The .357 Hunter

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k22fan

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
713
My stainless .357 BH 6 1/2" has great heft for a dedicated target pistol but feels heavy in a belt holster. My guess is that 7 1/2" SBH .357 Hunters have not been built because they'd weigh more than most hunters would want to carry and be too muzzle heavy. If Ruger did nothing but reduce the caliber of the .44 SBH Hunter it would wind up like my 7 1/2" .357 RH, a range gun that does not go any where else. On the other hand if the weight was trimmed by using the mid-size frame combined with a thinner barrel they'd be more practical and sell better. I'd buy one.
 

SteelBlue

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
423
Here's the problem: if Ruger came out with a .357 Hunter, you'd have a hundred posts saying they would buy one if it came out with Bisley grips or a different length barrel. This is a story that gets played over and over again.
 

lshines

Bearcat
Joined
Aug 23, 2017
Messages
19
well, add me to this - definitely Bisley (addicted), stainless, t'wood be neat with the unfluted cylinder, heck, with a 6" barrel is fine with me. I like my Single Six Hunter, and just ordered a SBH Bis Hunter, but a .357 would be fine for close deer, lightened for turkey, and just a fun one without .44 and up recoil. Put my name on the paper for one!
 

mohavesam

Hawkeye
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
5,847
Location
Rugerville, AZ
This is an interesting concept. If they introduced it as a regular-production item.

My trouble is that, in my travels at least, not many distributor "exclusives" are commonly seen on shelves, and handling a handgun in the store is what gets good folks to pull money out of their pockets. I am a 357M fan, and in any discussion of "which guns will I never shed" the 6" 357 always stays at the top of the list. I have made venison with my BLackhawk and 686, etc many times. It is quite versatile and capable in the field, especially with so many fine 21st-century bullets and loads available now.

A 7-ish" with a Hunter barrel/rings, stainless materials, real field sights (it is time to revise the aluminum assembly used for decades), and the Bisley configuration in 357 S&W Magnum... that would be a fun gun for short range hunting - ala tree stand hunters up to whitetail. I'd add the lock-screw cylinder pin design used on the 480R/454C SA guns for heaviest loads. What is not to like?

And yes I agree, Ruger will never re-open the 357 Maximum debacle. Those SRM guns are true "collectibles" akin to the Hawkeye handgun , in that they won't be made again.
 

Prescut

Single-Sixer
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Messages
266
A year has gone by and no 357 Hunter of any kind.

Still a great idea.


Prescut
 

1ruger

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
151
I personally don't like revolvers with barrel longer than 6".
Most of my "hunting" revolvers are between 4"-5 1/2" and one 6".
Revolvers belong on the belt and anything longer than 6" becomes hassle to carry.
 

ChiefTJS

Blackhawk
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Messages
853
Location
Nebraska
A year later and I would still buy two of them and want one just as bad now as I did then. I've got a rack full of .357's and still feel a Ruger Hunter would fit right in and I think there's a whole lot of .357 shooters who would agree.
 

SteelBlue

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
423
If Ruger made a .357 Hunter you'd have hundreds of posts saying "I'd buy one if only" (they made it in blued finish, they made it in an 8-shot cylinder, they made it with a 10.5" barrel, they made it in a Bisley). And very few would actually buy one.
 

57springer

Buckeye
Joined
Aug 6, 2012
Messages
1,398
Location
Central Pa.
SteelBlue said:
If Ruger made a .357 Hunter you'd have hundreds of posts saying "I'd buy one if only" (they made it in blued finish, they made it in an 8-shot cylinder, they made it with a 10.5" barrel, they made it in a Bisley). And very few would actually buy one.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
 

majorKAP

Single-Sixer
Joined
May 15, 2012
Messages
363
Location
Bluegrass Region of KY
bogus bill said:
Didn't ruger quit making the .357 Maximum due to a flame cutting problem on the top strap?


More so, I think primarily, it was a handloader problem in trying to reach ultra velocities using lightweight bullets. Secondarily, it was a problem due to a few gunwriters of the day crying like Chicken Little. The guns didn't fail, in spite of a bit of "flame-cutting". That's why lot's of us are still shooting them today. But, then again, it's only my opinion.
 

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