Short Affair With A .357 Bobcat

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  • Last Post 20 November 2019
mashburn posted this 16 November 2019

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

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 17 November 2019

somewhat facetiously, ken is thinking that the same guy who invented the Bobcat also invented Legos ... something to do right after the rubberband breaks on my paddleball ....

now the Blackhawk i could spend many valuable hours caressing ...  nothing weird about that at all ...

ken

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comprschrg posted this 18 November 2019

My good friend, had one. His was a smith N frame though. I lived just down the road from the gun smith that made them. The place was called moultons reloading. (Castro Valley Cal.) This was in the early 80's. All I remember is it was loud, and shot pretty good. His sales pitch was it would penetrate the thick hide of a bear that was trying to separate your body parts while getting to your fresh Alaskan salmon catch. I still have a bunch of reloading fodder from when they closed the doors of the shop.

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mashburn posted this 19 November 2019

Ken,

Your outlook on certain things are a lot like mine.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 19 November 2019

Hello comprschrg,

Thanks so much for your response to my .357 Bobcat post. I had never read or heard of such a thing until I ran across the one that I had. So, now I know much more than I did. When I run across something unusal or odd in firearms I usually end up owning it. There is an old gunsmith over in Ft. Smith , Arkansas that told me that it was designed to lower chamber pressure. I can't believe that because pressure equals velocity. I always thought it was designed as a attempt stop cartridge setback with a necked cartridge, which it seemed to do, somewhat.. Do you know anything about such claims? I would appreciate any tidbit of info that you could tell me.

Thanks a bunch,

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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tlkeizer posted this 20 November 2019

Greetings,

Way back when, I acquired a Baines-Davis in Ruger Blackhawk, bored out .357.  I made the mistake of shooting the reloads that the guy who got me the pistol had reloaded.  Top half of the cylinder came off, top strap looked like a bow ready to shoot.  LAST time I shot reloads where I did not have experience with the reloader's cartridges.  Expensive lesson, but thankfully no one was hurt.  I asked the guy about the reloads as the pulled bullets had varying charges of Green Dot, and he said he put just a little in each case.  Haven't talked to him for over 30 years (I moved away), and never did any more gun related activities with him.  If anyone gets another of these hybrids, please be extra careful.  Older, just a little wiser, and living the good life in Alaska.

TK

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mashburn posted this 20 November 2019

Hello tlkeizer,

Thanks for your response and I hope people who read your post takes head. I had reloading data that I got when I purchased the .357 Bobcat, but never the less I worked my loads up very carefully. I WILL NOT shoot reloads that anybody else besides me have reloaded. The first time and the last time I ever fired an unknown reload, didn't turn out so good. Around 1970 a couple of years after Contenders hit the market, I bought a used four digit serial number one at a gun show. Being of a Caliber that I didn't have reloading equipment for, I purchased 50 rounds of his reloads. On the way home through the mountains, I couldn't wait to fire it so I pulled off the side of the road and fired it one time, with his reloads.The results weren't as bad as years but they were bad enough. Since that day I have never fired a reload besides mine. When I get reloads in a gun trade, I tear them down and keep the brass and bullets and the powder gets discarded. Thanks for your response.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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