357 Herrett

Historical Notes:

Although the 30 Herrett proved a good handgun hunting cartridge when used in the 10 to 14 inch barrel of the Thompson/Center Contender single shot pistol, it needed to be improved for hunting heavy game. One solution was to neck it up to 357 caliber to take advantage of larger diameter, heavier bullets. This was done in the initial development. However, it appeared desirable to increase the powder capacity of the original 30 Herrett case and so the final design used a case length of 1.75 inches which is .15 inches longer than the 30 Herrett case. The development of the 357 Herrett was the work of Steve Herrett and gun writer Bob Melik. It was introduced as a standard caliber for the Thompson/Center pistol in 1974. Cases are made by reforming, shortening, and necking up 30-30 or 32 Winchester Special brass. The cases are fire formed to the final configuration.

General Comments:

The 357 Herrett is another example of a wildcat cartridge developed for a specific firearm and purpose where there is a gap in the commercial line of ammunition. It was intended primarily as a hunting cartridge for the heavier varieties of medium game, however it has also become quite popular among silhouette shooters. It serves both purposes well, but one must bear in mind that as a hunting cartridge, it delivers ballistics inferior to the 35 Remington fired from a rifle. While it is perfectly capable of handling large animals under average conditions, much depends on the skill of the user, something that is true of all handguns and handgun cartridges when used for hunting. The 357 Herrett is, nevertheless, one of the best of the handgun cartridges for field use on medium or small game and varmints. But all hunting success relies upon either skill or luck.

Source: Cartridges of the World

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