don't be embarrassed, anyone dabble in .357 sig?

[greencobra]

i do. i don't care what our nes oracles have to say, i play around with it at the range. i wanted a smith m&p c in .357 sig. they seemed to all be down south in shops. a lot of police down there it looks like were the only market for it. and the gun in that caliber gave them fits with malfunctions so tons were traded back and wormed their way back on the pre-owned market. but, i couldn't find a southern gun...or pawn shop, that would transfer one up north. don't really know why. tons on shelves, no one shipped 'em. ftf only. i ended up buying a .40c, in like as new condition with several extra mags for cheap. skinflint cheap. out the door after tax for a hair over 300 bucks, and then picked up an after market .357 sig barrel that as luck was with me, actually dropped right in without any retro re-fitting.

bought a couple boxes of ammo to scavenge the brass for reloading and headed out. i was impressed. first with the velocity coming out of a 3.5" barrel and the accuracy of the cartridge. a little snappy from a small gun but was grouping really nice off a sandbag at 25 yards. i did like the caliber but it turned into a bitch to reload. i had to buy one of those lee factory crimp dies to make my life easier.

i bought a storm lake barrel to keep expenses down. that, dropped in the gun, has proved flawless. i expected all sorts of ftf & fte bullshit from it but no, the little gun has worked like a champ keeping any sort of malfunction low.

this is one flat shooting, accurate cartridge, and with the right bullet, hits hard. fun to just plink with. there's really no place for it in todays ballistic charts. and i don't really get why sig wanted it developed back in the day. but it was and we got it. i don't understand why police departments down south went crazy for it. had to be discounts and incentives all over the place. and really don't know why sig keeps chambering pistols for it. and reloading was a nightmare when i started doing that. i'm invested, bought 1,000 pieces of starline. all my recollections of shooting it are incident free.

i don't usually share my reloading data just because of the safety factor but i used the info published in the online hodgdon manual as reference. anyone else shoot it? the .357 sig? interested if you do. what gun do you have, thoughts on why you wanted it, do you reload? just curious is all.

 

[TG Pioneer]

I had considered buying a 357 Sig for my Gen 1 Glock 23 but I’m told the cartridge is too hot for the frame. Otherwise I’d love to have had the option. A few police departments have used it to great effect against hogs, pit bulls, and two legged miscreants. It’s a great round.

 

[not new guy]

I have a dedicated USPc 357sig slide that I keep on a USPc 9mm frame and carry from time to time. It’s a great gun. I like it so much that I bought a second stripped 357sig slide and a full set of parts and built another one, with a plan to find another lower (probably in 40) to drop it on someday.

The best thing I’ve found with 357sig is that you can find people looking to move decent quantities of factory ammo at great prices. I think my last deal was $800 for 1500 rds of gold dot.

 

[Mountain]

i do. i don't care what our nes oracles have to say, i play around with it at the range. i wanted a smith m&p c in .357 sig. they seemed to all be down south in shops. a lot of police down there it looks like were the only market for it. and the gun in that caliber gave them fits with malfunctions so tons were traded back and wormed their way back on the pre-owned market. but, i couldn't find a southern gun...or pawn shop, that would transfer one up north. don't really know why. tons on shelves, no one shipped 'em. ftf only. i ended up buying a .40c, in like as new condition with several extra mags for cheap. skinflint cheap. out the door after tax for a hair over 300 bucks, and then picked up an after market .357 sig barrel that as luck was with me, actually dropped right in without any retro re-fitting.

bought a couple boxes of ammo to scavenge the brass for reloading and headed out. i was impressed. first with the velocity coming out of a 3.5" barrel and the accuracy of the cartridge. a little snappy from a small gun but was grouping really nice off a sandbag at 25 yards. i did like the caliber but it turned into a bitch to reload. i had to buy one of those lee factory crimp dies to make my life easier.

