Starting to reload 357sig

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kerreckt

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I have been reloading since 1983 but this is my first time for bottle neck pistol rounds. I have reloaded a number of bottle neck rifle rounds....218Bee, 223, 243, 30-30, 308, 30-06. I have reloaded many straight wall handgun rounds, the usual, I won't bother to list them. I am asking for experience from you folks that reload the 357sig. Is there anything that I should be aware of. Anything you folks discovered while reloaded that may help out. I appreciate what you may have to share. These will be shot from a Sig320 40S&W that I ordered a 357sig barrel for use.Thanks and best wishes
 
Watch out for neck tension, or lack of it. The portion of the brass that holds the bullet isn't very long, & bullet set-back is common. Use as little belling as you can get away with. Enjoy & shoot safe. It's a fun round to shoot.
 
I presume you're looking for tips and not just load information? I have been around the house with the sig a plenty since it is my primary self defense cartridge.

Biggest problem for the sig, if there are any, is neck tension. Bullet setback is your enemy, and you would be shocked to see just how many factory rounds have this problem (Remington being the biggest violator in my experience).

There are a number of ways to counter this though. Use a powder that fills the case and use a 10mm/40sw carbide sizing die on the first step. This accomplishes two things:

1) Creates proper case form around the area around the lower half of the cartridge, which allows for crimp dies to do their job better, and

2) Removes the need to lube your brass.

As long as you do form the lower section with the right dies and use a full filling powder charge you essentially remove the issue altogether. Also removes the possibility of double charging.

Lastly, the Lee factory crimp is begging to be used here. I haven't tried it yet but I'm sure others will attest to it's use.
 
I missed a few things...

Do not use roundnose 9mm bullets. Their ogive starts too far low to get a solid surface seat with the cases. Use flatnose bullets. Usually HP's work well too if you consider the hollow cavity all but demands the straighter ogive geometry.

You can also perform a scale test. When you get a loaded round, grab one a push it into a bathroom scale as part of your quality control. Do this about every 50 rounds or so. If you hit 50lbs, you're good. I've been able to hit 75-80lbs using the aforementioned method above.

For fun, try doing this with some factory rounds. The results will be startling.

Happy loading!
 
Thanks for the replies. I would also like to hear load info suggestions. I understand all load info is the users and are only suggestions as to what worked, for that user, in the past. Many thanks and best wishes!
 
kerreckt said:
Thanks for the replies. I would also like to hear load info suggestions. I understand all load info is the users and are only suggestions as to what worked, for that user, in the past. Many thanks and best wishes!
Click to expand...

It really depends on what you expect from your load to know if it works. My load development is basically to find the most accurate load, find loads for the range that does not put excessive stress on the gun, and some high velocity loads for use once in a while just for that wow factor. So my loads are basically all over the velocity spectrum.

All the loads I will list below have been posted on THR, and have all been worked up to. Each of these loads started with me testing the bullet first for setback using dummy loads. Only once I am happy that I see minimal or no setback, only then will I use the bullet in a load. I don't want to add setback as an additional variable I need to be concerned about. Since I am concerned about setback, I always load similar length cases at the same time. This again it ensures that I expanding and crimping are about the same for all the ammo. And like everybody else indicated already, with 357sig you need a good bullet. I will load pulled bullets in other cartridges, but not 357sig. Nose length makes a difference, different bullets will most likely have different COL's.

Following are my best grouping loads. None of these are very hard hitting rounds, so they also do not put excessive stress on the gun:

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.140"
RMR, 124gr, TCFPMW, Unique, 7.1gr, CCI500
Average: 1254
ES: 18
SD: 8.1
Force: 433
PF: 155
Velocities: 1254, 1265, 1247, 1247, 1261
Grouping @ 15yd: 0.478"
Test Date: 10/08/2017

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.140"
RMR, 147gr, TCFPMW, CFEpistol, 6gr, CCI500
Average: 1064
ES: 19
SD: 7.4
Force: 369
PF: 156
Velocities: 1065, 1057, 1059, 1076, 1064
Grouping @ 15yd: 0.5"
Test Date: 11/20/2018

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.140"
RMR, 147gr, HMHPRR, CFEpistol, 5.5gr, CCI500
Average: 1002
ES: 20
SD: 7.5
Force: 328
PF: 147
Velocities: 993, 999, 1006, 1003, 1013
Grouping @ 15yd: 0.521"
Test Date: 12/09/2017

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.125"
RMR, 124gr, MPRJHP, BE86, 7.6gr, CCI500
Average: 1291
ES: 29
SD: 11.2
Force: 459
PF: 160
Velocities: 1295, 1274, 1303, 1298, 1289
Grouping @ 15yd: 0.526"
Test Date: 12/30/2017

