If you've ever spent an afternoon digging through dusty reloading manuals or chatting with the guys at a local silhouette match, you've probably heard someone mention the 357 44 bain and davis. It's one of those classic wildcat cartridges that seems to capture a very specific era of American handgunning. Developed back in the 1960s by the guys at the Bain & Davis Gun Shop in San Gabriel, California, this round was a clever solution to a problem a lot of shooters didn't even realize they had yet: how to get more "oomph" out of a .357 caliber bullet without the massive pressure issues or the need for a brand-new, oversized firearm.
The idea behind it is actually pretty straightforward. You take a standard .44 Magnum casing and neck it down to hold a .357 diameter bullet. What you end up with is a bottlenecked revolver cartridge that looks a bit like a miniature rifle round. It's beefy, it's fast, and back in its heyday, it was the king of the range for guys who wanted to knock over heavy steel plates at a distance.
A bit of history from the gun shop floor
The story of the 357 44 bain and davis starts with Keith Bain and his partner at their shop. They weren't just looking to create something weird for the sake of it; they were looking for performance. At the time, the .357 Magnum was the gold standard for high-velocity handguns, but it had its limits. If you pushed it too hard, you ran into pressure problems that could stress the gun and the brass.
By using the much larger .44 Magnum case as the parent, they created a massive reservoir for powder. This allowed for higher velocities at lower pressures compared to what a standard .357 Magnum could achieve. It was a "sweet spot" cartridge. It gave shooters the flat trajectory of a .357 but with the raw power and case capacity of a .44. For hunters and silhouette shooters in the 60s and 70s, this was a game-changer.
What makes the conversion so easy?
One of the main reasons the 357 44 bain and davis became so popular—and why people still mess around with it today—is because it's a relatively easy conversion to pull off. You don't need to build a whole new gun from scratch. If you have a heavy-frame revolver originally chambered in .357 Magnum, like the Smith & Wesson Model 27 or the legendary Model 28 Highway Patrolman, all it takes is a simple cylinder reaming job.
Because the .44 Magnum rim and the .357 Magnum rim aren't that far off in terms of how they sit in the cylinder, gunsmiths could just re-chamber the existing .357 cylinders to accept the bottlenecked case. You didn't even have to change the barrel because you were still shooting .357 diameter bullets. It was an affordable way to get "magnum plus" performance out of a duty-grade revolver. Ruger Blackhawks were also prime candidates for this, and honestly, a Blackhawk in 357 44 bain and davis is still one of the coolest-looking woods guns you can find.
The performance: Speed meets stability
Let's talk numbers for a second, but I'll keep it casual. If you're shooting a standard .357 Magnum with a 158-grain bullet, you're usually looking at around 1,200 to 1,300 feet per second out of a typical revolver barrel. When you switch to the 357 44 bain and davis, you're suddenly bumping those speeds up significantly. It's not uncommon to see that same 158-grain bullet flying at 1,600 or even 1,700 feet per second.
That extra velocity does two things. First, it makes the bullet fly much flatter. If you're trying to hit a coyote or a steel silhouette at 100 or 150 yards, you don't have to worry nearly as much about "lobbing" the bullet in there. Second, it delivers a lot more energy on target. For hunters, that's the difference between a clean kill and a long afternoon of tracking.
The bottleneck "issue" in revolvers
Now, I'd be lying if I said the 357 44 bain and davis was perfect. There's a reason bottlenecked cartridges aren't the standard for revolvers today. When you fire a bottlenecked round in a revolver, the case wants to back out against the recoil shield. In a straight-walled case like a .357 or .44 Mag, the brass grips the walls of the cylinder quite well. But with that tapered neck, the brass can sometimes act like a wedge.
If your chambers aren't perfectly clean—or if you're loading them way too hot—the case can set back and bind the cylinder. This was the big "boogeyman" of the 357 44 bain and davis. However, most guys who actually shoot it will tell you that if you keep your chambers dry and free of oil, and don't try to turn it into a .338 Lapua, it runs just fine. It's a reloader's cartridge, and like any specialty round, it requires a little bit of attention to detail.
Handloading the 357 44 bain and davis
If you want to shoot this round today, you aren't going to find it on the shelf at your local big-box sporting goods store. This is strictly a handloading proposition. But that's part of the fun, right?
To make the brass, you usually start with standard .44 Magnum cases. You run them through a sizing die to neck them down to .357. Some people like to do it in steps to avoid crushing the shoulders, but with a good set of dies and some decent lube, it's not a hard process.
Choosing the right powder
Because of that large case capacity, the 357 44 bain and davis loves slow-burning pistol powders. Stuff like H110, Winchester 296, or IMR 4227 are the usual suspects. These powders allow you to take advantage of the extra room in the case to build up pressure steadily, giving you that high velocity without a sharp, violent pressure spike.
Bullet selection
You can use almost any standard .357 bullet, but since you're pushing them faster than they were originally designed to go, you have to be a bit picky. Cheap, soft lead bullets will just lead up your barrel in no time at these speeds. Most shooters stick with jacketed hollow points or even hard-cast lead bullets with a gas check on the bottom to handle the heat and friction.
Is it still worth it today?
You might be wondering, "Why bother with the 357 44 bain and davis when we have the .357 Remington Maximum or the .327 Federal Magnum?" That's a fair question. The .357 Max essentially does what the Bain & Davis does, but with a straight-walled case.
But here's the thing: the .357 Max requires a much longer cylinder and a specific frame. You can't just re-chamber your old Smith & Wesson Model 27 for it. The 357 44 bain and davis remains a fantastic option for the person who wants to breathe new life into a classic N-frame revolver. Plus, there is a certain "cool factor" that comes with shooting a wildcat. It's a conversation starter. When people see those bottlenecked rounds in your belt loop, they're going to ask what they are.
Final thoughts on a classic wildcat
At the end of the day, the 357 44 bain and davis represents a time when gunsmiths were tinkerers and shooters weren't afraid to experiment to get the best possible performance. It's a balanced, efficient, and surprisingly powerful round that still holds its own against more modern designs.
Whether you're a collector of oddball ballistics or a reloader looking for your next project, the Bain & Davis is a rewarding rabbit hole to go down. It's got history, it's got speed, and it's got that classic California hot-rod spirit. Just remember to keep those chambers dry, and you'll have a blast shooting one of the coolest handgun rounds ever devised.