Reloading cost comparison: 9mm vs. .357 SIG

[Njal Thorgeirsson]

Hello,

I have been trying to decide on a subcompact pistol for CC, and I've narrowed it down to a Glock 26 (9mm) or a Glock 33 (.357 SIG). Because many places are out of stock of once-fired brass right now, I was wondering what a realistic cost comparison might be between the two cartridges, using once-fired brass? Also, is .357 SIG brass generally commonly available, or is it somewhat hard to find usually?

Thanks!

 

[david_r]

357 sig brass is totally unavailable. Don't bother trying to find any as there will be much gnashing of teeth involved*

Cost:
Bullets: same
Primers: same
Brass: could go either way. People are paying stupid prices for 9mm right now.
Powder: twice as much as you use twice as much

Have you shot a subcompact 357sig with full power loads? I have an m&p9c and a 357sig fullsize glock. I'm not averse to recoil but I think a full house 357 sig in a subcompact would lead me to not shoot it as much as I should.

I'm very happy using a Lee FCD on my 357sig reloads. I use AA#9 powder to fill the case and have not had any setback issues which seems to be an often heard concern with that tiny little neck.




*I'm only saying that so you don't go buy brass I want. It's absolutely available and less likely to be sold out than 9/45/223/308 brass.

 

[Havok7416]

I don't own a gun in 357 SIG but I don't see a lot of it laying around the range. Obviously it can be bought new (when available) but I would imagine it is slightly more expensive than 9mm. I shoot 10mm which has a similar problem compared to .40 S&W.

 

[DeadFlies]

It doesn't get any cheaper than 9mm.

 

[GLOOB]

Cost to load will be virtually identical, assuming you already have the brass. But 357 SIG takes longer to reload. So if time is money, 357 SIG costs more. But then again, you save a lot more, too.

I would personally dislike reloading 357 SIG. You do not get a lot of neck tension with the short neck. I can imagine the grief of having to toss so much otherwise good brass for neck tension issues. You have to lube the cases. And presumably, you have to measure and occasionally trim your brass.

Honestly, if I had to do all that to load 9mm, I might rather shoot factory ammo. Thinking about measuring and trimming all my 9mm cases makes me nauseous.

 

[cfullgraf]

And presumably, you have to measure and occasionally trim your brass.

I have only loaded a little 357SIG but lots of 38/45 Clerke, another bottle neck handgun case. Once formed, I never have to trim the 38/45 Clerke.

But, 357SIG is a bit higher pressure.

I like to clean my cases between resizing and reloading so cleaning lubricant off is not an issue for me. I have heard of some folks using a 40 S&W carbide die to size the body and then the 357SIG die to size the neck. This can be done without lubricant. I need to try it.

If neck tension is an issue, the expander can be turned down a bit.

 

[GLOOB]

If neck tension is an issue, the expander can be turned down a bit.

Not always. It may be that it can't get sized small enough, before the expanding part. Like maybe the brass is too thin and/or overworked. That's where I get cases that end up going to the rubbish bin. When the expander pulls through without hardly touching, turning it smaller isn't going to help.

With bottleneck cases, there is a lot of variability between sizing dies as to how far they size the case neck. My Lee die tends to min size them, so the cases don't get overworked and the expander comes through easy. My Hornady die sizes the neck so small, I suppose I would never have a neck tension problem. But I'm sure the cases will have neck cracks, sooner; and it's quite the workout pulling the expander ball out.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Loading 357 Sig is no more expensive than loading 9mm, with the possible exception that it takes just a little more powder, and powder is one of the cheapest components.

Those who have never loaded it always complain about what a hassle it must be, and those who do load it tell you it's no big deal. I'm telling you it's no big deal. And I load it a lot......

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[GLOOB]

So are you saying you don't have to measure your brass? Your brass, and any stray pickups you might unwittingly acquire while shooting, are unlikely to grow over SAAMI max?

 

[hentown]

David r:

Cost:
Bullets: same
Primers: same
Brass: could go either way. People are paying stupid prices for 9mm right now.
Powder: twice as much as you use twice as much

I just bought 10,000 cleaned and polished pieces of once-fired 9mm brass @ $.03 each. How stupid is that?

 

[Elkins45]

So are you saying you don't have to measure your brass? Your brass, and any stray pickups you might unwittingly acquire while shooting, are unlikely to grow over SAAMI max?

I have NEVER seen a single round of 357 Sig that grew too long in loading thousands of rounds.

 

[david_r]

hentown, If this wasn't THR, I'd tell you, you suck


My dies don't have an expander - that sure would be a tiny little thing. I don't measure or trim my mixed headstamp brass. I headspace it off the shoulder. I don't have tension issues with the load of AA#9 I use. Even when I was working up to my load I cycled loaded cartridges 5 times and did not see significant setback. Maybe I'm just lucky.

