Thread: .357 SIG

I was wondering if there are any owners of a pistol, chambered in .357SIG, who can fill me in on some of the finer points of this unique round. I am considering getting a Glock 31, and I am curious about round availability. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by SparcoSaver

I was wondering if there are any owners of a pistol, chambered in .357SIG, who can fill me in on some of the finer points of this unique round. I am considering getting a Glock 31, and I am curious about round availability. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

While I enjoy my Glock 32, ammo can be found but usually at a greater expense than the more main stream rounds. I enjoy shooting my pistol (all pistols for that matter). on the up side if you tire of the cost on 357 sig you can swap out for a .40 cal barrel.

My sig 239 is in 357 sig and it does pretty well. I enjoyed shooting the round and I got the results I was looking for(ie, I could hit, with accuracy, what I was shooting at).
I don't know ammo prices up here in Or but in CA the price was high enough for me to look into reloading, which I won't be doing.

I like it...For me, its like shooting a .40sw load, with a 9mm bullet, at a much higher velocity, which gives me better accuracy than my 9mm loads...its 9mm on steriods! Its easy to reload and I've had no issues getting 147, 125, or 115 grain bullets in hollow point or other variations. Brass is very available. Its harder to find brand name defensive load ammo in the stores, but Wally World has Winchester .357sig regularly for plinking. It is spendy, unless you are reloading it...demand is low. Its a fun shooter with not much kick, for a high velocity bullet! It wouldnt be my first choice for self defense, for a number of reasons...but I wont start that debate.
Go Ducks!

I recently started shooting 357 Sig. I love it. Who could argue 357 Magnum ballistics in a semi auto?

Have a S&W M&P 40 compact. Bought a Storm Lake barrel and some ammo from a guy on another forum a couple months back. IMHO, this is the best way to go. Storm Lake advertises their barrels for $160.00. Midway has them for less. But you don't need a match barrel unless you want one. You could buy a factory barrel for less if you already have a 40sw.

Shooting the 357 Sig in a compact isn't bad at all. Not for me anyway. The recoil is over with quickly and doesn't seem as bad as the 40sw. And for me the 357 Sig is more accurate. Yes, it's bit more expensive. But I only shoot 50 rounds or so at the range then I switch to another gun in 9MM or 22lr.

I now carry it everyday loaded with Double Tap 125 gr at 1450 fps.

I appreciate all of the timely answers. Now for another question. Does anybody know if there is a can for .357SIG? Are there silencers/suppressors made for .357SIG? Can you use a different caliber? Like a .40S&W can?

Will share what I know and not what I think.

The cartridge is a good round and as effective as any other defensive handgun round. Is it substantially better than a 9, 40, or 45? Unfortunately not. If it was then everyone would be using it and it would be crowned the undisputed king of defensive handgun cartridges.

Does it have any advantages over the other choices? Well according to the Officers who train at OFA and are are issued the round, they tell us when they shoot this round it is more likely to draw attention and scatter crowds because the downrange crack of the .357 Sig is different than the typical pop, pop, pop of the 9, 40 or 45. Some Federal Agents told me the first shooting they were in the crowds actually scattered when they heard the .357 Sig round go off - they'd never experienced this before!

OFA has a G32 with the Robar Grip Reduction and it is a great handgun and cartridge. Unfortunately it is rarely used because people are not willing to spend the $ on the rounds to train with it - instead they choose the 9 or 40 usually. However, if OFA provides the ammo at no addditonal charge as we often do in some drills then everyone wants to shoot it! Funny how that works.

Out of 1200 students annually traveling internationally to OFA to train over the last 15 years, less than 2 per year show up with a.357 Sig.

It is a great cartridge but the reason it isn't more popular or more common is because ammo is more expensive generally than 9, 40 or 45 and it is more difficult to get in bulk at an affordable price.

If you're shooting and training in the hundreds to thousands of rounds annually then it becomes rather expensive. If you're the typical shooter and just shoot 50 to 200 per year (the average in the USA is under 50 rounds per year) then it isn't probably going to be a fiscal issue.

The key thing you need to determine is do you have the fiscal appetite to invest in the ammo needed annually to keep your skills current? If you're a plinker shooting a few rounds each year to have fun - that is one thing. If you're attending classes a couple times per year which may require anywhere from 350 to 1000 rounds per class plus practicing these skills on a regular basis then you need to determine if the extra money spent on the .357 Sig is worth the difference over one of the more commonly used and lesser expensive cartridges.

I'm curious if anyone else with .357 SIG pistols has chronographed their rounds? I bought a few brands when I bought a .357 Sig barrel for one of my pistols, and was disappointed in the chronograph results. I can't remember the specific brands and numbers (it was about 9 or 10 years ago), but I recall that the lighter bullets (125 grain or so) were lower velocity than similar-weight 9mm +P rounds I had tried. I still have the barrel and some ammo kicking around, but opted for .40 after those tests. I always wondered if the ammo manufacturers were loading the initial batches on the light side to be conservative.

