357 SIG Questions

[Idano]

Well last night I got a wild hair and bought a 357 SIG barrel for my HK so now I have to gear up for reloading for the 357 SIG. I have already searched the form and found out that I have to be careful which bullet to get so it looks like it will be the 124 grain Berry's HP as suggested by Fred in an earlier post.

Now the question I have is which dies do the best job for the 357 SIG? God the dies for this caliber are expensive and we are not talking match grade either. Normally I would just go buy a set of Hornady or RCBS dies and be done with it, but I have been reading that the brass is fragile. So I am considering whether I should go with Lee dies and buy the factory crimp die separately, but if no one is using the factory crimp die on the 357 SIG, then maybe I should go with a taper crimp since I will be using a plated bullet.

Please don't take this wrong, I am not looking for opinions since I all ready have those what I need is advice from those actually reloading for 357 SIG.

 

[dleong]

Sometime last year, I bought a 357 Sig barrel for my Sig SP2340, and started reloading for it. I am using the Lee steel dies for that caliber, and have had absolutely no problems with them. If memory serves, I paid around $20 the Lee three-die set from MidwayUSA.

I get away with not having to use any lube by first decapping and resizing the 357 Sig brass in a 40 S&W carbide resizing die (also by Lee), and then running them through the 357 Sig die to resize the neck. I have not found it necessary at all to use a FCD as the Lee bullet seating die does an excellent job of consistently putting on a light taper crimp without collapsing the neck.

I did a little experimenting with various loads during the work-up phase, and have settled on a Rainier 124 gr. FP projectile atop 5.6 gr. of Universal powder at a COAL of 1.145" as my standard 357 Sig loading. This recipe clocks about 1100 fps out of the 3.9" barrel of my SP2340, and is a tremendously accurate and clean-burning target load.

 

[Idano]

dleong,

Thanks, that was the information I was looking for, I didn't want to buy the FCD for another $20 if I didn't need it. I am also glad to hear you are having good success with the Rainier 124 gr. FP since I can get those locally at Cabalas. I going to be starting out with 6.5 grains of Unique since that is my current pistol powder but that may change.

 

[ReloaderFred]

There are a couple of things to consider with the 357 Sig round. The first is headspace. All the literature says the round headspaces on the case mouth, which is true, but there is also a datum point on the shoulder that has to be considered. Just make sure whichever dies you get set the shoulder back enough to allow the round to fully chamber. It's not difficult, just something that you don't have with straight wall pistol cases.

Another thing I do to all my 357 Sig brass is chamfer the case mouths. The neck is short and I prefer not to bell it, since most crimping dies won't remove all the bell, just the lip of the case. If you don't chamfer, then the bullets will be shaved upon seating.

For powder, I use AA #9. It fills the case and compresses enough that the bullet is less likely to set back during cycling. This is important, since this round operates at higher pressure than the .40 S&W, which is why the case has a thicker web than the .40.

For bullets, the Berry's 124 grain plated hollowpoint is hard to beat, though this bullet is not intended to expand. The HP is to enhance accuracy, which it does quite nicely. For higher velocities, I really like the Speer Gold Dot, which is specific to the 357 Sig. They are the only company I'm aware of that makes a bullet specific to this caliber, and it's a good one. The Hornady XTP is also a good bullet. I also use the Berry's 124 grain flat point and 115 grain flat point in this caliber.

I'm sure you're aware that round nose 9mm bullets won't work in this caliber, since the over all length of the round is so short. It requires either a flat point or hollow point bullet. Remington Golden Sabres also won't work, due to the shoulder of the bullet. The OAL requires that the bullet be seated deep enough to place the shoulder inside the short neck and there's nothing to crimp to.

The 357 Sig is an inherently accurate round for some reason. I have two of them and they are both tack drivers. The Springfield XD prefers 124 grain bullets and the Witness prefers 115 grain bullets. Either one will shoot both weights, but not as tightly as the bullet each prefers.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Idano]

Fred,

Thanks for the information about chamfering the mouth instead of expanding it. Yea, I was aware that many of the 9mm bullets were not compatible because of their design, thanks to one of your earlier post on 577 SIG Bullets.

I just placed an order with Graff & Sons for the Lee 3-piece pistol dies and three Hornady L-N-L bushing. I hope everything arrives; barrel, brass, bullets, and dies before the weekend so I can get some rounds loaded up and go play with it next weekend.

 

[EZred]

Idano,

I have been using the Lee Steel Dies for about a year and have not had any problems with them. I have settled on using 124gr XTPs which have given really good accuracy on top of Blue Dot. At first, I just taper crimped the cases with the seating die, but during one range session I had a round chamber, but the slide did not go fully into battery. (Shooting a SIG 2022) When I cleared the round and inspected it, the bullet had been set back slightly. While I have never had any real issues aside from this one time, I cycled several rounds through the action at home measuring before and after with calipers. Every 7-8 rounds I could measure set back of .03", so I picked up a Lee FCD. The die does a good job, and its speedy in my Classic Turret, so if you are going to shoot in volume it might be worth the investment. I also have had great luck with Starline brass. Good luck with the cartridge, it really grows on you.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

The lee FCD in the sig is one of the few I recommend. It does work, but I don't use it much. Mostly I have been loading 115 grn REM jhp's with AA9 or 88 grn Rem JHP's with AA9. Look up the loads. Max loads fully support the bullet so setback and neck tension becomes somewhat of a moot point.

If you want raw accuracy, in my 229 sport, nothing does better then 147 xtp's!