My data is a bit dated as it's at least 12 yrs old, I've been retired from the job that long now.

We switched from 9's over to SIG 229's in .357 sig in 2002 or so. I went to the SIG provided Armorers Course as well as the course for the Instructors on switching over to the 229 platform. I recall 99% of the Troops liked the 229 from the start. So switch over was easy.

THE part of Agency wide Qual's I recall...despite thousands of rds fired....not a SINGLE failure to feed or extract!

The Troopers here end up shooting a LOT of road injured wild game, mostly deer. A car hits one, You arrive on scene , sometimes the deer is dead, sometimes only injured. So You ultimately end up shooting it to put it out of it's misery. I did a minimum of 2-3, or more, a week Spring, Summer and Fall. I also shot dozens of cattle, a few horses , elk, two moose , a few bears and a few dozen elk. An unhappy situation but it did give you some good experience as to penetration and lethality.

We found out within weeks that the .357 sig 125 gr WW/CCI rds REALLY put them down easily. MUCH better than our nines did.

I liked the reliability of the bottleneck rd for feeding. I liked the power and penetration. And at distances past 50 yds it shot quite flat compared to forties or 9's. How often will one shoot 75 or a hundred yds? BUT nice to have it if one needs it.

THE only downside to the Agency was COST of ammo. Especially PRACTICE ammo as we did four Quals a year and shot up 200-300 rds per Trooper each year, or more if required.

I converted over my Dillon 550 to .357 sig with Dillon dies. Using 125 fmj Montana Gold slugs and AAC #9 powder , I have loaded tens of thousands of rds over the years. Use the correct .357 sig SPECIFIC bullets, and taper crimp correctly and it's an easy ctg to reload.

When we were testing various platforms and cartridges before we decided on the 229's one of the Range drills was a steel plate at 50 yds.

Troopers would shoot the forty, the .45 auto rd , then the .357 sig at the plate and the sig round was an almost instantaneous reply for a hit. The .45 of course slower and the forty in between. And the .357 sig simply seemed to hit harder too. Made the plate swing a bit better. THAT test was probably THE reason so many of us chose the .357 sig over the forty when we handed in our final results.

My two cents.

.40 has more recoil, .357 SIG has more blast imo.

.357 SIG is a great round except for cost and availability but for me personally I don’t like it’s blast/sound signature. It’s fun if I specifically want a loudenboomer but overall I prefer .40.

That is just my hobbiest opinion.

Will always be those that rally around their favorite. Since I reload I find there are trade-off in their selection. I do reload 9mm 147XTP to 1200fps, very close to 357Sig factory, 40 155gr Gold Dot to 1200+fps, about the same as 357Sig factory. Not sure if it is a major factor in whether I carry 9, 40 or 357Sig

IMHO, a good way to look at it is by thinking of it like the 7.62x39 versus 5.56x45. One is cheaper and may have (marginally) more of an impact up close. The other is more expensive and may give you a bit more reach in terms of penetration, impact and practical accuracy. The only other real difference between SIGs is that the SIGs in 357 I own seem to be more apt to give me giggle-at-the-firing-line-worthy accuracy. Both are dandy cartridges; I have both because I like them both enough to dig the marginal differences between the two and it's fun to have the options they provide.

I have 357 barrels for each of my 229. Only problem is ammo cost. (I don’t Reload yet)

the difference between premium self defense bullets is probably negligible with a slight edge to 357 but availability nod to 40

ElToro,
I’ve been home in Texas for almost two weeks, having been in the SBA for about 7 months (for work). I’ll definitely go back... I may need to hit you up for good shooting ranges, etc. when I return (to San José / Santa Clara area).
California’s gun restrictions just stink, but that’s for another discussion... beautiful state, though!

Thanks, everyone for contributing to this topic. I’m getting some great insight!

-Bill

If you're going to hand load for it, make sure you get enough brass and components to suit you for a while. The 357 is a dead caliber, and ammo will certainly become more scarce in the years to come. Most of the major ammo manufacturers have notified the last federal agency that is using the caliber wide spread that they are all but dropping the caliber from their line ups. They'll still make it, but it will be scarce. Throw in another ammo scare, and you'll have a brilliant dry fire gun.

Buyer beware.

consider the following.

357 sig, was designed to be more effective then what was available at the time. 40 was S&W looking at how the 10mm had been downloaded to the point where they could make the case shorter.

I am a proud disciple of the church of 357sig

I never had a .357Sig, and I just sold my last .40S&W. Guess I'm just part of the old geezer club, and perfectly content with 9mm, .45ACP, and .38Spl.

