Several years ago I ran across a unusual Ruger Blackhawk. It was a .357 Bobcat. If you don't know what a .357 Bobcat is, I'll try to enlighten you. It is a .44 mag necked down to .357 kind of like a .357/.44 Baines and Davis but all together different. They used a plastic or nylon sleeve that slid down over the neck and had a concave angle that matched the shoulder angle on the case and was the same diameter as the .44 mag case. The bullet was all that stuck out.. The cylinder chambers were bored .44 mag size down to the throat which was .357. I ran into one with dies-brass and two 100 count packages of the plastic rings. You can reuse the rings if you are careful and can get them off without breaking them. I think. that this cartridge and revolver was designed to stop case set back but I am not sure about that. I played with it for a while shooting hard cast bullets and was never too impressed with the results. I experienced case set back with lighter loads but not so bad with heavier loads.
Before I got much playing time, I ran into a guy from New Orleans who had lost all of his firearms in Hurricane Katrina. He said his favorite firearm was a .357 Bobcat that he lost in the hurricane and begged to buy mine .Like a lot of my female affairs in my younger days I didn't mind letting him have this one..I wished that I had kept her long enough to learn more about that thing but I felt sorry for him.
Is there anyone out there who has owned and fired one of these odd balls and how did it work out for you?I would like to hear any and oll comments about anything pertaining to this handgun and caliber.
Mashburn
David a. Cogburn