.357/44 Bobcat

[Kevin Gibson]

For those of you not familiar...The .357/44 Bobcat is sort of like a Bain & Davis; only different.

Start with a .44 magnum case. Now neck it down to .357. Add a polymer collar over the bottle neck portion of the case so it can fit in an unaltered .44 cylinder.

Now drop said .44 cylinder into a S&W model 27 or 28, and you have, essentially a .357 Bain & Davis without permanently modifying your 27 or 28.

So, what I'm wondering is; Anyone here have any experience with such a conversion? Anyone know of a source for the polymer collars?

I have a set of dies and I have access to an extra .44 cylinder. What I'm worried about is:

My 27 already has a bit of flame cutting, and I'm thinking the .357 Bobcat would seriously exacerbate that problem. Is there anyone who could offer a differing opinion?

My other problem is, my 27 is a 4" and I really think the .357/44 Bobcat would be at it's best with at least a 6" barrel.

But I keep coming back to: I have a nickel 27. A nickel 29 cylinder, and a set of .357/44 Bobcat dies...How do I NOT do this?

 

[Kevin Gibson]

For those of you not familiar...The .357/44 Bobcat is sort of like a Bain & Davis; only different.

Start with a .44 magnum case. Now neck it down to .357. Add a polymer collar over the bottle neck portion of the case so it can fit in an unaltered .44 cylinder.

Now drop said .44 cylinder into a S&W model 27 or 28, and you have, essentially a .357 Bain & Davis without permanently modifying your 27 or 28.

So, what I'm wondering is; Anyone here have any experience with such a conversion? Anyone know of a source for the polymer collars?

I have a set of dies and I have access to an extra .44 cylinder. What I'm worried about is:

My 27 already has a bit of flame cutting, and I'm thinking the .357 Bobcat would seriously exacerbate that problem. Is there anyone who could offer a differing opinion?

My other problem is, my 27 is a 4" and I really think the .357/44 Bobcat would be at it's best with at least a 6" barrel.

But I keep coming back to: I have a nickel 27. A nickel 29 cylinder, and a set of .357/44 Bobcat dies...How do I NOT do this?

 

[Wickahoney]

I haven't seen the "Bobcat" stuff for years.

I have a Model 27-2 in 357-44 B&D. All it took was an extra cylinder. Not sure I consider sending it off to have the extra cylnder punched out as a perminent alteration of the gun. Of course if you use the original cylinder.......

I elected to simply build the B&D instead of the "Bobcat".

Good luck finding what you need.

RWT

 

[toroflow1]

How do I NOT do this?

Sell the Bobcat dies!

 

[moosedog]

Ditto with Toro.
Bottlenecked cartridges in revolvers generally suck.
If it was a really good cartridge, I think it would be popular.

 

[Old Navy]

Originally posted by moosedog:
Ditto with Toro.
Bottlenecked cartridges in revolvers generally suck.
If it was a really good cartridge, I think it would be popular.

But they are a wonderful thing in a autoloader for sure. Love my little FNH Five Seven it sure is a sweet shooter and hitting the kill zone on the target at 100 yards is easy.

 

[H Richard]

The reason you don't see any of them around is because: A. Didn't work; B. Too much trouble; C. Wasn't worth the effort.

 

[M29since14]

First of all, the 29 cylinder is not going to fit in your 27. It's too long. You'll have to modify one or the other. That would be a shame if it is a 29-2 or earlier cylinder. This is usually done using a spare 27/28 cylinder.

If you want this sort of thing, by all means, go with the B&D. The 357/44 B&D conversion actually works quite well. It does not seem to have any of the problems that scare people away from the 22 Jet, viz. the long, sloping shoulder that leads to the so-called setback trouble. A dual cylinder gun for the B&D can make a nice toy, without wrecking an otherwise nice 27.

On the other hand, a 357/44 B&D in a short gun would not be too productive. Even in an 8-inch gun, it really doesn't accomplish much. (There is a big difference between this cartridge in a 10-inch TC and in an 8-inch S&W.) Ultimately, it seems to work out to be just another caliber to tinker around with, and eventually get tired of (in my case).

I would put the dies on eeeh-bray, sell them to a collector, and forget about the idea. Just MHO, but based on some experience.

 

[41]

The Bobcat was written up in the March 1979 issue of Guns & Ammo. I think the collars are too much trouble when you can have the 44/357 Bain & Davis. Also you are right that you need the longer barrel to get the full potential. Also where would you get the collars? Not sure Bob Booth is still around since that was almost 30 years ago.

I have a 44/357 B&D and have not tested it extensively. The 90 grain bullets were accurate which was a surprise since I thought they would be all over the place. Other 160 grain loads seemed to be O.K. I had no problems with extraction.

41

 

[animalmother]

Remember reading about the 357/44 back in the day. Have never actually seen a gun in these rounds.

 

[HappyHunter]

Interesting, I decided against it.

http://www.gunsamerica.com/947484645/Guns/Pistols/Smith..._BobCat_Cylinder.htm

 

[keithherrington]

Does the link mean it's your gun for sale on Gunsamerica or is this just for reference? Sorry if I'm a bit slow on the uptake.

 

[HappyHunter]

cprher,

That is not my gun, I do not have an interest in it at all.

I found it interesting, and after reading this thread I decided to pass.

Regards,

Fred

 

[The Maxo]

I have a six inch 28-2 with a second cylinder chambered for the 357-44 B&D. No set back problems. Ballistics are definitely worth the effort.

Many bottle necked cartridges have worked well in revolvers. It's only the 22 Jet that gave them a bad name.

All revolvers display some flame cutting unless they are safe queens. The 357 SuperMag does not display excessive flame cutting. The 357 Maximum (Not the same cartridge as the SuperMag.) did display excessive cutting with the factory load but not with good hand loads. The factory load was trying to make too light a bullet go too fast with the wrong powder.