357. A powerful caliber firearm with roots in booze prohibition in the 1920's. Back then cops were running around with 32 and 38 pistols, and with booze running becoming a criminal enterprise, the cops were outgunned, and needed more penetration power from the little gun they carried. Smith and Wesson started modifying revolvers to get more speed out of the rounds, going through a series of of beta runs and modified rounds, and by 1934, the 357 was finalized. Being a gun released during the great depression and costing substantially more than other pistols at the time, nobody expected much demand. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was the first person to receive the new S&W 357 upon public release in 1935. Even though it was released during the great depression and was significantly more expensive, and the factory could only produce about 120 pistols per month in their factory, they had trouble keeping up with the demand of the firearms.
