One of the things that I have always wondered about was DBW’s choice as the ideal bullet for the .357 Magnum.
A key element of the Magnum’s mystique was velocity; it was touted as having the highest velocity of a revolver round and thus was eminently suitable as a hunting arm. This applied mainly to the 8.750” inch model and rightly so, as the longest tube would get the shooter the greatest velocity.
Given this velocity issue, I always wondered why he favored an all-lead bullet. His choice bullet was what we would today call a Keith LSWC of around 160 grains or so. Surely there must have been sufficient leading issues that a jacketed bullet would have been a better choice.
In reading DBW’s correspondence on his hunting trips, one notices that DBW was quite the surgeon when it came to recovering bullets from game that he bought down with his own Magnums. There are a few letters where he exclaims that he recovered bullets that deformed up to .50 caliber and raised all manner of visceral hell on their target.
Recently, I came across a letter from DBW to Mr. C.R. Hood of The Salt Lake Hardware Company, Salt Lake City, Utah ca. 1936.
DBW relates how the choice of an all-lead bullet was tied to it’s shocking power when used as a hunting round and its ability to penetrate metal such as aluminum and steel.
I thought this last part rather counter-intuitive and DBW must have felt the same, as he then goes into some rather detailed explanations of why the all-lead bullet met his ideal for the Magnum.
It’s a rather interesting letter and from the amount of detail he goes into as well as the time he must have spent composing it, one can see that bullet selection was something he gave great thought and experimentation to.
Some support for the experimentation aspect may be found in another letter that I had read wherein DBW talks about having shot a running automobile engine with a Magnum and the engine having been put out of commission.
I have many questions about the development and marketing of the Magnum and I’m always rather pleased when I can find something that very directly and clearly answers that question.
Best,
RM Vivas
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