Originally Posted by Michael

I'm curious if anyone else with .357 SIG pistols has chronographed their rounds? I bought a few brands when I bought a .357 Sig barrel for one of my pistols, and was disappointed in the chronograph results. I can't remember the specific brands and numbers (it was about 9 or 10 years ago), but I recall that the lighter bullets (125 grain or so) were lower velocity than similar-weight 9mm +P rounds I had tried. I still have the barrel and some ammo kicking around, but opted for .40 after those tests. I always wondered if the ammo manufacturers were loading the initial batches on the light side to be conservative.

This summer, I chrono'd some factory (.357 Sig) Winchester 125 gr. fmj's at an average speed of 1320 fps. For comparison, the Speer manual for max. loads rates the results between 1437fps at the high end, 1277fps at the low end, depending on the powder selected. That puts the factory load at the middle of the range... the 147 gr bullet ranges 1218 to 1101 fps.

Compare that to the slower/heavier .40sw:
155gr @ 1221 to 956fps
165gr @ 1106 to 1022fps
180gr @ 1027 to 865fps

The slower 9mm are rated at:
124 gr bullet ranges 1249 to 998 fps.
147 gr bullet ranges 1001 to 931 fps.
115 gr bullet ranges 1258 to 1101 fps.

You can tweek what you want, out of your reloads, but most of my chrono'd loads were running par or better to the table ratings for speed. It seems like most factory loads appear to be loaded in the mid-range for liability reasons...
Hope that helps.

Happy Shooting!

Originally Posted by SparcoSaver

I appreciate all of the timely answers. Now for another question. Does anybody know if there is a can for .357SIG? Are there silencers/suppressors made for .357SIG? Can you use a different caliber? Like a .40S&W can?

A 9mm can should work just fine. A 9mm bullet is .355", close enough.

Ranb

Check Georgia Arms for cheapest 357Sig plinking ammo I know of.

Powr'Ball is my winter goto SD/cc ammo.

Thanks for all of the comprehensive material. Does anyone know how costly (in comparison with the 'usual' rounds) reloading is? And how difficult it is to acquire the needed goods for mass reloading.

Single stage reloading kit $100-$350
Powder measure $25-$70
Calipers $20-$40
Dies $20-$60
Powder $15-$25 per pound
Primers $30-$40 per thousand

I started out with an RS-5 kit. I have also used a Lee press which is cheaper, but I liked the RCBS press and powder measure more than the Lee. Any carbide die set will do for pistol reloading. Plan on $400 and up for progressive reloading presses plus dies and powder measure. Checkout MidayUSA.com, Lee, Dillan and Hornady.

Ranb

How soon do you have to trim the cases since it's a bottleneck? Lube required too I take it?

Not a clue. I do not load the 357 sig, but I load the 400 corbon which is a bottleneck cartridge. I have not re-loaded them much yet, but no trimming after 3 times so far. I'm not sure that trimming will be required at all. No lube needed for the 400 corbon.

Ranb

Originally Posted by Ranb

Not a clue. I do not load the 357 sig, but I load the 400 corbon which is a bottleneck cartridge. I have not re-loaded them much yet, but no trimming after 3 times so far. I'm not sure that trimming will be required at all. No lube needed for the 400 corbon.Ranb

357Sig headspaces at shoulder, not mouth. Check this article and look for more supporting evidence. The fact that Lee sells a 3-die set including a crimp die further supports this statement. Crimping is NOT recommended for dies headspacing on mouth.

This is a good article. Some handloading manuals don't cover enough on 357Sig handloading intricacies and pitfalls. Here is a tinyurl for said article: http://tinyurl.com/2888rnv

Don't need lube "IF" using carbide dies. Problem is, Dillon seems to be the only one making carbide dies for 357Sig. And they are not cheap!
http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...productId/3244
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/cat...es-pistol.html
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=435531
Civvi

I recommend just buy almighty 10mm Glock 29 and than you can buy barrels for .357 .40 & 9x25 dillon. 4 guns in one. Can't beat that.
Good luck,
10mmDude

Originally Posted by 10mmDude

I recommend just buy almighty 10mm Glock 29 and than you can buy barrels for .357 .40 & 9x25 dillon. 4 guns in one. Can't beat that.
Good luck,
10mmDude

What can you tell me about round availability for the 10mm? Can you put a can on it? How about reloading?

Originally Posted by SparcoSaver

What can you tell me about round availability for the 10mm? Can you put a can on it? How about reloading?

I don't have any issue with ammo availability! I buy my ammo online from DoubleTap, Buffalo Bore, Cheaper than Dirt, Swamp Fox, etc. For range purposes I'd go with BVAC FMJ 180 Grain (50 Round Box, 1200 FPS) for the only $18.59 + S&H $11.32 (Total: $29.91) at Cheaper Than Dirt web site.
Regarding reloading, I don't re-lode as of yet, but a lot of 10mm users are doing it cause it's much cheaper to shot that way. I don't have to much time for it and also, I'm to lazy to do it.