The .357 Magnum revolver cartridge was created by the firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson. Based upon their earlier .38 Special revolver cartridge, the .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in 1934 and its use has since become widespread.

Design

The .357 Magnum was designed for police, self-defense use, and hunting. The objective was to create a handgun cartridge that combined good penetration, a flat trajectory, and good range.

This cartrige is a very good self-defense round, and due to the light build of the human body, on humans has about as much stopping power as any round available. However for big game it is far inferior to the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .41 Magnum and other bigger magnum rounds. Still, it is a fine small and medium game round and will kill deer reliably at short range if used by a good shot. A .357 revolver has the advantage of using .38 Special ammo as well.

The .357 Magnum started the Magnum era of high velocity handgun ammunition.

A .357 Magnum revolver will generally accept both .357 Magnum and .38 Special ammunition, but a revolver designed for .38 Special will only accept those rounds, due to the longer overall length of a .357 Magnum cartridge.

The .357 Magnum cartridge is not to be confused with the .357 Sig cartridge designed for automatic pistols.

Performance

Winchester 125 gr (8.1 g) Jacketed HP = 1450 ft/s (440 m/s), 583 ft·lbf (790 J)
Winchester 158 gr (10.2 g) Jacketed HP = 1235 ft/s (375 m/s), 535 ft·lbf (725 J)

Synonyms

• .357
• .357 Mag.
• .357 S&W Magnum
• .357 Mangle'em (slang)
• 9x33mmR

See Also

• 9 mm caliber
• List of firearms
• List of handgun cartridges
• List of rifle cartridges