What was the thinking behind the 8 3/8" .357 Magnum

bushmaster1313

bushmaster1313

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To me, an 8 3/8" barrel on a .357 Magnum revolver seems a bit long.

What was the thinking behind such long barreled guns?

Thank you in advance
 
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I too have always wondered what the 3/8ths was all about in regards to all of the calibers Smith did the 8 3/8ths barrels in. Anybody know?

As far as why the long barrel for the .357 goes, I agree, it is to have a faster .357 than your buddy. Seems overkill to me though.
 
In the beginning------------------------------------

The long tube 357 was 8 3/4 ". To the best of my knowledge, that suited D. B. Wesson (the man that mattered)-------------and 615 of the 4,371 of the documented first magnums were ordered/sold with that barrel. At a point, the officials of a sanctioning body came to learn of this barrel length, noted it and the remaining distance to the rear sight blade exceeded 10" (the maximum allowed by the organization), and that, as they say----was "all she wrote"----and no more 8 3/4" Magnums. A little measuring followed, and 8 3/8" was the answer----and legal for the matches---and everybody was happy.

Now, all that said, I should note I've never seen a 357 Magnum used in a match of any consequence; so I don't know what all the fuss and bother was about----except for the fact rules are rules.

Ralph Tremaine

Oh---and the thinking behind such long barreled guns was to do everything humanly possible to satisfy every possible whim of prospective buyers so they'd become real buyers----and bring money.
 
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Hunting....

Max velocity. Why do they make a 1 7/8" instead of a 2"? Surely they gave these lengths some thought instead of just arbitrarily using odd measurements. Maybe barrel harmonics or some other factor suggested a little shorter or longer than a nominal length would be a better shooter.
 
Why 8.375" barreled .357 Magnums?

Because they're so dang elegant....:D:)









... a great platform for thumb-rest target grips...





... fun to shoot at all ranges - but especially "way out there"...






... and beautiful canvases for engraving...



... and all the other reasons that Ralph and others described above...:)
 
8-3/8" is not just for the .357 Magnum....

30i9kzn.jpg


M-17-4 .22LR
M-48-4 .22WMR
M-53-2 .22 Jet
M-14-4 .38 Special
M-27-2 .357 Magnum
M-29-3 .44 Magnum
M-25-9 .45 Colt
M-57-1 .41 Magnum (with scope)
M-29-3 Silhouette 10-1/2”
Dan Wesson Model 15 with 15” barrel

Since this picture was taken I've also had built a custom 8-3/8 .44 Special and a .327 Magnum. The Model 15 was also available with an 8-3/8 barrel but this forum is the only place I’ve ever seen one.
 
THIS IS A WONDERFUL THREAD. THE COLLECTIONS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PHENOMENAL......

I HAVE A M686, AND A M617 IN 8 3/8", EQUIPPED WITH ULTRA DOT, 30MM RED DOT OPTICS. THEY SHOOT LIKE RIFLES ! ! !
 
And the barrel length selection, initially anything you wanted between 3 1/2" on the short side and 8 3/4" on the long side (in 1/4" increments) was a big deal (you couldn't get anywhere else) and a big part of the hype spewed forth about these guns. And spewed forth it was!!

In a nutshell, the story was you could buy this gun anyway you wanted it---and that's exactly what happened. A total of 5,224 of these things were made before the work load of customizing brought it to a halt. The records for 853 of these guns are not to be found, but pretty much any and everything you might want to know about the rest of them is available. The only thing I haven't seen is a display of how many of which front sights were installed. The treasure hunters among you should be on the lookout for these barrel lengths-----3 3/4" (5 known), 4 1/4" (4 known), 4 3/4" (4 known), 5 1/4" (3 known) 5 3/4" (1 known), 6 1/4" (1 known), 7 1/4" (1 known), 7 3/4" (1 known), 8 1/4" (7 known) 8 1/2" (8 known). And while the rest of us won't hold our breath waiting on you to find them, they're out there---somewhere-------very likely including the bottom of the ocean.

Ralph Tremaine
 
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Sight radius matters when you're shooting iron sights and looking for precision. And, the longer the range, the more important it becomes.
The 357 Magnum offered exceptional trajectory, which is another bonus for long range shooting.
With that perspective, one could just as easily ask "Why bother with a short barreled 357?"
Two texts contemporaneous to the intro of the 357 come to mind, McGivern's and Himmelwright's. (Sorry, neither on hand to quite the titles.). Both espouse long range target shooting. Himmelwright, especially, gets into detail.
The info posted in earlier posts regarding formal target shooting factually describe the details of the United States Revolver Association rules.
But, I'll mention a couple other long barreled pistols used in precision shooting.
1) European free pistols such as the Hämmerli or Udo Anschütz were usually made with 10-12" barrels.
2) The Artillery Luger...
When the U.K. still had a relatively active pistol shooting scene, one of the favorite matches at Bisley was called Classic Military Pistol. It pretty much conformed to Int'l CF rules with one exception: you had to use a military issued pistol manufactured no later than Armistice Day (Nov. 11, 1918). No modifications were permissible. The Artillery Luger was treasured for it's accuracy, in no small part to do with the long barrel, sight radius, and adjustable sights.

Men didn't walk around in public wearing short pants and T-shirts, so while there was a place for pocket pistols, it wasn't an all consuming desire to pursue concealability at all costs. More "formal" attire, as well as experience with more "formal" target shooting made a longer barreled revolver of practical value in it's day.

No judgement...just trying to offer some thoughts on past perspective.

Jim

PS: one last thing...the tapered barrel of the S&W 357 made the offhand hold of the long barrel relatively manageable.
I attached a picture from McGivern's book showing his 8 & 3/4" barrel S&W 357 and a block of bullet proof glass.
Notice the two scope mounting blocks fixed to the barrel!!
 

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rwsmith said:
Max velocity. Why do they make a 1 7/8" instead of a 2"? Surely they gave these lengths some thought instead of just arbitrarily using odd measurements. Maybe barrel harmonics or some other factor suggested a little shorter or longer than a nominal length would be a better shooter.
Click to expand...

More than likely it was based on the maximum # of barrel blanks that could be cut from a standard length of round bar stock with the minimum waste.

I now for a fact that's why Ruger makes more 5 1/2" barreled single actions than any other length.

Now what determined the maximum length of the bar stock? Likely the truckers.

And let's see who's really sharp tonight:
What determined the standard width between railroad tracks?
 
Hondo44 said:
More than likely it was based on the maximum # of barrel blanks that could be cut from a standard length of round bar stock with the minimum waste.

I now for a fact that's why Ruger makes more 5 1/2" barreled single actions than any other length.

Now what determined the maximum length of the bar stock? Likely the truckers.

And let's see who's really sharp tonight:
What determined the standard width between railroad tracks?
Click to expand...

For all I know it was the same width Roman chariots used.
 
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