reloading 38 Super vs 357 Sig, which is more fun?

[b0b]

I bought a 38 Super barrel for my Glock 20 and now I'm having feed issues which I hope to resolve with rimless brass (38 SuperComp or 38TJ) or by crushing the feed lips.

Then I started thinking that 357 Sig barrel was one of my options all along. It would keep me from having to alter my G20 mags. And it would allow me to have a cartridge that I can actually buy factory ammo for if I wanted. Seems like 357 Sig has become mainstream when I wasn't looking, based on how many manufacturers make it vs 38 Super. I hadn't noticed until now.

I didn't think of 357 Sig because I already reload 38 Super. Plus the Dillon 550 dies for that cartridge are like $130!

Here's question:

If you reload both, which is more fun and/or easiest to reload.

Also, if you only have experience reloading 357 Sig with a Dillon 550, how is that working for you. Issues? Any harder or less convenient or different than other cartridges you reload? Anything I should know about it?

Thank you!

 

[loadedround]

Which is more fun? Does it really make any difference since to me all phases of reloading is fun.

 

[Walkalong]

I don't know about fun, but .38 Super will definitely be easier to load, and I love shooting it. I sold my .357 Sig (HK) soon after buying it. It just did not flick my bic. I never set up to load it though. I bought a box of 50 to try it out. I shot half of them. Some folks love the .357 Sig though. Maybe in the right gun.

Welcome to THR

 

[Peter M. Eick]

The sig is the easiest to load for. The brass is fatter and easier to place in the loading plate. If you load with only AA9 you eliminate another variable. If you use AA9 the bullet selection becomes trivial because you don't have to sweat bullet setback issues.

Between dillon carbide and lee FCD for crimps, this round is easy to load and fire.

 

[jerkface11]

.357 sig is gonna be a lot harder to load than .38 super.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I load both calibers, and they're both easy to load, once you learn the little idiosycracies of loading a bottleneck pistol cartridge. They're both great cartridges and can be very, very accurate.

I don't own any Glocks, so I can't advise you on that particular pistol, but I've never had feeding issues with either the .38 Super or 357 Sig. They both feed great through my guns.

My .38 Supers are on Witness frames and the 357 Sig is on a Witness and a Springfield XD. Both formats have been flawless with both calibers.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I guess I should have stated that also. I do load for both and shot the super for decades but now very rarely.

It got to the point that I thought to myself "why waste a perfectly good bullet in the super when you could send it on the way in the sig?"

This also takes into account the launching platform for the super is a Les Baer and the Sig is a 229 Sport. Both are exceptional guns but the Sig is much easier to reload if done right.

 

[atblis]

Well

You can find once fired 357 Sig brass around (police ranges I guess).

38 SA will not be found this way, but can be had from Starline for a reasonable amount.

 

[cougar1717]

Loading a straight-wall pistol case is easier than loading a bottlenecked pistol case. I don't know about Dillon dies, but usually the sizing die is steel and requires you to lube every one of them. Some reloaders get around this by sizing the body with a carbide die of a different caliber, but of similar dimension and then use the steel die of the correct caliber to size the neck only (without lube). I have not personally tried this. My personal experience is that although bottleneck pistol cartridges have great performance ability, they are more time consuming to load than straight-wall pistol cases.

 

[Walkalong]

.357 Sig may be very easy to load, but I can't see how it could be easier than a straight walled cartridge like .38 Super.

Of course, I could be wrong. I don't load the .357 Sig.

I shoot mostly mild .38 Super loads, with a few barn burners, so the .357 Sig just did not appeal to me.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

With Dillon carbide dies you don't need to lube the sig, but I tend to hit them with a shot of hornady one shot to cut down the squeal a bit.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I lube mine, also. It just makes the whole process easier. I use a combination of Dillon and Redding dies for the 357 Sig.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[PO2Hammer]

reloading 38 Super vs 357 Sig, which is more fun?

In a G-20 I would lean tword the Sig from the standpoint of cartridge fit to gun. Breachface, extractor, ejector, mag lips all ready to go with the Sig round.

I had a G-20 with a .40s&w conversion, pretty sweet. I always wanted to try a .357 Sig barrel.

I bought a 1911 and the Super was the obvious choice there.