The Sig 357 is the best damn 9mm cartridge on the planet. You can buy brass and you cab buy loaded ammo. It is not dead (yet). Just buy all you need now.

All the other calibers will be dead soon enough as the left takes control in this once great country.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
If you're going to hand load for it, make sure you get enough brass and components to suit you for a while. The 357 is a dead caliber, and ammo will certainly become more scarce in the years to come. Most of the major ammo manufacturers have notified the last federal agency that is using the caliber wide spread that they are all but dropping the caliber from their line ups. They'll still make it, but it will be scarce. Throw in another ammo scare, and you'll have a brilliant dry fire gun.

Buyer beware.

Well... crap

One of the best reasons to reload is to shoot "dead" cartridges whenever you please.
Components to make .357 SIG will be plentiful for a good long time. If you have .40 brass you're just a handle swing from having .357 SIG.

If you like noise and flash go with a short barrel, if you want to see big numbers on a chronograph get a long pipe. Either way it is a lot of fun.

One other minor advantage I remember from my experience is that finding your brass on the range is very easy with the bottle neck rounds.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: apprentice,

40 is so widely available it’s ridiculous. 357 Sig isn’t as available but is a great round. As for the flat shooting aspect, how often are you going to be shooting at distance? If you hqndloqd, no reason not to get the 357, otherwise I’d stick to 40. I’ve got a 229 in 40 and I freakin love it but if I had to do it over I’d get one in 9mm.

After using both the .357 Sig (15 years) and the .40 S&W (8 years) as duty rounds with two different agencies, I've come to the following conclusions:

1. Data shows that .357 Sig is faster and shoots flatter than the .40 S&W.

2. While .40 S&W shows very acceptable (but not better) penetration in ballistic gelatin, there are a lot of fairly realistic tests in which .357 Sig shows better penetration than .40 S&W. Paul Harrell has several videos which compare both calibers' performance, and this one in particular is enlightening:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lrcSO5wErJw

3. Recoil with a .40 S&W is more up-and-down muzzle flip. Recoil with a .357 Sig round is more front-to-back, which would logically mean that it's easier to get back on target for follow-up shots. Many of our Dallas PD officers who transitioned from 9mm significantly improved their qualification scores during the combat reload portion with .357 Sig.

As a result of all this, I generally shoot .40 Speer Lawman when I shoot for general practice/fun and carry .357 Sig when my life depends on the ammo I carry.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

quote:

Originally posted by triaxle:
yes 357 is flatter but you don`t shoot 50yard or more with this type gun anyway .

Why not?

In a defensive scenario?

quote:

Originally posted by GregY:

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

quote:

Originally posted by triaxle:
yes 357 is flatter but you don`t shoot 50yard or more with this type gun anyway .

Why not?

In a defensive scenario?

If you don’t think there are justifiable defensive scenarios that demand accuracy at 50, you are a statistical gunfighter, you read too many gun rags, or the big one, you haven’t been paying attention in the last 10 years.

quote:

Originally posted by GregY:

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

quote:

Originally posted by triaxle:
yes 357 is flatter but you don`t shoot 50yard or more with this type gun anyway .

Why not?

In a defensive scenario?

When someone engages you at the mall, or the post office, or a movie theater, or a parking lot, are you really going to measure the distance, determine whether it's "defensive" or not, or refuse to defend yourself?

Or are you going to use that weapon for it's design purpose, and kill the motherfucker before he kills you or someone else?

You don't get to choose the distance. That gets chosen for you. You only get to respond.

If it's 50 yards, are you going fight, or die?

Don't imagine that at 50 yards you can withdraw or hide. You don't get to choose.

There's no such thing as a "defensive distance."

The gun rags said that most gunfights take place at 7 yards or less. Isn't that tidy, imagining that gunfights happen only at distances where one can't miss? Makes it easy to shoot at paper at 7 yards or less and feel that it's all good. Reality is that it could be any time, any where.

Pull into the gas station, pump, machine doesn't take the card. No problem, run in, pay. Emerge, see someone getting into your car. With your kid in the back. They're 49 yards away. Are you going to stop them, or run after and yell "halt, or I'll yell 'halt' again?"

You don't get to choose.

Sig now sells their own ammo. Perhaps they will continue producing 357 Sig.

Lots of good points being made...

Like, like, like...

If you want high quality 357 ammo at a great price, one of our members (Garandguy) has the really good stuff on sale in the classified section.