When I expand the case neck, there is maybe 1/32" of contact inside the neck. This gives me enough expansion to get the bullet in place although I guide it into the seating die with my fingers.

My turret goes around 4 times whether or not I have 4 dies installed.

I do lube my cases with shoe wax as I'm decapping them. If I could be bothered to find a 40 s&w die, I could eliminated that. It doesn't seem to add much time and truth be told, I do the same with my 9mm as my reloading bench is a portable work bench so it's not that rigid.

I even once necked down a 40 s&w and shot it.

Those are just my experiences reloading this round. Best price I can find for plinking ammo is getting close to $30 a box for 357sig. I shoot too much to spend $60 or $100 on one gun each range trip. So even if it was more work, which it doesn't seem to be for me, I would still reload it.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Gloob,

You do whatever floats your boat in your own shop, as I do whatever I want in my shop.

I don't measure the lengths of handgun brass, period. I don't trim handgun brass, period. When I look at the buckets of brass in my shop, and think about trimming them, I wouldn't live long enough to even get half way through them. I've never had a problem shooting small groups with any of it, so there's no reason to even consider the proposition. I'd much rather spend my time reloading and shooting.

Now for rifle brass, I trim each and every one of them, and hate the chore more than anything else about reloading. I'd rather clean dozens of guns than trim brass, but I do it with my rifle brass, which is 13 different rifle calibers.

For the 16 handgun calibers that I load, I won't trim brass, ever. If I ever did find one that was too long, it would get scrapped and replaced.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[cfullgraf]

With bottleneck cases, there is a lot of variability between sizing dies as to how far they size the case neck. My Lee die tends to min size them, so the cases don't get overworked and the expander comes through easy. My Hornady die sizes the neck so small, I suppose I would never have a neck tension problem. .

I would think neck neck tension would be more important than worrying about case life.

If the Lee die is a bit oversized in the neck area, maybe you do not need to run the expander ball through the neck. Turn the expander section down and flare the mouth the minimum amount to allow the bullet to seat without shaving material from the bullet.

By the way, I agree with RelaoderFred assessment.

 

[david_r]

WHAT expander ball?!?!?!?!?!? Lee 357SIG dies use the universal decapping pin.

 

[cfullgraf]

As with most, if not all handgun die sets, there should be a mouth expander die with 357SIG die sets.

They should be three die sets, not two die sets like most bottle neck rifle die sets.

 

[stompah]

To the OP, if you already have brass or easy access to brass reload which ever one you enjoy more. Costs will only differ pennies per 50.

If you don't have brass its almost $164 for 1,000 pieces of 357 Sig @ starline.

Right now if you look hard enough you can find used 9mm from $30 to $60. I don't think finding used 357 Sig brass is feasible.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/brass-cases/357-SIG-Brass/

Good luck.

 

[rdhood]

I don't think finding used 357 Sig brass is feasible.

It might be... if you just asked. Sure, you might not be able to find 1000 at a time very easily, but smaller amounts are possible. I have a small pile of 357 Sig that I have collected over the years... maybe 30 cases. I usually give that kind of stuff away for the cost of postage.

I never throw away ANY good boxer primed brass. I figure that sooner or later someone will want it/use it. Lately, I have been trading less popular brass sizes for stuff I need. For example, I would trade my 357 sig for 45acp/223/308. I figure someone, somewhere, is picking up this brass but needs 357 sig. It is just a matter of time (days, months, years)

 

[danthearmyman]

Finding used 357 sig brass is feasible. I just picked up a set of Lee dies and 300+ pieces of brass. Missed on a few other batches cause I was slow getting back to the guy.

Also, for plinking you can re-purpose 40 S&W brass to fit the bill. I wouldn't rely too heavily on that since the neck comes out a bit short. But for punching paper it works just fine.

I've got the full sixed XD in 357 and a M&P 357 compact. The compact CAN put a beating on you, but you get used to it.

I've never had an issue with MY loads for 357. I have noticed set back on the 'self-defense' rounds I try not to shoot as much. I've also NEVER had to trim cases, as I headspace mine off the shoulder also.

Reloading isn't as big a hassle as people make it out to be. One thing I will stress though is...

DON'T USE RCBS DIES FOR 357 SIG

I had to retool mine to set the shoulders back, and there were quite a few other cases out there where they had to do the same thing. I'm waiting on a set of Lees to show up, and then the RCBS goes in the trash.

rdhood....how much brass you have?

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I use the same bullets and primers in both and the brass is range pickup of which there is plenty of both at my range. I can get my fill of it every time I go out there.

So then it is the difference in powder costs. In my sig I load 13.5 grns of AA9 for a 115 grn JHP and in 9mm I load 8.8 grns of AA7 with the same bullet. Powder costs the same so I spend an extra 1.34 cents to shoot a round of 357 sig over 9mm.

This is why I like the 357 sig. Cheap bullets, lots of power, cheap to shoot.