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.140"
RMR, 147gr, TCFPMW, CFEpistol, 5.5gr, CCI500
Average: 970
ES: 11
SD: 5.5
Force: 307
PF: 142
Velocities: 966, 977, 976, 968, 966
Grouping @ 15yd: 0.55"
Test Date: 11/20/2018

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.140"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, W244, 6.4gr, CCI500
Average: 1253
ES: 21
SD: 8.5
Force: 432
PF: 155
Velocities: 1259, 1251, 1257, 1240, 1261
Grouping @ 15yd: 0.63"
Test Date: 02/10/2019

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.125"
RMR, 124gr, JHP, BE86, 7.6gr, SBPRSP
Average: 1281
ES: 11
SD: 4.5
Force: 452
PF: 158
Velocities: 1282, 1279, 1289, 1278, 1279
Grouping @ 15yd: 0.658"
Test Date: 11/27/2017

Following are some of my higher velocity loads that I have shared before. I have removed the powder charge since I think you need to cautiously increase your loads if you are looking for high velocities:

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.125"
RMR, 124gr, JHP, Longshot, *gr, SBPRSP
Average: 1444
ES: 53
SD: 21.1
Force: 574
PF: 179
Velocities: 1436, 1413, 1466, 1447, 1460
Grouping @ 15yd: 1.63"
Test Date: 04/21/2017

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.125"
RMR, 124gr, JHP, Longshot, *gr, SBPRSP
Average: 1425
ES: 46
SD: 20.1
Force: 559
PF: 176
Velocities: 1435, 1406, 1403, 1449, 1435
Grouping @ 15yd: 1.34"
Test Date: 04/21/2017

357sig, P229, 3.9"
Case: Speer
COL: 1.125"
RMR, 124gr, JHP, Longshot, *gr, SBPRSP
Average: 1422
ES: 36
SD: 14.4
Force: 557
PF: 176
Velocities: 1403, 1413, 1439, 1432, 1424
Grouping @ N/A
Test Date: 04/02/2017
 
Paul Toms said:
Watch out for neck tension, or lack of it. The portion of the brass that holds the bullet isn't very long, & bullet set-back is common. Use as little belling as you can get away with. Enjoy & shoot safe. It's a fun round to shoot.
Click to expand...
Don't mean to distract from the thread, but I've seen this said recently and I'm wondering are there any bottleneck pistols calibers that are have a "good amount" of neck tension? Like, are there better/easier bottleneck pistol calibers to reload than others?
 
TTv2 said:
Don't mean to distract from the thread, but I've seen this said recently and I'm wondering are there any bottleneck pistols calibers that are have a "good amount" of neck tension? Like, are there better/easier bottleneck pistol calibers to reload than others?
Click to expand...

9X25 Dillon has a longer neck. But it's a pretty ridiculous cartridge I shoot just for fun!
 
Funny you should mention 9x25. My son has been trying to get me to buy a 9x25 barrel for my Glock 20SF. Probably will at some point. Got the handgun bug bad!
 
kerreckt said:
Funny you should mention 9x25. My son has been trying to get me to buy a 9x25 barrel for my Glock 20SF. Probably will at some point. Got the handgun bug bad!
Click to expand...

If I might,
consider an extended & compensated barrel for the maximum effect. The longer barrel obviously provides the higher velocity & compensator keeps muzzle rise to a minimum.
 
I don't bell at all .... I like bullets that have a slight boat tail ...

As said .... use powders that fill the case or is a compressed load ....

My favorite bullet is the Hornady XTP ....

I use the Redding G-Rx 40 S&W die to size the body and 357 dies for the neck ...yeah it adds a step ....but well worth the effort...

The RMR MPR is also a good bullet ...

Been reloading the 357 SIG a long time .... 1999/2000 I think ...
 
Last edited:
Longshot , 800x, AA #9, Bluedot, Enforcer, others for full loads....

HS6(Win 540) for medium loads ...

Light or medium loads ...swap barrel to 9mm(Glock 31)
 
Lennyjoe said:
I think I’ll try Unique and Longshot next. Thanks vaalpens for sharing your data
Click to expand...

For me Unique and Longshot are niche loads. Unique, since it is my most accurate load so far with 124gr, I load a few of them just for the times I do target type practice. Unique also does not meter very well. Longshot I use for velocity and expansion, especially water jugs etc. I also gives you that nice loud feedback so you know you are shooting a 357sig.

For general shooting currently I mostly load BE-86 and W244. My last 100 rounds I loaded were all W244 (above listed load).

You have to try different powders to get a feel what works for your guns. JimKirk also shoots a Glock, so it is probably closer to what you may expect.

Have fun and be safe.
 
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