.357 Sig?

[Superposed]

I am mainly a revolver shooter but am intrigued by the .357 Sig cartridge.  I have heard that this round functions well in semi-autos and has good stopping power.  What do you think of this round and what is the best pistol to shoot this cartridge in?

 

[Patton]

The round itself, is ok. I have owned a couple of 357 Sigs. Honestly, it is only a hair faster and harder hitting than your average self defense round in +p 9mm. It will have less capacity in all scenarios unless you are talking about 10round Clinton mags, one of the reasons for 357Sig being appealing no longer applies. It is somewhat costly to shoot, but ammo isn't too hard to find. In the ammo shortage of 08 it was everywhere. A little less abundant in ammo shortage 12-13. If you reload it can save a lot and brass is abundant but the round is harder than most to reload. As far as shooting the 357sig, most say it is more 45acp like than 9 or 40. I personally can't tell a difference in any of the major 4 service calibers. Most every gun made in 357sig can go to 40 with only a barrel swap, and often 9mm too.

Most everyone who gets a 357sig hopes to acquire a conversion barrel in 40 or 9mm, with that said the Glocks will convert the easiest and cheapest.

There are not too many guns made in 357Sig, Glock 31,32,33 will be the most common. M&P's are no longer made in 357Sig but M&P's in general have continued to drop in sales. Sigs of course are common in 357sig. The Sig 239 is the only 357 that requires 40 mags to convert to 40, but 40 mags work with 357. The Keltecs are no longer made to convert to 357 sig. The Springfield XD's are pretty rare in 357 Sig. Edited November 27, 2013 by Patton

[nightrunner]

.357sig is what THP carries. Its an excellent cartridge.

I would prefer the Glock 32 or 33.

[Patton]

.357sig is what THP carries. Its an excellent cartridge.
I would prefer the Glock 32 or 33.

There are a lot of agencies in TN carrying 357Sigs, second only behind 40 S&W. A few Feds carry 357Sig; Secret Service, FAMs, IRS Agents, SSI Agents, Treasury, Capital Police, BIS, and possibly more. Edited November 27, 2013 by Patton

[hipower]

The round itself, is ok. I have owned a couple of 357 Sigs. Honestly, it is only a hair faster and harder hitting than your average self defense round in +p 9mm. It will have less capacity in all scenarios unless you are talking about 10round Clinton mags, one of the reasons for 357Sig being appealing no longer applies. It is somewhat costly to shoot, but ammo isn't too hard to find. In the ammo shortage of 08 it was everywhere. A little less abundant in ammo shortage 12-13. If you reload it can save a lot and brass is abundant but the round is harder than most to reload. As far as shooting the 357sig, most say it is more 45acp like than 9 or 40. I personally can't tell a difference in any of the major 4 service calibers. Most every gun made in 357sig can go to 40 with only a barrel swap, and often 9mm too.

Most everyone who gets a 357sig hopes to acquire a conversion barrel in 40 or 9mm, with that said the Glocks will convert the easiest and cheapest.

There are not too many guns made in 357Sig, Glock 31,32,33 will be the most common. M&P's are no longer made in 357Sig but M&P's in general have continued to drop in sales. Sigs of course are common in 357sig. The Sig 239 is the only 357 that requires 40 mags to convert to 40, but 40 mags work with 357. The Keltecs are no longer made to convert to 357 sig. The Springfield XD's are pretty rare in 357 Sig.

The XD 4" in .357 was my first Springfield. It, to me anyway, shoots harder than the 45, and produces a tremendous amount of muzzle blast. I was told it was a pretty wild round to shoot at night, but I never did try it.

Considering what the prices on them are, I wouldn't sell it now. I bought it pretty cheap back in 2011, and actually found some ammo for it even cheaper when everyone was dissing the round.

[TnShooter83]

I have one, it's fun to shoot.

I will say, don't get sucked into the hype.  It's not like shooting a full power 357mag.

As far as which pistol to get, I'd get a Glock G31 with the longer barrel to take full advantage of the round.

If you are a revolver guy, I honestly can't lead you towards the Sig. Unless you just want a SemiAuto  and lighter pistol?

 

Would I buy my Glock 357Sig again if I had it to do over?

Of course I would, But I wouldn't make it my range gun because I don't reload, It's more expensive than 9mm, and If I want to shoot really 

fast 125gr bullets, I'll just shoot my 6" 357Mag.

[RobertNashville]

The .357 Sig round is an excellent round with superior penetration (one of the reasons, I believe, that THP carries it).

 

I loved my Glocks that used the caliber but I eventually decided to condense the various calibers I had for handguns to only 45 ACP or 10MM. Had I not made that decision I would still have semi-autos that used the .357 Sig!

[Fourtyfive]

The .357 Sig round is an excellent round with superior penetration (one of the reasons, I believe, that THP carries it).

 

I loved my Glocks that used the caliber but I eventually decided to condense the various calibers I had for handguns to only 45 ACP or 10MM. Had I not made that decision I would still have semi-autos that used the .357 Sig!

