Tell Me about The 357 Sig Round

[Sporket]

I have an XD in .357 Sig & love it! Its what I carry.

[Avengeance]

Originally Posted by Noah Mercy

Avengeance, you may want to rethink the light-bullet idea when bears are involved. What's wanted is penetration, and that 115 grain pill is more likely to piss a bruin off than slow it down. Bears have heavy bones, thick fur and skin, and dense muscles. Heavy, tough, large diameter bullets are needed for bear medicine. A 180 grain 40 cal hard-cast bullet at max velocity would be a good starting place, but remember...if some is good, and more is better, then too much is just right!

As for barrels, I believe EFK Fire Dragon makes 'em and possibly BarSto.

Thanks for the info.... Im pretty new to handguns so I appreciate the help.

It was explained to me that the velocity of the .357SIG round, with a small grain, can reach a velocity of up to 1500ft/sec and 600+ ft.lb force. Whereas the .40cal in the 180 grain you mentioned only reaches 1000ft/sec and 400ft.lb of force. Some people have told me due to the velocity differences that the .40cal might not penetrate deep enough to damage a bear fataly... on the other hand, the .357SIG, with the high velocity and force could easily penetrate a bears fur/skin/etc... in turn taking out an organ or two.

Please... correct me if Im wrong. Im really new to this and am anxious to learn more as I go.

Thanks.

*edit*

Oh yeah... and I did pick up a EFK .357SIG ported barrel.

[Bree]

There are other threads about shooting bears with handguns and the recommended calibers. I think it is fair to say that you want the biggest caliber you can handle when shooting a bear. .357 SIG may have velocity and energy but it lacks mass and size. Most folks seem to think that .45 ACP is minimum bear size. Many have said that you are much better off with something like a .454 Casul or .500 round when shooting a bear.

I have a .357 Magnum and a .45 ACP. I sure would not want to be the bear meeting up with either of these weapons but would the weapon STOP the bear from killing me? Maybe not. It might kill the bear after the bear killed me.

Smart money is on a 12 ga shotgun with slugs or 00 buck for bear defense. Or maybe just a simple can of bear spray. They don't like OC sprayed in their face!

[ichy_trigger]

Think of it this way...

Take a BB and throw it as fast as you can at the wall. Now get a bowling ball and throw IT at a wall. The BB will definately fly faster but it will leave a dent. The bowling ball will go through the wall because its mass allows it to carry its kinetic energy longer.

Same pretty much holds true for the .357 with a 124 grain bullet versus a .40 throwing a 180 grain pill. My scenario is not completely accurate as compared to bullets but its the simplest way I now in explaining it this early in the morning .

Big heavy bullets will penetrate deeper even at lower velocities. This is what you need on big heavy animals. The dont shoot bears with 22-250's with a 53 grain bullet at 4000 fps. They use a .30 caliber gun and up with 200 grain bullets at 2700-3000 fps.

[Avengeance]

Thanks for the excellent info! Maybe I will just carry a good .40 with me instead of the .357 when hiking.

Heck.. the shop I bought my XD40 from has the XD45 on sale for $449.... maybe Ill just go get one of those too.

[Bree]

Originally Posted by Avengeance

Thanks for the excellent info! Maybe I will just carry a good .40 with me instead of the .357 when hiking.

Heck.. the shop I bought my XD40 from has the XD45 on sale for $449.... maybe Ill just go get one of those too.

You won't go wrong with an XD-45. Sweet, smooth and damn powerful gun!

[Tard]

Originally Posted by Bree

...Smart money is on a 12 ga shotgun with slugs or 00 buck for bear defense. Or maybe just a simple can of bear spray. They don't like OC sprayed in their face!

100% correct but usually hiking a 12 gauge is too big and heavy.
Honestly I wouldn't use less than .44 Mag in minimum 6" barrel for bear.
The pepper spray? Lightweight, small, cheap, effective.
Just mist it in the air and they'll walk off.

[Myk9noseknows]

To puncture thigh hide and bone you want a heavy round (greater mass).

I absolutely love the .357 round, it's a very versatile cartridge. I carried the .357 CCW for nearly 6 years, never felt out-gunned

[GlockConvert]

I've shot tens of thousands of rounds of 357 sig and have worn out a glock shooting that cartridge. I have other 357 sig posts around you can search for. In short, its a hot, flat shooting, accurate, reliably feeding round. It penetrates intermediate barriers better then most common handgun rounds. It will go through car doors, auto glass, furniture... so if you live around cars, walls, furniture... and want to be able to penetrate it with gunfire, 357 sig is a good way to go. Texas Troopers have shot it a bunch and it penetrates cars, glass, and makes an impression on the recipient of the round.

Downside: wear and tear on the gun, expensive to shoot, and shooting 800 rounds in a course in one day will leave you pretty badly shaken.

[Snail50]

I love the 357 Sig cartridge. My best example is something I noticed at a recent shoot, where several of use were shooting at steel plates with 9mm, 357 Sig, 40, and 45. They'd all knock the steel down, but the 357 Sig positively hammered the steel down...further, upon inspection, it was apparent that the 357 Sig dimpled the steel before being deflected, whereas the other rounds left a smear of lead & brass, but no dimple. To my layman's eye, that says the 357 was dumping all of its force into the steel before the steel had a chance to fall, whereas the others either didn't dump as much force into the steel, or didn't dump it rapidly enough before the steel fell. Granted, that's a non-scientific example, but I thought it was pretty interesting.