Understanding The Concept
The introduction of the .357 SIG cartridge a few years ago left me skeptical. The intention was honorable. SIGArms wanted an auto pistol load that would duplicate the splendid performance of the 125 gr. .357 hollowpoint revolver round, the one thing cops had sorely missed since their en masse switch to the semiautomatic pistol.
Whether Rowe and his cartridge succeeded in this is debatable, and the debate revolves around quantification of terms. The standard loading is a 125 grain bullet at a nominal 1,350 fps, generally delivering something between that figure and 1,300 when tested on a chronograph. The revolver round would go between 1,400 and the advertised 1,450 fps when fired from a 4" service gun.
The standard .357 SIG load equals the .357 Magnum 125 gr. when fired from a short barrel revolver. A friend and I recently tested the legendary Federal 125 gr. .357 hollowpoint from the 2" barrel of a small frame Colt Magnum Carry revolver. It averaged 1,330 fps. This is right in the .357 SIG ballpark.
In gelatin, a slight difference may be noted in the effects of the magnum revolver load when fired from a snubby versus a 4" service gun. In field use against human aggressors, big departments that shot a lot of people with both the detectives' 2 1/2" Combat Magnums and the patrol division's 4" uniform weapons saw no discernible difference.
In the same sense that no deer has ever noticed the 100 fps disparity between being shot with a .308 or a .30-'06, no criminal has ever been able to determine a difference in the barrel length used by the .357-armed cop who shot him.
Wrap It Up
This does not necessarily mean that .357 SIG equals .357 Mag. in the same bullet weight, however. There is the matter of bullet construction. One reason the 125 gr. magnum worked so well in the revolver was that it was a semi-jacketed design with lots of exposed lead up front, guaranteeing an early disruption when it took flesh. Some, like the Remington with its scalloped partial jacket, would break up and send nasty little fragments radiating out from the main wound channel.
This is unlikely to happen with the .357 SIG auto round, which is a fully jacketed hollowpoint whose copper wrap goes all the way up to the tip of the bullet and the edge of the hollow cavity. In gelatin, the .357 SIG is more likely to open and stay in one piece. Many authorities feel this is just what it should do, but it may alter the wounding dynamics compared to those of the cartridge it was intended to duplicate.
I will tell you this: The .357 SIG is accurate. I've shot it in the SIG P-226, both service and sport/target models, and in the same company's P-229 and little P-239. All delivered splendid groups. It has been my experience that the .357 SIG cartridge will almost invariably outshoot the .40 S&W in otherwise identical guns. This proved true in the Sigma, as well.
Finicky And High Maintenance
The .357 SIG is more popular than all other cartridges in its class (i.e., the .356 TSW and the 9x23) combined, but it still hasn't taken the world by storm. Ammo for this caliber is still thin on the ground.
Nearly all brands of ammo shot between 2" and 3" at 25 yards. This was reasonably consistent. Federal JTC did 2 even, the best of the lot, with the same company's Hydra-Shok close behind.
I tested two Speer entries, and both the Gold Dot and the Lawman training round stayed under 3" with the main body of the groups. The Rem-UMC training ammo would put four shots in 2 1/4", but only after the first shot had gone awry and opened the cluster to 4". I noted the same with the Speer. Only the Federal rounds seemed unaffected by this "one/four" syndrome, which is common with semianto pistols.
This particular gun shot way to the right and a bit low. I was using the conventional post-in-notch sight picture. Using the white dots, which sit lower than the top edges of the gunsights, brought the shots up to the correct elevation.
For windage, the plastic rear sight of Novak-like shape would need to be drifted significantly leftward. Considering the cost savings with this gun, I wouldn't mind doing that. I've seen a lot more expensive handguns lately whose sights were way off center.
The sights are plastic and cheesy-looking. You probably won't display an SW357V on the same shelf as your Performance Center guns. But, hell, most of us are going to keep it concealed anyway, and just what do we expect from an economy-grade product?
Recoil? It felt to me about like shooting a lightweight Colt Commander .45, more comfortable than shooting +P in a J-frame Airweight revolver, and much milder than full .357 loads in a service revolver. In short, nothing a trained shooter couldn't handle.
