.357" ATOMIC Cartridge -A Mighty "Sign Of Those Times":

 Back in 1955 .. when many peasants were living in caves and eating boiled turnip for a treat - I was just starting my sentence at 'Grammar School'. With my 11 year old knees lurking beneath grey shorts as I arrived at the Jesuit's 'portico' by trolley bus in North London - Meanwhile, over in The Land of The Free .. Los Angeles California, some joker called Wilson was making Single Action Army Colt copies MADE IN AMERICA at Great Western Arms Company. (1954-64).

Yup, in between Colt's ending production in 1941 and Uberti etc getting to work from Italy - Great Western had a go building "Peacemakers" in the West. They were a bit rough at first - but got better (mostly) as they well needed to, when they then decided that the 357 Magnum wasn't powerful enough for real all American cowboys.

By heat treating their chromemoly steel cylinders to 36 Rockwell 'C' they managed to shoot uploaded 357 magnum charges safely (with a lighter bullet) and joined "THE ATOMIC AGE". 

TRINITITE

Well - back then - nuclear science was the pinacle of woman's scientific achievement having ended WW2's death throes in the Pacific, - anything  "ATOMIC"  was all the go. - Down in New Mexico morons were scrabbling about the Alamogordo Bombing Range Trinity Test site collecting "Trinitite" radioactive fall-out fused sand glass to sell as souvenir jewelry - but much of it was buried on site by army bulldozers.

Where I grew-up in post-war London - there was lots of interesting stuff to be found on our BOMBSITES - but I think the cops took all the jewelry away before we kids got to it ..

TRINITY  Plutonium Implosion July 16 1945

The 357 ATOMIC cartridge didn't really 'fly' commercially for very long and did not receive full development as planned. They had meant to lengthen the cases by an eighth of an inch - but no such headstamped cases are known .. maybe they just overloaded commercial brass.

Years later in 1983, - Remington & Ruger did a more professional job of uprating the .357 Magnum cartridge when introducing the The .357 Remington MAXIMUM by lengthening the ordinary Magnum cartridge case by .31 inch. - The Maximum round performed well as a hunting and metallic silhouette loading BUT the high pressure gasses caused heavy FLAME-CUTTING & EROSION to the revolver top-straps and forcing cones. - You may still find some brass but the cartridges are no longer offered.

.38 Special - 357 Magnum - 357 MAXIMUM

- Don't ask me to shoot any of these heavy hitters .. or their big brother 44 Magnums - as I'm a wimp .. maybe even worse than that - I'm an OLD recoil-shy wimp ..

All credit is due to gun-writer John Taffin who must be 85 y.o by now and still shooting and writing from Idaho about his BIG-BORE SIXGUNS .. maybe he's got 'his people' to fire them for him ..

Hey John .. I thought you were writing a new book about SMALL-BORE Revolvers - did you go-off that idea?

ELECTRIC - NOT ATOMIC - But Obsoleted, LONDON TROLLEY BUS

- Terminated 1962 - from the same era as Great Western Arms.

Marty K.