.357 Sig from 3.5" barrel EQUALS +P+ 9mm from 5" barrel?

[Snowdog]

The .357 Sig is a cartridge that I'm still somewhat unfamiliar with. I recently purchased a .357 Sig barrel for my M&P40c along with 100 rounds of .357 Sig Winchester Ranger JHPs.

A buddy, who is also unfamiliar with the .357 Sig, suggested that perhaps the .357 Sig from a 3.5" barrel of a compact handgun roughly equals the performance of a 9mm +P+ from a larger pistol with a duty-length barrel.

Does this sound around right? Will a 125gr .357 Sig Winchester Ranger (RA357SIGT) from my M&P40c mirror the performance of the 127gr 9mm +P+ Winchester Ranger (RA9TA) from a G17 or Beretta 92?

I've found the 165gr Winchester Bonded Ranger (RA40BA) works wonderfully well from my M&P40c and plan to use it for carry. However, if my Storm Lake .357 Sig conversion barrel proves just as accurate, I may use the .357 Sig for hiking.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Waywatcher]

Your buddy knows what he was talking about, there.

Bullets are exact same diameter, velocity is the only difference. E.g. 127 +P+ in a 9mm Glock 17 should easily be pushing 1300 fps.

Here's some velocity numbers from a respected source through a ~4.5" barrel:

www.hipowersandhandguns.com

 

[CDW4ME]

This will give you an idea of what your .357 SIG might do; I chronographed my Glock 33 with 3.5'' barrel, average for 5 shots.

Cor-Bon 125 gr. @ 1,324 fps / 486# KE
Gold Dot 125 gr. @ 1,315 fps / 480# KE
Ranger T 125 gr. @ 1,280 fps / 454# KE

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

It seems plausible, but to truly test the claim, you need a chronograph. The price of these has come down considerably. Shooting Chrony at Amazon.com Some real world figures would prove or disprove a lot of common assertions.

 

[Snowdog]

Wow, great replies, thanks!

I would really love to chronograph some loads in both .40S&W and .357 Sig (have a Chrony F1), but for right now I'm having to make use of only an indoor 25-yard range.

Thanks again for the info folks!

 

[Strahley]

Buffalo Bore makes some 1400 fps 9mm loads (1389 out of a Glock 19 with a 4" barrel)

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

no reason to get hung up on velocity. 357sig jhp's and 9mm +p jhp's have shown to exhibit the exact same penetration, permanent wound cavity, and expansion according to the FBI.

s&w in fact just discontinued the 357sig m&p due to lack of sales.

 

[Zoogster]

They are using similar bullet weights and are the same diameter bullet, one attains higher velocities.
Obviously that makes it a more powerful version of nearly the same thing.


The reasons are simple:

Greater case capacity with the SIG, as the round is a .40S&W cartridge necked down to 9mm, while the other is just over 9mm brass firing 9mm bullets.
Greater case capacity of the wider 40S&W cartridge allows a powder to be used that will burn better, maintaining a desired pressure for a longer period of time and so imparting more energy even if the rounds had the exact same pressure limitations.

However they don't have the same pressure limitations, the SIG allows for 40,000 PSI compared to 34,000 PSI for normal 9mm.
So even if they had the same pressure limitations the SIG would be ahead with greater case capacity to allow a powder that would perform better, but when it also has greater pressure limits it performs even better still.



So yes the .357 SIG is a more powerful 9mm.
Of course it uses a bottleneck cartridge with is not as economical to produce (or maintain.)

 

[CDW4ME]

I'll address two previous post with this one

Apples to apples:
Glock 32 (357 SIG): 125 gr. Gold Dot @ 1,334 fps / 494# KE
Glock 23 (40): 155 gr. Gold Dot @ 1,171 fps / 472# KE

Hottest to hottest:
Glock 32 (375 SIG): 125 Cor-Bon @ 1,380 fps/ 528# KE
Glock 19 (9mm): 127 gr. Ranger T +P+ @ 1,238 fps / 433# KE

If I load that 19 with the hottest ammo I've got vs. the hottest 357 SIG in the 32, the 9mm with +P+ delivers 82% of the 357 SIG's power.

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

If I load that 19 with the hottest ammo I've got vs. the hottest 357 SIG in the 32, the 9mm with +P+ delivers 82% of the 357 SIG's power.

again, when comparing these two cartridges, energy delivered to the target is meaningless in terms of stopping power