i bought a storm lake barrel to keep expenses down. that, dropped in the gun, has proved flawless. i expected all sorts of ftf & fte bullshit from it but no, the little gun has worked like a champ keeping any sort of malfunction low.

this is one flat shooting, accurate cartridge, and with the right bullet, hits hard. fun to just plink with. there's really no place for it in todays ballistic charts. and i don't really get why sig wanted it developed back in the day. but it was and we got it. i don't understand why police departments down south went crazy for it. had to be discounts and incentives all over the place. and really don't know why sig keeps chambering pistols for it. and reloading was a nightmare when i started doing that. i'm invested, bought 1,000 pieces of starline. all my recollections of shooting it are incident free.

i don't usually share my reloading data just because of the safety factor but i used the info published in the online hodgdon manual as reference. anyone else shoot it? the .357 sig? interested if you do. what gun do you have, thoughts on why you wanted it, do you reload? just curious is all.

Nice. Well, the oracles would be right from the most practical and skinflinty of perspectives when they recommend 9mm for everything but it is nice to have something with superior performance to the 9mm. A friend in gov service much preferred the .357 Sig P229 over their new Glocks.

Tempting to do a conversion barrel. Nice folks at Storm Lake, I did a little business with them back in my Tennessee days. I have their 9mm conversion barrel in my G35 and it has been flawless. Looks like the G35 conversion barrels have been discontinued, which is no big surprise as the G35 wasn't very popular. Makes a nice slide for a 'bull barrel' 9mm LOL.

 

[PappyM3]

I’ve been interested in 357 Sig with very light 65gr LeHigh defender bullets. Those bullets perform better the faster they go, are barrier blind, but also reliably stop in the ideal depth in tissue. Not enough support for the cartridge with barrels and such though.

Ideally, I would love to do it with a PCC or such, but again, not enough support.

And really, 9mm +p+ is very close in velocity to 357 Sig, but without the headaches of lack of parts/support.

But I do still find the cartridge interesting.

 

[Parker Schreiber]

I’ve been interested in 357 Sig with very light 68gr LeHigh defender bullets. Those bullets perform better the faster they go, are barrier blind, but also reliably stop in the ideal depth in tissue. Not enough support for the cartridge with barrels and such though.

Ideally, I would love to do it with a PCC or such, but again, not enough support.

TNW offers its Aero Survival Rifle and (for now) Pistol in .357 Sig. My TNW in 9mm now runs nearly flawlessly, but it took 3 trips back to Oregon for them to get it right.

One issue I see with .357 Sig in 2023 is the price and availability of practice ammo. Right now, Target Sports only has Gold Dot and WWB in stock, and at $54.99 for 50, the White Box is actually more expensive! I'll let others offer their opinion on why .357 Sig failed to thrive in the marketplace, but the pricing says "niche round" to me.

 

[Palladin]

I had considered buying a 357 Sig for my Gen 1 Glock 23 but I’m told the cartridge is too hot for the frame. Otherwise I’d love to have had the option. A few police departments have used it to great effect against hogs, pit bulls, and two legged miscreants. It’s a great round.

I had a Gen 2 G23 that I sent to glock, and for $100 they'll send you a new gen 3 frame that is suitable for 357 sig. Then just buy yourself an aftermarket Barrel. I have a g33 that is an absolute pocket rocket, the thing throws 4 inches of flame with 357 Sig

 

[Road_Clam]

I have a west german Sig P226 chambered in 357 siggy. Snappy shooting cartridge for sure . I only handload . 357 is not really a pia to handload, its just the fact theres the extra steps involved as your dealing with a bottleneck pistol cartridge. I buy the plated TC 124 gr bullets from RMR and i have adequate seated length to obtain a crimp. AA9 is my powder as i got a 8# jug and use AA9 for 10mm as well.

 

[Realtor MA]

Still an unproven caliber. When is the last time someone killed a bear with .357 sig?

