.357 SIG Flash

[[holo]]

I keep hearing people talk about how the .357 SIG round produce more flash than other round. They claim that it makes .357 SIG handguns "not fun to shoot". I have yet to try it, but I kinda don't want to with this information. Do you also think that the .357 SIG is no fun? And should I try it?

 

[Howland937]

Never shot one, but I wouldn't be worried about it. If you're not shooting it at night, chances are you'll hardly notice. If it's in daylight, wear some tinted safety glasses if you're really concerned.
Some powders I've loaded have flash that resembled a howitzer on a slow-mo cam.

I know a couple of guys that absolutely love their .357 Sig's. Shoot it.

Flash doesn't really mean excessive recoil either, so I guess it depends on what you're really worried about.

 

[WrongHanded]

I shoot quite a lot of. 357 Sig. I don't notice excessive flash, but then again most of the other handguns I shoot are magnum revolvers.

However, the .357 Sig being expensive or time consuming to feed, if you're looking for something "fun to shoot", I'd look elsewhere. The cartridge was designed for terminal performance, and is really not a good plinker.

 

[Hartkopf]

In a poorly lit indoor range, magnums with H110 flash a good bit but I’ve never been bothered by it. I’ve never shot it in total darkness so I can’t say if that would be a problem. I wouldn’t let the possibility of flash stop me from getting a gun I wanted.

 

[sgt127]

My old, dainty, beat up hands can only shoot one or two cylinders full of 125 GR .357 Magnums out of a K Frame. It just flat hurts.

I can spend an afternoon shooting several boxes of 357 SIG.

A little less energy. But, the grip shape and that slide eating up a bunch of the recoil makes it very worthwhile.

I refer to my P239 DAK as a flat, 8 shot revolver with a really good trigger.

There may a bit more muzzle flash than a 9mm. More noticeable in the dark. But, all that flash is in a ball and, going forward. With a revolver, you also have the flash from the forcing cone.

 

[CDW4ME]

357 Sig has more blast than 9mm or 40 - its louder.
Subjectively, recoil is on par with 40 - some confuse blast (loud) with recoil.
I have a Glock 23 (40 S&W) and 32 (357 Sig) and a Glock 35 (40 S&W) with a 357 Sig barrel.
The Glock 32 is same size as a Glock 19 and generates about 1,350 fps / 500# KE from 4'' barrel. (20% more than 9mm +P)
Longer barrel of the 35 increases performance.
Glock 35 with 357 Sig Barrel
125 Gold Dot @ 1,399 fps / 543# KE
125 HST @ 1,415 fps / 556# KE
125 Ranger T @ 1,428 fps / 566# KE
125 PPU FPJ @ 1,461 fps / 593# KE


357 Sig delivers 500# KE (or more) from a easily concealed pistol (Glock 32).
Topping that level of energy in a concealable pistol would be stepping up to 10mm (Glock 20/29 or 1911)
As @WrongHanded said 357 Sig was designed for performance, try to duplicate 357 Mag 125 gr. (which had a good reputation for ASAP incapacitation)

 

[loadedround]

I reload for and shoot a Sig P229 pistol in 357 Sig and shoot quite often in my club's indoor range. I can't say that the 357 Sig round has any more muzzle flash than a 9mm or 45 ACP round. Muzzle flash usually occurs when reloading with a slower powder that is not 100% consumed prior to the projectile leaving the barrel. I have found that factory ammo does have a much larger muzzle flash than my hand loads. Therefore, if you reload this caliber, try to match your bullet weight with a slightly faster powder, following your manual's guide lines, for less muzzle flash. It works for me.

 

[AK103K]

I used to shoot and reload a lot of 357SIG. Never really noticed it was flashy with my reloads (AA #9), but would occasionally see some with some of the factory Speer and Double Tap rounds I used to use with them.

It does have a somewhat more noticeable "bark" than some of the others, and that was really the only noticeable thing about it to me.

As far as recoil, I always thought it was very similar to +P or +P+ 9mm, and really didnt see much of a difference.

 

[Cornhusker77]

I have a G32, and I fell in love with the .357 Sig round.
I always thought it had quite a bit of blast, flash, whatever you call it, but not with all ammo.
I remember shooting at a large paper target from about 3 ft. (Some kind of thing where you start close and move back). At 3 ft, the .357 Sig would shred the paper just with the blast,.
I have a 9mm barrel and 40 S&W barrel for it now and haven't shot the .357 sig for a long time but I remember it being a lot of fun.

 

[gnappi]

Unless it's dark, I mean bedroom at zero dark thirty in the morning, it's not a biggie. With the muzzle rize in a lit range you don't give it much if any notice.

In a darkened room (I tried it in a range with just the light coming in from the exhaust fan on the ceiling) it's akin to a 2 1/2" snubby loaded with hot .357's but without the cylinder gap flame... pretty darn bright. When I made my bas relief avatar I was thinking about my .357 SIG

 

[mokin]

I have a Glock 29 with Bar Sto barrel in .357 Sig. It's lots of fun! To me, it seems very similar to shooting a 9mm. Except the bullet is moving 200 fps faster. I doubt that's a fair comparison though.

 

[cfullgraf]

I shoot quite a lot of. 357 Sig. I don't notice excessive flash, but then again most of the other handguns I shoot are magnum revolvers.

However, the .357 Sig being expensive or time consuming to feed, if you're looking for something "fun to shoot", I'd look elsewhere. The cartridge was designed for terminal performance, and is really not a good plinker.

I agree, I cannot say the flash from a 357 Sig is much greater, if at all, from other rounds.

If you are a reloader, it is no more expensive to shoot than other cartridges although it takes a bit more time to load due to the bottleneck case.

I have a 357 S&W M&P and a 1911 chambered in 357 Sig. The 1911 is quite the pussy cat with 357 Sig.

