Why are N-frame .357 cylinders short?

[Venom6]

So I know this has got to have been covered many times before, but I'll be darned if I can find it despite searching five different ways. Why are N-frame .357 cylinders so short? It limits bullet selection somewhat. And it doesn't appear to my untutored eye to be necessary; frame window is plenty big enough, and the barrel butt sticks way through the frame. And, of course the L-frame and even the K-frame .357s have significantly longer cylinders. S&W wasn't and isn't stupid (OK, that last is debatable), so why is this? And moderators, if this isn't the correct forum please move the post with my apologies (the ".357 Magnum" was introduced in 1935 and continues to this day, so could go anywhere). TIA

 

[minconrevo]

Could be the factory was trying to keep the cylinder weight down, so the action would work lighter.

 

[tennexplorer]

It's fairly simple. It's virtually the same cylinder, except for a slight lengthening at the rear to accommodate the recessed case head, as the .38-44 cylinder for the Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman and the .44 Special cylinder used in the Second and Third model. The .357 was under development in 1933-34. Great Depression. They were cutting corners wherever they could. Having all the lengths almost the same meant almost all the production tools could be used as they were.

The real question is when they had to redo everything when they made the 8 shot 627, why not lengthen it then?

 

[rockquarry]

The original .357 Magnum bullet which became the Hensley & Gibbs #51, a 160 gr. cast SWC, fits the cylinder length perfectly. Longer bullets will work fine, but it becomes a make-do process, seating the bullets deeper.

 

[Hair Trigger]

Why are N-frame .357 cylinders so short? It limits bullet selection somewhat. And it doesn't appear to my untutored eye to be necessary; frame window is plenty big enough, and the barrel butt sticks way through the frame. And, of course the L-frame and even the K-frame .357s have significantly longer cylinders.

K, L and N frame .357 cylinders only differ by a maximum of 0.08" in length, so I'd hardly call it significant, and part of that difference is dependent on whether the cylinder is recessed or not.

 

[Chuck Edwards]

So I know this has got to have been covered many times before, but I'll be darned if I can find it despite searching five different ways. Why are N-frame .357 cylinders so short? It limits bullet selection somewhat. And it doesn't appear to my untutored eye to be necessary; frame window is plenty big enough, and the barrel butt sticks way through the frame. And, of course the L-frame and even the K-frame .357s have significantly longer cylinders. S&W wasn't and isn't stupid (OK, that last is debatable), so why is this? And moderators, if this isn't the correct forum please move the post with my apologies (the ".357 Magnum" was introduced in 1935 and continues to this day, so could go anywhere). TIA

Standard .38/.357 bullets are designed so that the cartridge overall length fits the short N frame cylinder when loaded so the case mouth is at the bullet's cannelure/crimp groove.

There seems to be a misconception that Keith designed his famous Lyman 358429 bullet for the .357. It was actually designed for the Heavy Duty/Outdoorsman guns which are .38s and use the same cylinder length as the N frame .357s. When loaded in .357 magnum brass and crimped in the crimp groove, the bullets stick out of the front of the cylinder. I found this out the hard way but luckily had an M19 to take care of my mistake. I now have several boxes of .38 Special ammo using a version of that bullet and loaded to replicate the old 38/44 load and so labeled. They're for my M27-3 and M28-2.

There's also the issue of looks. For most folks, when they buy a modern M27, they want it to hearken back to the original Registered Magnum. Going to the longer cylinder would spoil that.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Check ya old Python cylinders..........They are short too.

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
Could be like Ruger blackhawks .
As the bore gets larger the cylinder gets longer..
Cant put a 44 mag in a 357 gun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Note other frames are 357 only or other differences [ like the 5 shot m69
44mag on an L frame]