 

[Rockrivr1]

Nice. Well, the oracles would be right from the most practical and skinflinty of perspectives when they recommend 9mm for everything but it is nice to have something with superior performance to the 9mm. A friend in gov service much preferred the .357 Sig P229 over their new Glocks.

Tempting to do a conversion barrel. Nice folks at Storm Lake, I did a little business with them back in my Tennessee days. I have their 9mm conversion barrel in my G35 and it has been flawless. Looks like the G35 conversion barrels have been discontinued, which is no big surprise as the G35 wasn't very popular. Makes a nice slide for a 'bull barrel' 9mm LOL.

I put a Sig conversion barrel in my Sig 229 and it’s one snappy round. If you get a chance to get a conversion barrel definitely do it.

 

[Knob Creek]

I have a P226 in that caliber which I like a lot. Also have a P320C in .357 Sig and a P320 full-size conversion I haven’t used yet. I have a P239 that is new and I might be selling that since I have many others. Will be starting some new handloads soon. BTW, when I hand load I resize it first thru a .40 resizing die. Then thru the .357 die. This way I avoid having to lube the cases.

 

[NavelOfficer]

I have reloaded this caliber, but I haven't ever shot it.

 

[allen-1]

I have a G31 as a knapsack gun. Trijicon rmr and surefire tlr1 on it. Conversion barrel from storm lake installed to chamber to 9mm.

Periodically i put factory barrel in it and shoot pins with it. Fast, hard-hitting round.

Reloading for it was initially difficult because of the short neck.

Loading boudreau poly 147 over ?? Of accurate #9

 

[alan226]

I have a Gen 3 Glock 32 I also bought an after market .40 cal drop in barrel when .357 Sig was hard to get. The great thing is is that preban mags are fairly easy to get as the .40 cal mags are identical.

The thing I don't care for is that after shooting a couple of boxes of >357 Sig, I'm done. Packs a pretty good punch...

 

[Nontypical]

.357 SIG is my EDC. Phenomenal round that shoots flat and penetrates. I have both a P229 and P239. Yes, it can be expensive, but there are deals out there to be had. Recently picked up a few cases of Speer Lawman for $20 box.

 

[Knob Creek]

Jack Wilson is our Patron Saint:

Lessons from a Texas Church Shooting

'The killer is moving to his left, and the stunned deacon is moving back away from him. The killer pivots toward him and fires again. Wallace slumps down onto a bench, hit in the chest with a full charge of 00 buckshot.

Kinnunen pumps another shell in the chamber and moves toward the minister’s position, but his time is up. Jack Wilson has held his fire waiting for a clear shot that won’t endanger bystanders, the same reason he’s aiming for the head. He is in a Chapman-style modified Weaver stance, gun arm locked straight and support arm bent and pulling tight and rolls back the double-action trigger of his SIG-SAUER P229.

Whatever evil in the murderer’s mind that drove him here is gone now, swept away as a 135-gr. Hornady Critical Duty .357 SIG bullet crashes through his brain, causing a spasm tightening his trigger finger and sending one last buckshot blast harmlessly upward. His body collapses instantly in a twitching heap. Keeping his muzzle high to clear the bystanders, Wilson moves cautiously but quickly toward him. He sees the blood pouring from the downed gunman’s shattered head, but out of an abundance of caution picks up the shotgun and moves it out of the man’s reach."

 

[Blueskyday]

Seeing this thread just reminded me.... I have a case of:
Speer Lawman 357 SIG Ammo 125 Grain Total Metal Jacket-Case of 1000 (20 Boxes of 50)

That I bought to trade someone and the deal fell through. It's not all that cheap, but if someone wanted some or all....pm me.

 

[drgrant]

Two G32s here. Love that caliber, only thing I hate is that I didn't buy more of it before the pandemic retardation went full tilt. If you want to laugh your ass off buy some privi 357 sig FMJ..... the first time I got a huge fireball I laughed so hard I had to stop shooting for 20 seconds. Crazy thing about that s*** is the fireballs are random. It was epic. Like parts your hair epic.

