Is it worth buying something in .357 SIG?

[PedalBiker]

I have never seen .357 SIG in any gun store as far as the ammo except the one I work, and even then its been the same few boxes for a couple years with no requests for anything in it and noone buying a box sooo my question I guess is, is this a "dead" caliber like something that came and went like all those old wildcat calibers, is it just down to a small dedicated group of people who like it? If it really does pack as much punch as a .357 Magnum I'd love to get something compact in it for carry but not if its "unsupported" and going to be something thats not readily available, would have to be reloaded, and thus probably hard to find parts for a gun in the future chambered in it... any thoughts? I've heard some people say itd be better to get something in 10mm Auto instead?

Right now 357 Sig is easier to find than 22LR. It's going to be more available than 10mm at least for magazines and Glock parts. Being based on the very popular 40SW is a big bonus.

I think it has considerable merit in duty sized guns (4" + barrels) but is not going to be a good compact gun cartridge.

I'd also consider the route of getting a 40SW and then an extra 357 Sig barrel, but personally I don't have either. I like 9mm and 38+p. I am trying to like 45Auto with mixed results.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I am biased since I am a 10mm fan also, but the sig is a good round and has one big advantage. 356 bullets are cheaper than 40 bullets if you reload. I can shoot about 1.5 to 2 rounds of 357 Sig for the same money as my 10mm when buying commercial bullets.

Run the math and see how your economics work. I shoot a lot of sig now for this reason.

Both are really good though.

 

[private snowball]

Post recanted after reading zeke4351's post.

 

[Rinspeed]

SIG's were sort of caliber specific with some of their mags.

I had a P239 that came with 357SIG mags, and you could not load .40's into the mags, as they were narrower in the front due to the 357SIG's bottle neck.

Sig tried very hard to make the 239 work with one mag for both. They just couldn't get one of them to run 100% so they had to change the design, unlike the 229 which uses one mag for both calibers.

 

[Panzerschwein]

If you really like this cartridge yes it is still available, and the internet is a good place to find it. You can also find some hot high-performance loads online from the likes of Double Tap and Underwood that are going to give you excellent results and will make a .357 SIG all it can be.

I'll admit that finding affordable target ammo for .357 SIG is not easy. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel! Many .357 SIG guns can also fire .40 S&W by just swapping out the barrel, even using the same magazines. I know that if I were to get a .357 SIG today, a Glock 31 would be the gun. I would also buy a Glock 22 barrel for it, because .40 S&W is abundant in my region and finding relatively affordable target ammo would be no problem at all!

I would highly recommend that if you are going to "pull the trigger" on a .357 SIG pistol, to get a gun that will accept .40 S&W with a barrel change and buy the .40 barrel. It really is an excellent option if you are set on the .357 SIG round.

 

[Big Shrek]

I still think they should have called it "9mm Magnum" instead...

 

[Jenrick]

I learned this straight from the engineers at Speer.

"The 9mm is a 35,000 psi, +P is 38,500 psi and +P+ is 40,000 psi. The 357 SIG is a 40,000 psi. Bullets of the same weight will approximate the same velocities in 357 SIG and +P+."

Speer may load their +P+ to 40K psi, but that is not a standard. +P+ has NO pressure limit, it's basically whatever you can stuff in there. A cartridge that grenades in the chamber would technically be +P+. That's why some people really like +P+ ammo (in whatever caliber), because it allows for much hotter loadings that work in modern guns with modern materials compared to what the original loading of the round was designed for with older materials.

-Jenrick

 

[AK103K]

Speer may load their +P+ to 40K psi, but that is not a standard.

I understand theres not a specific "standard", or at least an official SAAMI standard for it, but it does seem the major makers do have an idea as to what it is, or think it is or should be or Speer wouldnt have put it in writing to me.

I seriously doubt any of the makers want their name attached to rounds that go grenade, regardless the designation. Im sure they know where the limit is. As far as loading them down and calling them hot, the velocity is going to give you an idea as to what the pressure is, or again, at least according to Speer.

A simple chronograph check should tell you whos fibbing or not. Then again, if theres no standard, I guess its really not fibbing. Each individual knows what they are looking for and why, so I suppose it really doesnt matter.

Maybe we should email some of the others and see what they come up with.