 

I believe I bought a Glock 32 from you , I would have to go to the safe to get the model # , well you know how Glock names their models , no sense what so. I also have a Glock G27 that I got a .357 Sig barrel for. Yes , a great loud and powerful round.

[Erik88]

The round itself, is ok. I have owned a couple of 357 Sigs. Honestly, it is only a hair faster and harder hitting than your average self defense round in +p 9mm. It will have less capacity in all scenarios unless you are talking about 10round Clinton mags, one of the reasons for 357Sig being appealing no longer applies. It is somewhat costly to shoot, but ammo isn't too hard to find.

 

Really? I've seen .357 a total of 2 or 3 times at Wal-Mart. Even .357 magnum is hard to find.

[Jonnin]

 the 40 and 357 sig are interchangeable with just a barrel swap, so that is neat.  The 357 class is very good for handloaders, you can make anything from a 90 grain 380 to a 170 or so grain 357.   So its a flexible round.  BUT its a necked case which is annoying to reload.    Ballistics say the 357 sig is pretty darn close to a 357 mag, which is an excellent round, whatever "stopping power" even means to YOU, these rounds have "enough" of it as the 357 is time tested and respected in that realm.   However, this is not far off from the top end 9mm defense ammo....

 

My take on it though is the round is a problem looking for a solution.  The 10mm was a good round: lots of power in a semi auto, for the "magnum" revolver guys to have a nice round to play with in a semi auto.   The .40 was developed because the 10 was too much for non magnum shooters who bought the wrong gun, perhaps thinking it was a step up from a 9mm.   The 357 sig was developed to match the 357 mag --- which would have been easily done by making some 120-ish grain .40 cal bullets!   Personally, I am done with all that.  I spent a lot of time trying to chase down a 10mm, and for a while was looking for that oddball 44 (not 44 mag) auto loader, and I have tried the 40 (hated and sold) and shot a few of the 357 sigs.   Now if I want to shoot a big auto, I have a desert eagle in 44 -- easy to find ammo, easy to load ammo, and I got a sweet deal on the thing used so the gun was not bad either.  If I did not have that, I would probably have returned to my quest for a 10mm.  

 

Can't say what the best gun would be...  pick your favorite .40 and see if you can get a sig barrel for it.  I would say, perhaps a SIG would be a good place to look :)

Edited November 27, 2013 by Jonnin

[leroy]

The first "plastic"; pistol i ever owned wuz a 357sig (...Glock 33...)... An old gun tradin buddy of mine (...an avowed "N" frame smith guy...) said i needed to try one... This ole boy is a finished pistolero and regularly shoots most everything; so i knew he knew what he wuz talkin about... I knew that if he liked the little gun, it had plenty of potential....At the time, i was lookin for a small carry pistol that didnt cost an arm and a leg ALA the little 1911's...

 

I'm an old time reloader and i rounded up the stuff and loaded up some brass and some 125 grain sig bullets.... I used the tried and true recipe for them and loaded 13.0 to 13.5 grains of AA#9... These rounds will do an honest 1250 to 1275 fps (...my actual chronograph data...) out of the short barreled glock (....3.42 inches...)..., and it shoots straight as an arrow... It is, in fact, the best 9 mm type pistol i have ever owned... I've got the compact glock in 357 sig as well... Same thing... Utterly reliable, plenty of power, very accurate... Does it kick; yeah a bit, but it is easily controllable by a reasonably experienced shooter... Muzzle blast; yeah... no more than a 357 mag...

 

I am a confirmed 357 sig affectionado.... The 357 sig is, in fact, what was claimed for the 9 mm when the political class lied about the performance of the 9 mm in order to sell new pistols to the military in the eighties... Don't buy into the idea that a 9mm luger is anywhere as powerful as a 357 sig in the same length barrel... The sig case is bigger and holds more powder than the 9 mm...Ya can argue about the 9 mm plus plus; but i contend that aint a real 9 mm; its an breed of it's own...

 

If ya reload, i heartily recommend the sig in any size pistol ya like...I carry the glock 33 and a glock 27 (...40 s & w; same size as the 33...) pretty regularly... I liked the little sig so well in the glock type pistol; that from that one little pistol in 357 sig; there have sprung 3 more; includin a full size 10 mm... I like 'em...

 

Hope this helps a bit...

leroy

Edited November 27, 2013 by leroy

[RobertNashville]

I believe I bought a Glock 32 from you , I would have to go to the safe to get the model # , well you know how Glock names their models , no sense what so. I also have a Glock G27 that I got a .357 Sig barrel for. Yes , a great loud and powerful round.

You bought my G31 I believe...I had two, one was the gun I shot and the other was a THP commerative edition (Serial No. THP003)

[Duck]

Really? I've seen .357 a total of 2 or 3 times at Wal-Mart. Even .357 magnum is hard to find.

I haven't seen any at Walmart in that last several months but I have seen 357 Sig as the only ammo on the shelf at Walmart. I have seen it with a hand written sign saying, "This is not 357 Mag".

