How a Sharpe Guy & Elmer Led the Way to the .357 Magnum
Transitional Shooters…
Whenever hearing certain numbers and words like 38/44 Heavy Duty or Outdoorsman, my heart skips a beat, and I can’t help thinking of Elmer Keith. Just as the longest journeys start with the first step, certain cartridges start with guns. Others start with a bullet mold.
It was Elmer Keith who designed the Lyman/Ideal mold 358429, the heavy, flat-nosed, semi-wadcutter design, complete with three identical driving bands with a square grease groove, which added punch to the anemic .38 Special. The .38 Special was traditionally loaded with a 158-grain soft round-nosed slug puttering along at 800 FPS.
Performance Pusher
Elmer was furious Law Enforcement officers were issued a gun and cartridge combination that performed so poorly. He knew cops were being killed after fatally shooting criminals because the criminals weren’t incapacitated immediately after being struck, so Keith wanted a more powerful load for the coppers. The Super Police 200-grain .38 Special loads were developed, performing better than the soft 158-grain bullets due to their heavier weight and blunt round point. But even they were lacking the performance Keith desired.
Elmer thought the .38 Special was one of the finest of small caliber cartridges for reloading purposes. Being wonderfully accurate, the .38 Special shoots as well as any other cartridge. When loaded in heavy .38-44 cases, it can be reloaded with a properly shaped bullet having a flat point or hollow point and driven at high velocity. Loaded this way provides exceptionally good killing and stopping power for the size of the cartridge.
Keith goes on to explain, “Of course, such high velocity, heavy loads are only possible in heavy .45 frame guns.” Keith continues by saying, “The standard loading .38 Special is a poor killer, stating it penetrates well, but the pointed slug slips through with little shocking power.”
A Heavy Duty Gun
When S&W introduced the pre-war “Heavy Duty” large N-Frame revolver in April 1930, chambered in .38 Special, Elmer knew the gun had the strength and heft to handle heavy .38 Special loads, rather than factory milquetoast loadings of the time. Keith used heavy loads with his bullet, stating, “They blew up grouse completely and killed porcupines, chucks and jacks with paunch shots. I had written several lengthy letters to Major Wesson describing my results with my extreme loads.”
This, I believed from his letters, determined him to bring out a real killing .38 caliber cartridge with properly shaped bullets for game and police use.
These new, more powerful loads went by “Heavy Duty” or 38/44 loads, signifying they were only meant for the large N-Frame guns carrying that name. A year later, in 1931, S&W came out with an adjustable sighted N-Frame, calling it the “Outdoorsman.” Now there was a gun with the strength needed for handling heavy loads while having adjustable sights for pinpoint accuracy when shooting at longer distances in the field.
Elmer’s Approval
Keith liked the large-framed revolver, stating the heft made for more comfortable shooting and deemed it great for aerial target work because the recoil did not throw the gun out of line with the target. Keith also liked the fact the large S&W main-spring adjustment screw in the front strap was conveniently placed for turning down trigger pull. Keith stated, “I have fired Western factory cartridges perfectly with the screw turned out four full turns.”
Sharpe Fella’
During the same time frame, Phil Sharpe and then Major D.B. Wesson were experimenting with heavy .38 Special loads too. While Sharpe and Major Wesson are given most of the credit for the .357 Magnum eventually coming to fruition in 1935, Elmer had planted the seed with his heavy .38 Special loads. Sharpe admitted to modifying Keith’s 359429 bullet to come up with his design.
Sharpe’s final product had a shorter nose profile, weighing around 150 grains, depending on the alloy, with approximately 40% less bearing surface, allowing for higher velocities with less pressure. Sharpe knew the .357 Magnum was coming out, and his shorter bullet would fit in the shorter cylinders of the time when loaded into .357 Magnum brass.
Elmer, on the other hand, utilized all the .38 Special cylinder space with his longer 358429 bullet design. When loaded in the longer .357 brass, the nose poked through the cylinder end. To use the 358429 cast bullet in magnum brass, you had to crimp over the front driving band. Personally, I’d go with Elmer’s heavier, more aerodynamic bullet loaded in .38 Special Brass than Sharpe’s lighter bullet driven faster in magnum brass. But that’s just me.
