at a 158/165gr Keith style semi-wadcutter hollow point, i'll experiment with alloys in my casting pot till I get a recipe that will penetrate really well, plus expand, AND be malleable without breaking up.

I don't know, but have always thought that bullet design would be a hell on wheels defense bullet too.

Yeah Gunner but the real problem of the hollow point is damn slow production of 1 at a time pace. Once you get tuned in on how to pace yourself for optimum mold temp on a gang mold 3-4 hundred an hour is easy. Sheeit google up Magma Engineering auto casters .Hell for maybe 12-13 hundred you might able to crank 6-8 hundred an hr with their bevel base swc designs. You ain't still farming with a 2 bottom plow are you? MB

, i'll look into them, a lube die and gas check crimper and a man could run and gun till he was blue in the face.

Lord have mercy on my soul, been surfing the net and calling up old gun Buds, pre 27 five screws in 6 and 8-3/8ths inch barrels, one with Coke? bottle wood grips, a beautiful like new blue 27-2 in 8-3/8ths with target grips, hammer and sights in it's wooden presentation case with screw driver, bore mop and cleaning rod.

This IS NOT going to end well!

The Cokes are the finest factory grip ever fitted to a DA revolver. They’re so much nicer in the hand than the later targets it’s not even funny. And they’re worth $500 or so by themselves. If I can’t have Cokes, and I can’t, due to cost, I prefer the old sharp shoulder Magnas from the 30’s through the 50’s. The Magnas are what my Heavy Duty wears and they are nice since I have smallish hands.

10-4 Thanks Kid, the Cokes are on the pre 27 5 screw 8-3/8ths barreled revolver, wonder if that barrel length is too long to pack around and shoot?

I don’t think it would be too bad. Let me know if you end up with it, I have a Bianchi booster for an 8 3/8” 27 somewhere I’ll gift you. Bet you could get some scorching velocity with that long barrel. I could send you some bullets to try out before you buy a mold too. I have 358156 in both solid and HP and the 358429 and maybe some others I’m forgetting. Need to drag all my molds out and fire up the pot, I’m out of 38/44 fodder.

NICE, many Thanks for the bullet offer too, is a Bianchi Booster a holster?

Damn autocorrect. It’s just a hip holster with a thumb break, Lawman may be the model.

That'll work, and i'll appreciate the hell out of it. I'll keep you posted if I weaken and get one, that 27-2 in a presentation box is flawless, I'd still have to shoot the hell out of it, I've never been able to own a safe queen of ANY kind, those things were made to hunt and shoot.