What's the point of .357 Sig?

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I dont disagree. The 9mm is playing catch up and is actually maxed out when it comes close. The 357SIG is in its base loading at that point, and a few companies, like Double Tap, have pushed it further.

I just dont see that theres that big a difference, and 9mm is cheaper for practice, both in bulk and reloaded, and +P+ give me basically 357SIG power, with a couple more rounds in the mag to boot.
 
AK103K said:
If there is a difference in accuracy, I doubt its enough to matter. Reliability wise, I've never noticed any difference.

Power wise, I emailed Speer with a question about this when I got my first 357SIG. Their reply was this.....

"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 SIG and +P+. The difference is gun construction, all 9mm's will not handle +P+. All of the 357 SIG's are made to handle the pressures for the caliber."
Click to expand...

Which is an excellent point. Especially if the +P+ crowd are using the factory weight recoil spring. Factor in the cost once you start buying +P+ ammo. It is no longer cheaper than .357 Sig ammo.

I never feel under gunned when carrying my H&K P2000SK in .357 Sig. 9+1 with a spare mag will get any trained shooter thru a self-defense scenario. There have been multiple self defense shootings in central Florida over the last several months. 3 rounds were fired in one shooting, which was the most of the reported incidences.
 
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I use factory springs in my 9mm Glocks, and I shoot mostly hot reloads for practice, as well as an occasional box of +P+. The wear on those guns is a good bit less than what was showing on my Glock 31 just shooting standard 357SIG, and it didnt have near the rounds though it.

Where the price difference in ammo really comes in, is with practice ammo, both factory and reloads. 9mm is just cheaper, and by usually by a good bit. Premium ammo isnt all that different across the calibers, but tends to go up a buck or two a box as the caliber increases.

Shooting hot reloads is basically the same "feeling" wise, as shooting +P+, so practice is really pretty close.

As far as feeling good about "capacity", check out Ayoobs article in American Handgunner this issue. You may want to ponder some more on the subject.

Starts at page 32. Its a good read.

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHMJ11/
 
As a Sig and Glock armorer, I have a fairly decent working knowledge of handguns and their construction. I have seen some seriously abused guns that are ammo and recoil spring weight related. I agree that a small diet of +P+ won't ruin most guns. At a minimum I want the gun construction to be on par with what I shooting thru it.....at all times.

Has anyone ever won a my favorite caliber vs your favorite caliber argument? I personally like .357 Sig. I shoot it well. I have had the chance to take a lot of shooting related training over the years, including shooting thru barriers, taking long shots, etc. I find that .357 Sig excels in many such scenarios.

Ayoob....good writer. I have meet him twice. I still take what he says with a large grain of salt. And yes......you will always find a case where your amount of ammo might not be enough. Unfortunately I can't carry one of my ARs around with several 30 round mags......which at times I would if I could. :D
 
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I understand the construction vs whats being shot through it part and agree for the most part. If you are shooting a steady diet of +P+ 9mm through a gun not rated for it, you should see accelerated wear.

Although as a Glock armorer, you must have seen the battering the 357SIG's and apparently, the .40's get to the underside of the slides from the loading block impacting it. Mine was pretty beat up, and to the point of having "burrs", where the couple of 17's I have, that have had a lot of +P, +P+ and hot reloads through them, only show some minor finish wear in the same spot. Not exactly sure what that means, but from looks alone, it looks like even the "hot" 9mm, is easier on the guns.

Now my SIG's, never showed any accelerated wear with the 357SIG, and I had more rounds through them than I did my Glock. My SIG 9mm's dont seem to have any problems with the hot ammo either, but they dont have the rounds through them my Glocks do.

When I first started shooting the 357SIG, I was really gung ho for it , and thought it was the next best thing to sliced, light bread. Now after living with them for about 8 years, and shooting them regularly, I really dont see a whole lot of difference between it and the 9mm, especially with certain loads, and I can shoot more for a good bit less money, which for me, is a better thing.

As far as the "amount" of ammo thing. These days, with ammo being as close in performance as it is between the major calibers, Ill take as much as I can get in the gun. If it were to be needed, Id prefer to have ammo left in the gun when its done, than to have it go dead in the middle of something.

I suppose its all who you have the most faith in, Murphy, or the "rule of 3's" My money is always on Murphy. :)
 
I agree that the Glocks exhibit greater wear than the Sigs. I have a P226ST and a Sig P229 (among 10 other Sigs) that have seen over 15K in rounds thru each of .357 Sig and are still running strong after normal servicing including spring replacements.

That said, I have a G31, a G32 and a G33 that have seen a quite a few rounds and are all within a 1,000 rounds of ech other......and the amount wear is very different on each.....the G33 seems to take a licking and keeps on ticking. The G31 seems to have the most wear. Interesting......
 
1700+ fps out of a 88 grn JHP.

That is the point.

I don't know how you would do that with the 40 short and weak.

But I can and do do it with my 229 sport and 357 sig. I call them "screamers" for the amount of muzzle blast I get. Laser accurate also.
 
I like 357 sig quite a bit. I reload it and it is a bit more difficult being necked down but not bad. I enjoy shooting it and I advise anyone who does to learn to reload because ammo is steep. I call it my 9mm magnum and it has a slightly more pronounced muzzle blast but really that is overstated in forums. The higher power loads are loud but that is the case with any cartridge. No more or less accurate than anything else. There is more false information out there with this cartridge than any of them. On one side there are the fanboys who act like it's a rifle round (it's no 357 magnum, not even close). on the other side are those who say it's no better than 9mm +p+. It is much more than a 9mm from my experience, there is a big difference

Comparing it to .40...I guess I'm the only person in the world who understands it's enegry "advantage" is totally based on the fact that every load is 125gr or less. I reload both 357sig and .40 and there is just not much difference AT ALL. In fact I get slightly more ME from .40 using longshot powder with 135gr bullets than what I can get from 357sig with 125gr as well as 147gr vs. 150gr. 357 fanboys compare 180 grain factory .40 loads to the most powerful 357sig load out there (or their handloads) and think "wow look at that muzzle energy". From my experience they are as equal as two cartridges can get. To get super velocity in .40, sectional density stinks, thus the 357s smaller caliber is useful to get that energy while maintaining useful SD.

I slightly prefer .40 to 357sig, only because It can be loaded with so many various bullet weights from 125-200gr and the fact that the bottle neck has been a learning curve for me relaoding . For a service cartridge or self defence? Flip a coin. I would be happy with either.
 
I can pretty much reload my sig will best the super for most bullet weights I have experimented with. I started with the Sig and am now working on the Super. I would tend to believe that I can get maybe 50 to 100 fps out of the sig more than the Super with reasonable bullets. Go for the heavies and the Super probably takes the advantage but I am still working the 115 and 90 grn bullets now.
 
People ask whats the difference,stand in front of a 357,and a 9mm and then ask whats the difference,if your able to....
 
IMO, it depends on your application. They both have their advantages - the .40 has a wider wound channel and greater availability (I can't get an XDm in .357 Sig, and an XDm .40 is my handgun of choice), but the .357 has greater penetration and, from what I understand, better accuracy. For my applications, the wider wound channel is the better option.
 
Ask the TSA Air Marshals. They shoot up thousands of rounds per month at my range for practice.
 
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