Thoughts on 357 SIG

[TNContenderShooter]

What's everyone's thoughts on 357 SIG? Any experiences with the caliber? How is the performance compared to other common handgun cartridges? Think it's a dead caliber?

[TripleGGG]

I like 357 Sig very much. I have a 357 Sig glock and it does great. With that said I like 40cal better which I think is it's closest comparable. A great round that really never caught on. 

[leroy]

What Mista Triple GGG said. 

 The 357 SIG gives the actual performance that was promised by the 9mm revolution cheerleaders.  Only the 9mm P plus plus can come close, no matter what the " experts " say.

It is inherently accurate and extremely reliable due to the bottleneck design.  I have two of em. 

It is an excellent cartridge that simply didn't catch on.

leroy...

[ken_mays]

It may not be dead yet but it has one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel.  If it were a straight wall case, there would be reloaders to keep it around, but nobody wants to mess with bottleneck cases.  It’s not unpleasant to shoot but it’s quite loud.  

[Jamie Jackson]

I guess it depends on your planned use for this round. I agree, it's and interesting round conceptually. 

Shot to shot times coupled with user accuracy are essential for self defense rounds/guns. I think the Air Marshall service used it at one time.

IMHO ALL handgun rounds are anemic as relates to self defense. So rapid repeatable accuracy rules. Again, just an observation and opinion.

There's quality 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45acp factory rounds that are doing quite well for that purpose. And are less expensive and more readily available commercially. Heck...even quality .380 ammo is evolving.

I handload (reload or whatever) and find bottle neck cartridges a PIA to reload (100% agree with @ken_mays). 97-98% of the ammo I shoot are handloads, so that consideration is important to me.

It's a fine cartridge and there are some fine guns made for it. I have nothing against it in any way if that's a person's choice.

I've not treated a patient shot with this particular round so I can't speak to that. Pretty much every other round, just not this.

I guess it depends on you purpose and your "wants"/needs.

I don't think it's a dead caliber but it might be nearing the "Critical List". But these things cycle back and forth over time.

But then I'm an opinionated old curmudgeon and mostly shoot 9mm, .38 spl, and the .32 "family" rounds and carry the same.

Always interested in others thoughts and experiences.

[aknifemaker]

Back in the 1990's I was at one of my club's IDPA matches and got to talking with a member, turns out he was a NYPD armorer and had a bullet proof vest that was retired by the NYPD. It was the kevlar type for pistol rounds. I was shooting a sig in 357 sig at the time (still have it). We did some testing!  Shot the vest with carry loads in 9mm+p 147 grain, 357sig 125 grain, 40S&W 180 grain and 45acp 230 grain. Vest was placed over sandbags. I believe we shot at 10yds. The 9mm load almost punctured the vest not the 357sig as we had expected. We did 8 shots each at different parts of vest. Not very scientific but those were the results as I remember.

That being said I either carry 9mm or 45acp nowadays.

[eRay]

20 years ago, I shot a lot of both .357 Sig and .40 S&W. I had a Sig 229 in 40 and one in 357. I also had a Glock model 23 and model 32 in 40 and 357. I always shot better groups with the .357 than the 40. The 357 was harder on guns than the 40. I sent my Model 32 back to Glock because of some peening of the metal on the locking block. Never saw that with my Glock 40. Glock said it was normal with the .357. I always considered the .357 magnum revolver to be the best all round defense caliber. I read in one of the gun magazines where they compared the Glock Model 32 in .357 Sig with a S&W Model 686 with a 4 inch barrel. They used Winchester 125 grain silvertip in both guns. Penetration into a gel block was just about the same. The Glock with the .357 Sig was actually about 50 FPS faster probably due to the revolver having a barrel gap. The Glock was essentially a .357 magnum with with 13 rounds. I think if the .357 Sig had come out before the 40 then the 40 would never have been developed.

[JohnSutton1980]

I may be in the minority. 357 Sig is my favorite round as far as handgun self defense goes. Yes it is expensive and yes it is harder to find. It will continue to get harder now that the TWRA and State Police are going or have gone away from it. Fact is the reason they are/have gone away is price alone. At least that’s what my neighbor that is a TWRA agent says. Not performance. Not reliability issues. 
It is a fantastic round. It is a fast round. My 2k round test drive of my Gen 3 Glock 32 has stood up wheel with no ill effects. Plus another 5-700 rounds through same gun with a Glock 23 barrel. Plus another 1K rounds with an aftermarket Glock 19 upper. Plus 3-500 rounds with an Advantage Arms 22lr upper. 
I have just under 1200 rounds of 357Sig tucked away with a few hundred of defensive rounds. I recently purchased a Glock 27 and immediately purchased a Glock 33 barrel.  I have ran 50 or so rounds through the “subcompact” and only feel more aligned with the 357Sig round. It has grown on me and now it is my “go to” round. When I’m in public I have something chambered in 357Sig.  At home I have something’s chambered in a rifle round. 

[TGO David]

23 hours ago, TNContenderShooter said:

What's everyone's thoughts on 357 SIG? Any experiences with the caliber? How is the performance compared to other common handgun cartridges? Think it's a dead caliber?

I almost expect to see 357Sig making a comeback, similar to what we have seen with 10mm.  The terminal ballistics of the round are pretty damn nice.

 

[Smith]

I'm a big fan and have had several but there are enough current 9mm +p rounds that the ballistic advantage nearly disappears. Add in that the cost, capacity, availability, and reloading advantage all go to the 9mm there really isn't an good reason to go .357 sig.

It's a great round but I couldn't justify it against high quality +P 9mm.

[CaneyRiverDog]

like the 10mm, If someone was buying my ammo I would shoot .357SIG over most. When I first got my SIG I could get 50rd boxes for under $11. Not anymore! I still have some 50rd boxes of GoldenSabers and Rangers that have $11.99 stickers on them.

 

 

[RonE]

  Im fairly new to .357 SIG, but I like it so far. I mostly reload and that makes it somewhat affordable to shoot, The only factory ammo I purchased was the Win. white box on close out when Wal Mart was no longer going to handle handgun ammo, another story to itself. 

  So far the only drawback I see is the availability of bullets that will feed correctly, from a reloaders standpoint and the very short neck for bullet retention. I think LEE makes a factory crimp die, but so far I have not had any problems with that.   Also I don't have a dedicated .357 SIG firearm but have a 40 S&W that I can change the barrel out on and have 2 calibers in 1 gun. As stated above someone did not want to mess with bottle neck cartages, I have not found any problems with resizing are loading. I think the .357 SIG headspaces on the front of the case mouth just like other straight wall cases for pistols and not on the neck shoulder like rifle rounds. I just need some more time to play with it to see if it is worth keeping as an option. Just my $ .02 worth

[CaneyRiverDog]

I love my .357 SIG's 

Guns and Ammo had an article about dying rounds... my opinion is that its not the round that dies but the manufacturers that kill them. Mid90's early 2000's I could get .40S&W and .357SIG for no more than $2 more than 9mm per 50rds... Check the prices today..... Availabilty and price didctates a calibers oxygen supply.

Same with shotgun shells. .410 and .28 gauge is 3x more than 12G... Whos going to do that?

Why is 12 and 20 on every shelf but no 16, 28 and .410 gauge??