40cal. or .357sig

[MachIVshooter]

You are aware that .357 Sig replicates the ballistics of the Magnum round, right?

Find us some .357 Sig loads that produce between 700 and 800 ft/lbs at the muzzle from a 4" barrel.

And before aruging the added length of the cylinder in a 4" revolver, remember that they bleed off pressure at the forcing cone. This negates the barrel length difference.

 

[HK_Civilian]

+1 for the .40

 

[gen]

Easy - .40

 

[psyopspec]

Find us some .357 Sig loads that produce between 700 and 800 ft/lbs at the muzzle from a 4" barrel.

No luck despite my best efforts. In my research I did come up with a question though. I don't know much about ballistics, so please set me straight if this is incorrect, but performances between the two out of a 4" barrel are the same/extremely close at 125 gr. And that weight is optimal for penetration of light barriers (ie car windshields) while still maintaining the structural integrety of the round.

If that's the case, then could one say that the only context in which the .357 sig and .357 magnum is for LE or self-defense loads? Is there any other areas where the sig round competes?

 

[C-grunt]

I never bought a 357 sig because they are so expensive to shoot. Plus if you load a 9mm right you can get them up to 1400 fps. This being said you can also do that to the 357 and get them going even faster. They do shoot great too.
Id go with 40, because it definitly is a potent self defense round and is cheaper to practice with. You can save up and get a 357 barrel later.

 

[coylh]

This is a non-dilemma. Get one, and if you don't like it, it costs $150 to switch to the other cartridge.

 

[Zen21Tao]

The .357 Sig produces muzzle energies roughly on par with most .357 Magnum loads from a 4” barrel. But yes there are still a few 4” barrel loads (180 gr Federal JHP and 165 grn Remington JHP) that out perform the .357 Sig.


http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ballistics/357_sig.html
http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ballistics/357_magnum.html