The one major downer for that caliber is I would probably not want to actually have to use it to defend myself I mean all handguns allowed but 357 Sig is kind of in its own class. You're not going to have to worry about bystanders and lookie loos hanging around to see what's going on I'll tell you that much....... I can't even imagine what it would be like to touch one of those things off without ear pro. It's easily on par with a 357 Magnum snub that I had......

 

[drgrant]

The other great thing about 357 Sig is it addresses a lot of the 40 S&W deficiencies and makes use of the same platforms but the brass itself is infinitely better and casehead actually reinforced properly for the cartridge unlike .40.... if you look at a cross section of a 357 Sig empty versus a 40 it's like night and day at the case head.... visibly thicker.

I have noticed also that it has probably more felt recoil but less muzzle flip than a 40. 357 Sig will sting your hand a little bit but the muzzle won't jump as high recoil tends to go straight back versus up..... if that makes any sense....

The only arena where it's worse than the 40 is in bullet setback whatever you do unless you have high quality carry ammo or ammo that's been made with a compressed load do not chamber the same round more than once in a lot of the cheap stuff the setback is significant even after the second chambering..... I think Federal HST even glues the bullets in place with some kind of a sealant so that it won't get set back easily.... I know Underwood gets around that problem probably by using a lightly compressed load.

 

[allen-1]

The other great thing about 357 Sig is it addresses a lot of the 40 S&W deficiencies and makes use of the same platforms but the brass itself is infinitely better and casehead actually reinforced properly for the cartridge unlike .40.... if you look at a cross section of a 357 Sig empty versus a 40 it's like night and day at the case head.... visibly thicker.

I have noticed also that it has probably more felt recoil but less muzzle flip than a 40. 357 Sig will sting your hand a little bit but the muzzle won't jump as high recoil tends to go straight back versus up..... if that makes any sense....

The only arena where it's worse than the 40 is in bullet setback whatever you do unless you have high quality carry ammo or ammo that's been made with a compressed load do not chamber the same round more than once in a lot of the cheap stuff the setback is significant even after the second chambering..... I think Federal HST even glues the bullets in place with some kind of a sealant so that it won't get set back easily.... I know Underwood gets around that problem probably by using a lightly compressed load.

Setback was definitely a problem when i started loading 357sig. That’s a short neck to get solid crimp on.

 

[AJK129]

Two G32s here. Love that caliber, only thing I hate is that I didn't buy more of it before the pandemic retardation went full tilt. If you want to laugh your ass off buy some privi 357 sig FMJ..... the first time I got a huge fireball I laughed so hard I had to stop shooting for 20 seconds. Crazy thing about that s*** is the fireballs are random. It was epic. Like parts your hair epic.

The one major downer for that caliber is I would probably not want to actually have to use it to defend myself I mean all handguns allowed but 357 Sig is kind of in its own class. You're not going to have to worry about bystanders and lookie loos hanging around to see what's going on I'll tell you that much....... I can't even imagine what it would be like to touch one of those things off without ear pro. It's easily on par with a 357 Magnum snub that I had......

I bought my friend a ton of that privi 357 sig, because he didnt stock up on anything. I'll have to ask him to let me shoot some indoors sometime lol

 

[Road_Clam]

Setback was definitely a problem when i started loading 357sig. That’s a short neck to get solid crimp on.

Projectile choice is critical. You can't just jam any 9mm bullet in a 357 sig case. I run the plated RMR 124g Truncated cone bullets and i can get to sammi seating depth, and a crimp.

 

[allen-1]

Projectile choice is critical. You can't just jam any 9mm bullet in a 357 sig case. I run the plated RMR 124g Truncated cone bullets and i can get to sammi seating depth, and a crimp.

Yep - I learned that. Thank you.

 

[Knob Creek]

Loaded some .357 Sig with Accurate #9 with a .357 Sig Speer TMJ Bullet. Good groups from my P320 and P239 when I do my part. Note to self 'wear gloves'.