Which is More powerful? 357 sig or 45 ACP

[LUVMYSIGP225]

Honestly, who cares? Not being rude. Just wondering why I would care. Is there a competition somewhere that measures power, velocity and penetration of a specific round? I haven't seen that at any of the IDPA matches lately. My .45 handles the steel plates nicely. It certainly handles the paper targets well.

My main concern is defense. After looking at 100+ years of combat data on the .45 ACP, I am fairly certain that when I double tap a perp in the chest with my Sig 220 chambered in .45 ACP, that it is going to do the job. And, the ammo is readily available. It may not penetrate a car door as well, but hey, if I have to penetrate a car door defending myself, I am probably going to prison, anyway.

Not being a jerk, but really wondering what difference it makes to most of us.

[miamisc2]

you guys should read http://www.theboxotruth.com/. i have been a 357 sig fan for quite a while. you have to imagine that for something to be a penetrator, it needs weight behind it. the 357 sig might be quite a big faster than a 9mm, but it also has a flat nose, and coupled with a hollow point, it is not going to over-penetrate.

i would bet that the 45 penetrates more than the 357 in most situations. i think the advantage of the 357 sig simply sits at a flatter trajectory, better feeding, and more stopping power and penetration than a 9mm, some may also find the recoil to their liking (snappy vs 40/45's slower recoil) . you would have to think, that something moving 200-400 fps faster with the same size bullet ( 9mm=.355", 357 sig = .3555") is going to do more damage, but i think the initial impact of the 357's bullet is going to have more of an effect than that of the 9mm (something moving faster with a larger area of impact (pointy vs flat nose)). although, with hollow points, the bullet's are about the same. the 357 sig probably offers overall performance similar to the 40s&w.

after wanting an xd357 for forever, i finally got the xd45 and i'm happy, but that is not relevant. what is, is that the guy in the above link has done plenty of testing with handguns and how they penetrate car doors and windows and what not. he said the 357 had simliar penetration as the 9mm and the 40 was close to the 45. when shooting through doors, some of the bullets might have hit the window motor/gears ect, while the 357 might have had a clear shot through, either way, both are definetly capable of penetrating and killing a driver.

p.s. this forum needs a better search feature, you can't search for 3 letter words such as 357 or sig (or combined), which i'm sure doesn't help to end the start of such threads.

[sloopy70]

Originally Posted by miamisc2

you guys should read http://www.theboxotruth.com/. i have been a 357 sig fan for quite a while. you have to imagine that for something to be a penetrator, it needs weight behind it. the 357 sig might be quite a big faster than a 9mm, but it also has a flat nose, and coupled with a hollow point, it is not going to over-penetrate.

i would bet that the 45 penetrates more than the 357 in most situations. i think the advantage of the 357 sig simply sits at a flatter trajectory, better feeding, and more stopping power and penetration than a 9mm, some may also find the recoil to their liking (snappy vs 40/45's slower recoil) . you would have to think, that something moving 200-400 fps faster with the same size bullet ( 9mm=.355", 357 sig = .3555") is going to do more damage, but i think the initial impact of the 357's bullet is going to have more of an effect than that of the 9mm (something moving faster with a larger area of impact (pointy vs flat nose)). although, with hollow points, the bullet's are about the same. the 357 sig probably offers overall performance similar to the 40s&w.

after wanting an xd357 for forever, i finally got the xd45 and i'm happy, but that is not relevant. what is, is that the guy in the above link has done plenty of testing with handguns and how they penetrate car doors and windows and what not. he said the 357 had simliar penetration as the 9mm and the 40 was close to the 45. when shooting through doors, some of the bullets might have hit the window motor/gears ect, while the 357 might have had a clear shot through, either way, both are definetly capable of penetrating and killing a driver.

p.s. this forum needs a better search feature, you can't search for 3 letter words such as 357 or sig (or combined), which i'm sure doesn't help to end the start of such threads.

Not all 9mm bullets are pointy... true most factory loads are pointy, but I've seen plenty of flat nose 9mm bullets :P

[WARHEAD'Z]

I think it would sting like the dickins to get hit with either one.....Just a thought.

[sloopy70]

haha yeah I'm sure it would "sting" too

[roydamnmercer]

caliber, shmaliber. I read that the .22 kills more people than any other round.

....so I sold all my big bores for a Jennings .22....never looked back.




roy d.....really, I did

[TA]

Either .45ACP or 357SIG will serve you well. Both are effective rounds.