Purpose Pleaser
The “Heavy Duty” was designed for law enforcement personnel, as the name suggests. The fixed-sighted gun, with a half-moon front sight and hog trough rear, was tough, with one never needing to worry about sights being knocked off center. Besides, most police encounters are close-quarter scenarios. The large front sight was perfect for combat shooting, where the front sight is quickly “picked up” by the shooter.
The S&W Outdoorsman was made for hunters, trappers and anyone else spending time outside needing the pinpoint accuracy provided by the adjustable sights the Outdoorsman provided for longer shooting.
Pre-War Preference
During the pre-war era, S&W revolvers were essentially custom guns, as the parts were hand-fitted by long-term employees who knew what a double-action revolver was supposed to feel like. Parts were swapped and fitted from large parts bins or tweaked with a file, until they felt “right” when cycling them during assembly by dedicated employees.
Also, pre-war guns had the beautiful high polished deep bluing everyone loved. Later post-war era guns were more of a satin blue. Remember, this was during the Great Depression, and these workers were happy and grateful to have jobs with so many unemployed people during the day waiting in long soup kitchen lines for food.
Elmer’s Loads
Elmer’s heavy .38 Special loads are about as iconic as Elmer himself. When I first started handloading almost 40 years ago, the .38 Special was one of the first handgun cartridges I loaded. It was natural to do so. I had just graduated from the police academy, and we were issued Ruger Service Sixes chambered in .38 Special. Our street load was Winchester +P 158-grain SWC HPs, more commonly known as the FBI load.
I had access to all the .38 Special brass I needed from our range and collected copious amounts of it. The Ruger Service Six is also chambered in .357 Magnum, the only difference being cylinder chambering. If the same gun can handle .357 Magnum loads, they can also handle Elmer’s heavy .38 Special loads.
Elmer’s load consisted of the Lyman/Ideal mold 358429, weighing 173 grains, loaded over 13.5 grains of Hercules 2400. When Alliant bought Hercules, 2400 was slightly faster, so the load was dropped to 13.0 grains of 2400. This charge was sparked with a standard small pistol primer. Prior to 2400 powder being released, Elmer used Dupont #80 powder for his heavy loads.
From my 4″ Ruger Service Six, velocity was just shy of 1,200 FPS with exceptional accuracy. Back then, shooting 2″ groups at 25 yards, standing, with this gun was the norm. With my Ruger 6.5″ 3-screw Blackhawk velocity was 1,260 FPS and just as accurate. I shot thousands of these handloads. I never missed not having/shooting .357 Magnum loads with Elmer’s hot .38s. When shooting at the range, several people would ask me what I was shooting. I’d grin and simply say oh, just some .38 Specials.
There Are Others
Another good bullet used was Lyman’s 358156 dual crimp groove bullet. The bottom crimp was used for .38 Special loading, and the top crimp groove worked in .357 Magnum brass. Using 13.0 grains of Alliant 2400 provided 1,300+ FPS with excellent accuracy. Softer alloys could be used because of the gas-checked bullet design. This bullet was a favorite of Skeeter Skelton.
MP Molds
MP Molds makes a dandy 180-grain wide flat nose bullet in either solid or hollow point format. When loaded over 12.5 grains of 2400, velocity in sixguns runs 1,200 FPS and is very accurate. This bullet can easily handle whitetail deer when taking a broadside lung/heart shot.
Treasure Hunt
I’ve always lusted over having S&W “Heavy Duty” and Outdoorsman model sixguns. It seems the only thing separating me from my desires was money. Sometimes, if we wait long enough, the brass and bullets align themselves just right, and opportunity and the all-too-rare fat wallet coincide. My good friend Mike “Madbo” Hutyra died a few years ago and I was able to win a “King Custom” transition model “Heavy Duty” from my friend’s estate auction. It’s a cherished piece, sporting a “cockeyed” hammer with custom work performed on the front sight.
My Outdoorsman is of pre-war vintage, bought from a friend at a very fair price a couple of years ago. The plastic target stocks were replaced with Walnut Roper stocks from NC Ordnance. They resemble the stocks Elmer used on his Outdoorsman test gun, giving the gun that classic vintage look. The stocks provided peace of mind for me for a special gun, which led us down the trail to the .357 Magnum.