 

[Tom-R2]

BIG bang, BIG flash!! I love it more every time I shoot mine. I have a Glock 23c that I usually shoot with a 357SIG barrel, and a Sig P226 also in 357SIG. The all steel P226 has just enough less recoil to be noticeable, but both are fine and to me, comfortable. I shoot mostly reloads, and with Power Pistol there is a real noticeable blast and flash. Something like BE-86 with flash suppressant does knock down the flash a little. You can feel the concussion from the blast when shooting at an indoor range, if I run 100 hot rounds downrange I can feel it in my facial bones. Shooting either pistol with 40S&W rounds gives a slightly different recoil, more of a push instead of a snap, but equally manageable.

 

[Mainsail]

I shoot quite a lot of. 357 Sig. I don't notice excessive flash...

This is my experience exactly. I shoot Underwood and the flash doesn't seem any worse than any other round. Blast and recoil are not bad at all.

I shoot/carry a P239, P229, and P320 in .357Sig, never thought the recoil or flash were excessive.

 

[gnappi]

After reading this and other threads on the .SIG round... I read mostly positive comments from OWNERS about the .SIG cartridge and yet the "gun gurus" continually push the 9mm as a comparison saying poo-pooh to the+/- 200 fps advantage of the .SIG.

Invariably you read... "While the .SIG cartridge has a very slight velocity advantage over the 9mm, its lower capacity, higher recoil..." Blah, blah, blah

Higher recoil? Load a 9mm bullet of the same weight to the same velocity in the same platform and recoil is no different.
Lower capacity? Yup, 18 rds. is very important if you plan on missing more than 15 times (the capacity of my .SIG)
More muzzle flash? Load a 9mm bullet of the same weight to the same velocity in the same platform (bbl length) with the same powder and flash is no different. If it is I haven't seen it.

How about 100% reliability / feeding in any platform from an unramped 1911, to Glock to Beretta or whatever platform you can dream up? Heavier bullets? Yup I resized 158 grain HP's (see pic) for my Sig which feed and function perfectly. I also have .SIG barrels in a Beretta 92X performance, 1911's, and of course Sig. I'll take a few less in the mag with an extra 200 fps and 100% reliability in any bullet weight in any platform any day over most other auto cartridges, regardless what Ms. Bambi or diminutive male officer / agent can handle.

Dateline 1960... Highway Patrol, any State.

New officer to commander... "Sir, that 4" .357 magnum has stout recoil, I want a softer shooting duty gun"
Commander,"Son, that's what we issue, I accept your resignation"

Dateline around 2000 on... Any agency U.S.A. Not the same

https://ibb.co/fFXqD21

 

[tommy.duncan]

I have a P229 and 2 P226's in 357sig.

I love the cartridge, Reliable, Accurate, No complaints here

Nothing more then +P 9mm. Take one for a test drive, it's worth it!!

 

[Rock185]

I had a SIG 226, later a 229 Sport model in ,357 SIG, and I thought it was fun to shoot. I never noticed it being noisier or having more flash than 9mm. Recoil was about like some of the warmer 9mm, i.e., nothing an average healthy adult would likely be concerned about......ymmv

 

[gnappi]

I had a SIG 226, later a 229 Sport model in ,357 SIG, and I thought it was fun to shoot. I never noticed it being noisier or having more flash than 9mm. Recoil was about like some of the warmer 9mm, i.e., nothing an average healthy adult would likely be concerned about......ymmv

Man a 229 sport? I've lusted after one of those since they first came out... Then job, baby, career, divorce all got in the way! What did you do with it?

 

[Lennyjoe]

I have a G32 and am working up loads for it. I'd say it kicks slightly more than my 9's but not as bad as my 10's. Flash isn't bad with Underwood 125gr rounds.

 

[AK103K]

I had five SIG's in the caliber and one Glock, a 31. The SIG's all seemed to tolerate the added pressures, the Glock, not so much, and it was beating itself to death.

The underside of the slide was being impacted pretty heavily by the locking block, peening the slide, and I had to dress the sharp edges up with a file a couple of times as I was cutting my fingers on it while cleaning the gun. I ended up putting a 9mm conversion barrel in it and it stopped.

Never really understood why that was happening, although Id talked to some who had 40 S&W's that said it was a common thing and would stop. Mine never did, nor did it show signs of slowing down.

I have a 17, that has more +P+ 9mm through it than the 31 had 357SIG, and it shows only some minor finish wear in the same spot. No hint of peening though. +P+ 9mm has the same pressure rating as 357SIG, although I dont know if the pressure curves are the same. Maybe thats the issue.

 

[WrongHanded]

I had five SIG's in the caliber and one Glock, a 31. The SIG's all seemed to tolerate the added pressures, the Glock, not so much, and it was beating itself to death.

The underside of the slide was being impacted pretty heavily by the locking block, peening the slide, and I had to dress the sharp edges up with a file a couple of times as I was cutting my fingers on it while cleaning the gun. I ended up putting a 9mm conversion barrel in it and it stopped.

Never really understood why that was happening, although Id talked to some who had 40 S&W's that said it was a common thing and would stop. Mine never did, nor did it show signs of slowing down.

What generation of Glock did you have?

 

[AK103K]

Gen 3.

 

[loadedround]

Can those plastic Glocks handle the stress of the 357 Sig round?

 

[WrongHanded]

Can those plastic Glocks handle the stress of the 357 Sig round?

My gen 4s seem to be handling it okay so far. Can't say the round count is terribly high though. Maybe a couple thousand through each, but I don't keep close track of that stuff.

 

[CDW4ME]

Can those plastic Glocks handle the stress of the 357 Sig round?

Those plastic Glocks handle the stress of 40 S&W and 10mm.