Possible to neck down .50 AE to .357?

C Philip · December 11, 2009, 05:48 PM

Today while looking at some cartridges in my copy of "Cartridges of the World" I got thinking, how fast could a .357 bullet be driven out of a handgun? I found the 357/44 B&D, a .44mag necked down to .357, but the velocities didn't impress me that much. On another forum one shooter of the 357/44 remarked that his 180gr handloads got just under 1300fps, which DoubleTap achieves in 10mm. (See reloading data here: http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/P...Page%20109.pdf)

I know the .50 AE has been necked down to .44 in the .440 cor-bon, but I couldn't find any info on attempts to neck it down to .357.

Several questions:
1) Is this a feasible wildcat?
2) What velocities might one expect (perhaps someone has a ballistics calculator that could work)?
3) Would the cartridge even function with the Desert Eagle's gas system, or would that have to be modified too? I imagine the pressure might necessitate a rebuild of several components of the gun.

Getting a 158gr. over 2000 fps would be very interesting.

m&p45acp10+1 · December 11, 2009, 05:54 PM

I do not know about .50 AE. I do know about .357 Wildey Magnum (inherited one from my Grampa, and still have it) It is a .475 Wildey bottle necked to a .357 It make one heck of a BaBOOOOOOOM when fired, and will make mellon salad out of cantalopes, and water mellons. I have dies to reload for mine. I can not find the original brass for the .357 WM, however I do have a nice stash of .475.

C Philip · December 11, 2009, 06:02 PM

That sounds like an interesting gun. It seems like Wildey doesn't offer that caliber any more. Did you chronograph any of your hand loads? What bullet weights do you use? If you have any ammo for it I'd love to see a picture.

m&p45acp10+1 · December 11, 2009, 06:11 PM

I have not chrono'd any of them. (Need a chrono) I am waiting to get the dies back from a family friend that was loading the rounds for me. (Got my press last week) Wildey only made a few of that caliber. I know it to be well under 1000 of them. Factory ammo is not available. So reloading is the only way to shoot it. I believe the loads I was shooting were 158 grain. The guy at the range came down to the handgun range because he thought I was shooting an elephant gun on the handgun range.(It is that loud.)

December 11, 2009, 05:48 PM	#1
C Philip Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2005 Location: USA Posts: 784	Possible to neck down .50 AE to .357? Today while looking at some cartridges in my copy of "Cartridges of the World" I got thinking, how fast could a .357 bullet be driven out of a handgun? I found the 357/44 B&D, a .44mag necked down to .357, but the velocities didn't impress me that much. On another forum one shooter of the 357/44 remarked that his 180gr handloads got just under 1300fps, which DoubleTap achieves in 10mm. (See reloading data here: http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/P...Page%20109.pdf) I know the .50 AE has been necked down to .44 in the .440 cor-bon, but I couldn't find any info on attempts to neck it down to .357. Several questions: 1) Is this a feasible wildcat? 2) What velocities might one expect (perhaps someone has a ballistics calculator that could work)? 3) Would the cartridge even function with the Desert Eagle's gas system, or would that have to be modified too? I imagine the pressure might necessitate a rebuild of several components of the gun. Getting a 158gr. over 2000 fps would be very interesting. Last edited by C Philip; December 11, 2009 at 05:55 PM.

December 11, 2009, 05:54 PM	#2
m&p45acp10+1 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 3,930	I do not know about .50 AE. I do know about .357 Wildey Magnum (inherited one from my Grampa, and still have it) It is a .475 Wildey bottle necked to a .357 It make one heck of a BaBOOOOOOOM when fired, and will make mellon salad out of cantalopes, and water mellons. I have dies to reload for mine. I can not find the original brass for the .357 WM, however I do have a nice stash of .475. __________________ No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

December 11, 2009, 06:11 PM	#4
m&p45acp10+1 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 3,930	I have not chrono'd any of them. (Need a chrono) I am waiting to get the dies back from a family friend that was loading the rounds for me. (Got my press last week) Wildey only made a few of that caliber. I know it to be well under 1000 of them. Factory ammo is not available. So reloading is the only way to shoot it. I believe the loads I was shooting were 158 grain. The guy at the range came down to the handgun range because he thought I was shooting an elephant gun on the handgun range.(It is that loud.) __________________ No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

December 11, 2009, 06:02 PM	#3
C Philip Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2005 Location: USA Posts: 784	That sounds like an interesting gun. It seems like Wildey doesn't offer that caliber any more. Did you chronograph any of your hand loads? What bullet weights do you use? If you have any ammo for it I'd love to see a picture.