[lshel]

I've had several pistols in 357 Sig. I really like the round for it has very flat trajectory and deep pentration. I have a Glock 23 with a 357 Sig barrel (use same 40 SW mags) and also 9mm conversion barrel. I reload the 357Sig on a Dillon 550B using Dillon dies, Accurate #9, and 125g JHP. Very accurate load. The recoil of 357 Sig is a little more than a 45 acp. I have alot of Federal 357 Sig that I bought prior to past several years/current price gouge.

[Duck]

Most agencies that have adopted the 357 Sig have done so because it performs well against body armor and against stopping vehicles. Which is two events that most civilians will never have a reason to shoot. Even if you did need to shoot a vehicle, a 45acp is the ideal round for shooting through glass(heavy round, low velocity). In reality 357 Sig is still short of 357 mag performance, 357Sig on paper falls short of magnum performance. In almost all scientific test the two are grouped together so studies are screwy. One thing that is for certain in all of these test out there floating around is that all handgun calibers frequently require multiple shots to incapacitate. With that said I enjoy carrying the gun I shoot the best, the fastest, and the most accurate, even if it were a 22lr.

[Jonnin]

Most agencies that have adopted the 357 Sig have done so because it performs well against body armor and against stopping vehicles. Which is two events that most civilians will never have a reason to shoot. Even if you did need to shoot a vehicle, a 45acp is the ideal round for shooting through glass(heavy round, low velocity). In reality 357 Sig is still short of 357 mag performance, 357Sig on paper falls short of magnum performance. In almost all scientific test the two are grouped together so studies are screwy. One thing that is for certain in all of these test out there floating around is that all handgun calibers frequently require multiple shots to incapacitate. With that said I enjoy carrying the gun I shoot the best, the fastest, and the most accurate, even if it were a 22lr.

 

The tests also get borked up by having 8 inch barrel revolvers compared to 3 inch CCW autos.   Ballistics by the inch has a 125 gr corbon round in both coming out of a 3 inch barrel as pretty close, with the sig actually having more velocity in that case.   For those same rounds, the sig slowly loses ground to the mag as the barrel length increases, but *at standard semi auto barrel lengths of 3-4 inches* they are very close.  At revolver lengths of 6-8 inches, the mag is superior. 

[zeke4351]

A lot of people that comment on the .357 Sig have never really shot the real ammo as designed by Federal and Sig. There is only one place that sells ammo that meets or exceeds the 125 grain at 1450 fps original design. Underwood makes it and it will test at 1500 fps. The big name companies claim 1350 fps but usually don't test that fast. Be sure and read the box for the spec of the ammo. The .357 Sig as designed will penetrate just about anything except the human body where it stops and dumps all that energy. It is my favorite carry round. There is a lot of testing on YouTube by tnoutdoos9 that are very impressive. This round does a lot of things that can't be measured in gel testing. The Secret Service carry this round for many reasons. Cheap price and low recoil are not two of the reasons. The .357 Sig seems to be kept pretty quiet and full power ammo is not readily available to the general public. The .357 Sig bullet is designed different than 9mm bullets and you can see the difference when comparing side by side from the same ammo maker. The 9mm +P+ will not perform close to the .357 Sig performance wise. Edited November 27, 2013 by zeke4351

[Guest Mick6R]

I picked up a ported EFK 357 conversion barrel for my FNX-40 back in the summer.  Fun to shoot.  Loud, lots of muzzle blast :)  

[klamb5]

[Djay3]

If I recall correctly the Texas Hwy Patrol was one of the early adopters of the .357 Sig. They were impressed with it's flat shooting accuracy out to 50 yards.

Do you recall the Ruger Police carbines? I've always thought the .357 Sig would be awesome in a package like that.

The round has a loud report so expect heads to turn when at the range. : )

[Fourtyfive]

You bought my G31 I believe...I had two, one was the gun I shot and the other was a THP commerative edition (Serial No. THP003)

 

Correct a G31 ! And it's dead on , thank you !

[Fourtyfive]

Badder that my Marauder .22 but a lot more pumping , then again there is the HIT ....

 

http://www.crosman.com/rogue one hard hit'n .357 by air , 

 

Look at the vids

Edited November 29, 2013 by Threeeighty

[Patton]

If I recall correctly the Texas Hwy Patrol was one of the early adopters of the .357 Sig. They were impressed with it's flat shooting accuracy out to 50 yards.

Do you recall the Ruger Police carbines? I've always thought the .357 Sig would be awesome in a package like that.

The round has a loud report so expect heads to turn when at the range. : )

I was in a Sig course about 6 or 7 years ago and the factory represenative said DE State Police were the first to field the 357Sig round.

I have always liked the pistol caliber carbines but ballistics aren't greatly impressive compared to a 6" gun in the same 9/40/357/45. Now 5.56 more than doubles from 6" to 16".

[RobertNashville]

Correct a G31 ! And it's dead on , thank you !

Oh....so it WAS me!  Damn.  LOL