357 sig in a 40

[jay43]

Thinking of buting a 357 sig barrel for my bereetta 96. I've read that the sig kicks like a mule should I worry about the round hurting my frame should I get a heavier recoil spring

 

[DerekF]

If you can handle the 40, you can handle the 357 Sig. The 357 Sig feels snappier but it has less muzzle flip than the 40. I have a Sig 229 and I have a LOT more fun shooting 357 Sig out of it.

 

[ugaarguy]

.357 SIG has some recoil, but it's not too much more than a .40 to me. The last time I fired .357 SIG & .40 S&W from the same gun was a few years ago, running a .357 bbl dropped into a Glock 27 (Subcompact 40 S&W), and the .357 felt only slightly hotter than the .40. You could always try a few rounds with the .357 SIG bbl. and see where the brass is ejecting. If the gun is throwing the .357 brass more than a couple inches further than the .40 brass then go up on recoil spring weight until you get it ejecting in the same area. I'd pop a new standard weight spring in with the .40 to get my benchmark for ejection distance. This will take the variable of wear out of the equation, recoil springs are cheap anyway, and it's not a bad idea to change them on top of all that.

Do beware though, that if you go to a significantly heavier recoil spring it can send the slide back forward fast enough to outrun the mag spring getting a fresh round all the way up. In these cases stronger mag springs are needed to keep pace. I strongly doubt that the .40 S&W to .357 SIG swap will require that much heavier recoil spring weight, if any though. This is more commonly seen in much hotter conversions, but I figured I'd share that tidbit just in case.

 

[Mortech]

Theres not much diferent in recoil between the rounds , the 357Sig's recoil pulse is just a lil more 'sudden' . BTW the recoil spring for the 40 Cal and 357 Sig S&W M&P are exactly the same (same p/n in catalog)