.357 Sig?

[Yuppicide]

I was "Eye hustling" the new GUNS magazine today and saw the monthly givaway: A Sig-Saur P226 in .357 Sig.
I sometimes like to enter those things, Cuz' I know SOMEDAY I'm gonna win!!!!

Anyway, Since That SIG "might" be coming home with me, I realized I really know nothing about the ROUND itself.

Who here shoots it? I would like to know the Pros/Cons
It looks to be expensive, and possibly hard to find?
I like to have guns in calibers that you would be mostly likely find if the s.h.t.f

Also, what about the conversion barrels for the XD?
I already have the .40 to 9mm for my .40 Tac-T-cool, so picking up a .357 sig barrel might be an nifty christmas present to myself!

Thanx in advance, Yuppicide

[zac07]

Some people really love the round and others are iffy about it I have never tried it but I have been looking into getting the sig barrel for my xd40. All you have to do to turn your XD40 into a .357sig is get a regular .357sig barrel it has the same od as the 40, and the mags as the same too.

[ichy_trigger]

I have 2 of them, think .357 magnum in a semi auto configuration.

[RobFMJ]

If you do end up with it (and good luck to ya ), you can get a .40 barrel if thats a caliber you prefer. Anyways, as you said, the round is expensive, and unless you load your own, its almost cost prohibitive to shoot, and you aren't likely to find it in a "SHTF" situation. It was designed by Sig to replicate the 125 gr. .357 magnum load, which it does well (though not with heavier bullets).

There are lots of debates about the cartridge's future. Some think its like the .40 S&W, which had a rocky start, but went on to be commonplace. Others think its going the way of the 10mm Auto.

[Tard]

I have a Sig P229 in .357 Sig (plus an aftermarket .40 barrel).
The round is flat-shooting, accurate and hard hitting.
BUT It's a lightweight, FAST bullet that has overpenetration issues when use in self-defense situations. This means it goes thru the BG and into whatever is beyond.

It's a necked-down .40 shell so by replacing the barrel the rest of your .40 gun and mags work directly.

Since the shell is bottlenecked, it must be lubricated for resizing which slows the reload process (too much for me).

I shoot it sometimes, but I don't reload for it so I don't shoot very many rounds per year.

I reload .40 and .45ACP and .308 Win, that's it.

Go look up the ballistics of it, compare against other rounds you may fire now. Maybe it will interest you.

[Cogz]

I will echo the 'expensive' argument.

I have a P226 in .40S&W along with a bar-sto 357sig conversion barrel. Is the 357sig expensive? - yep! Is it impractical in a SHTF situation? - YEP!

But what the heck, its a fun round to shoot and the fact that you can interchange it with .40 almost effortlessly and the ability to shoot two different calibers from the same pistol - why not. Its not like you have to shoot 357sig every day - think of it more like a special occasion round.

To make my sig even cheaper - I am thinking about getting a 9mm conversion barrel for it and retire the 92FS to safe queen status.

Why sig? Why not?

[MGD 45]

I recently purchased a Storm Lake 357 Sig barrel to swap out in my G27 .40 cal. I shot about a box through it and so far have reloaded about 100 rounds for it.

It's got a good little kick to it & it is a flat shooting round because of the velocity. I bought a basic Winchester white box of 357 Sig 125 gr. FMJ from walmart and chrono'd it from my baby glock. Average FPS was 1330 for a 10 shot string. Not bad coming from a 2.5 inch barrel !!

The Winchester box cost me 20 bucks from Walmart...OUCH!! I then reloaded some 125 grain cast lead bullets with 5.5 grains of Bullseye powder and it shot great with an average FPS of 1240.

Reloading is still sooo much cheaper than buying factory, but it does take a little longer & the brass is very hard to come by on any ranges. When reloading I use my .40 cal. resizer die first then run the brass through the 357 Sig resizer die next and it works like a charm not having to lube the brass first!! Adds just one more step but saves alot of time & effort. Hope this helps.....

[Tard]

Originally Posted by MGD 45

,,, When reloading I use my .40 cal. resizer die first then run the brass through the 357 Sig resizer die next and it works like a charm not having to lube the brass first!! Adds just one more step but saves alot of time & effort. Hope this helps.....

Learn something new everyday.

[ichy_trigger]

Back when I first started carrying, I carried my Sig 229 ALOT. As time went on, I found that smaller is better for everyday concelaed carry, at least for me. I still have 2 Sigs chambered in it, the one is a safe queen and the other is what I carry in the winter if Im going into a bad area. It also is my carry gun when Im coyote hunting at night.

[MGD 45]

Originally Posted by Tard

Learn something new everyday.

I learned it about a month ago...I think it's called the "Potter method" or something like that...works great. I just never understood why they haven't made any carbide 357 Sig dies yet??