NO, NO, No...... Has to be in .45 schofeld, .44 Russian, to be "right"
Yes, with the original length cylinder.
Unfortunately, they did not sell well because few cowboy action shooters wanted to pay more for special runs of .45 S&W (nee .45 Schofield) brass, nor take the time and effort to get the shorter cartridges to feed properly in some rifles or carbines.
Some collectors, though, did appreciate these guns being made to original spec, though the S&W run had a frame mounted firing pin and a transfer bar. Armi San Marco made a run of the original cylinder frame length Shofield copies in 45 S&W. These had the First Model latch. IIRC these were imported by Cimarron and it was a limited gun.
The Uberti version (which has the Second Model latch) has the longer cylinder for 45 Colt, and for many years this was the only chambering they offered, though 38 Special and 44-40 are offered now. Oddly 44 Special is not offered, at least in the current catalog.
Now, getting to the point. The Uberti version is beefier in the latch area than the original Schofield. I don't know if the latch is beefy enough for 357 Magnum, though. It might have to be beefed up even more. The cylinder on my two Navy Arms Schofields (Uberti) measure 1.624 from cylinder face to the recoil shield. Sources vary on the .357 Magnum cartridge OAL, but the longest standard length is given as 1.590". That's only .034" clearance, so OAL of ammo is critical as is a good crimp. Would not take much bullet jump to tie up a cylinder. Whether the existing length on the clones is good enough or if the cylinder needs to be lengthened (again) would be debatable. My understanding of the frame length is that the clones all have the original length frame; only the cylinder lengths vary. S&W is said to have reverse engineered their version from an original owned by Roy Jinks. S&W chose to use the original length cylinder. (If S&W had made these in .45 Colt as well they could well have had a much bigger market for them.) The point here is that the cylinder length on the clones is already at the limit for frame length. So if the cylinder needs to be lengthened for the 357 Magnum it would require a longer frame.
There's also the issue of heat treating the cylinder, etc., for the increased pressures.
Not saying a 357 Magnum version of the Schofield doesn't have merit, but there are some issues.
Interestingly, an HKS 25-5 speed loader works perfectly with my Schofields. The cylinder charge holes have the same exact spacing as a 25-5. My guess is that an HKS 27 speed loader would work with the 38 Special version. Of course, these are not sanctioned for cowboy action shooting, but might be useful otherwise. I've carried one of my pair of Schofields in the field, with a couple of speedloaders in my pocket.
BTW, when I started cowboy action shooting, I quickly settled on the 45 Colt. Looking back I wish I had gone with the 32-20 instead. Half the powder and half the lead in each cartridge. It's difficult to get anything 32-20 today. The 38 Special has crowded it out. At the time the Uberti/Navy Arms Schofields only came in 45 Colt, but 38 Special would be attractive for lead and powder savings.
