The .357 Maximum, formally known as the .357 Remington Maximum or the .357 Max, is a super magnum handgun cartridge originally developed by Elgin Gates as the wildcat .357 SuperMag. The .357 Maximum was introduced into commercial production as a joint-venture by

Remington Arms Company Remington Arms Company, LLC was an American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition, now broken into two companies, each bearing the Remington name. The firearms manufacturer is ''Remington Arms''. The ammunition business is called ''Remingto ...

and Ruger in 1983 as a new chambering for the

Ruger Blackhawk The Ruger Blackhawk is a six-shot, single-action revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartri ...

. Shortly thereafter, Dan Wesson Firearms and Thompson/Center Arms introduced firearms in this cartridge. United Sporting Arms chambered it in their Silhouette series single-action revolvers. It is a .357 Magnum case lengthened . Based on the .357 Magnum cartridge, a revolver or single-shot pistol designed for the .357 Remington Maximum will chamber and fire .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .38 Long Colt, and .38 Short Colt rounds. Intended primarily as a silhouette cartridge, such high velocity and energy levels have hunting applications.

SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment Equipment most commonly ...

pressure level for this cartridge is set at . Despite good performance, the high pressure and velocity of the cartridge caused

flame cutting Principle of burn cutting Oxy-fuel welding (commonly called oxyacetylene welding, oxy welding, or gas welding in the United States) and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases (or liquid fuels such as gasoline Gasolin ...

of revolver top straps, due to the use of light bullets, and the cartridge has since been dropped by all manufacturers who so chambered their revolvers. Single shot pistols and rifles (e.g. Thompson/Center Contender) are still available in this caliber, and remain popular among handloaders. Unprimed brass is still produced every few years by Remington, and is also a stock item from Starline.Starline .357 Maximum brass
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Performance

Legacy

Guns designed for the .357 Maximum were built on a larger frame than their predecessors. Although Ruger only made about 7,700 Blackhawks chambered in .357 Maximum, the frame size has been used as a base gun to build bigger revolvers in .445 SuperMag, .475 Linebaugh Long/Maximum, and .500 Linebaugh Long/Maximum. In the 2011 movie '' Flypaper'', Wyatt "Jelly" Jenkins ( Pruitt Taylor Vince) uses a Dan Wesson Model 40 VH which is chambered in .357 Remington Maximum as his main sidearm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:357 Remington Maximum Pistol and rifle cartridges Remington Arms cartridges Magnum pistol cartridges Wildcat cartridges

Performance

Legacy

See also

References