.357 Sig

[welder]

Stumbled into a trade a couple weeks ago that netted me a NIB Gen 3 G32, along with a new in wrapper factory Glock barrel in .40 and 8 boxes of ammo, all premium stuff, (Cor-Bon, Sig Arms, Hornady etc), with the exception of one box of WWB. Have not had time to fire it so it has remained in the safe since the trade. I did drop in the .40 barrel and it fit perfectly. Didn't really want to add yet another caliber but I found a very motivated seller.

Reading up on the caliber I see it has a lot of respect along with a love-hate reputation, so I'm looking for opinions from anyone who has owned-fired the round, especially in this platform. Not sure if I will use it or sell it later as my carry weapons are pretty well established. Anybody here use it or have any opinions on it?

 

[Bull Barrel]

A friend has a Glock in .357 Sig and loves it.

 

[ElToro]

Love the caliber.. Hate the price of ammo!

I have a 357sig barrel for my Sig 229. ( same magazines and springs, no other changes ) its a serious defense round.

 

[welder]

Read a lot about the price difference but in my limited shopping this far, not seeing a big difference. LGS has it for about the same price as other premium stuff, the same on a few brands. W-M here has several boxes of WWB for $28.96 a box. That's probably not a good example but still for range use not too bad. Academy had a sale on Sig Arms 125g last week for $16.99 a box, plenty on the shelf, that's about what I pay when I buy singles of 9mm Critical Defense, less than 45Auto. Maybe I'm just seeing local pricing that may be better?

45Gap, nuther story. Two boxes on my otherwise well stocked LGS shelf, price.......$34.99/ 20 rds., Gold Dot I think?? On line, nothing much better that I could see.

Got the .40 barrel anyway if I decide to keep it.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Had my G32 about 20 yrs - one of the first to come into the country. Absolutely love it, and it still sees weekly use as its my preferred weapon for hikes and fishing. Light, reliable, don't have to worry about getting it scuffed on the rocks, and 12 rounds of 357 power equally suitable for bears, boars, and indigenous redneck druggies

[/URL]

Its pretty lucky too... :wink:

 

[ElToro]

Maybe the price difference was more exaggerated several years years ago. Regardless it's not a super common round so hopefully some will be available in the next ammo shortage

 

[wwb]

Son has one... basically the equivalent of the rimmed .357 Mag, but works in a bottom-feeder. Having 2 .357 wheelguns already, I asked him why he bought it; he said it was too good a deal to pass up. He reloads, so ammo is no problem.

 

[welder]

I believe so El Toro.

Without exception, every article or video I read or watched mentioned the price difference. Maybe that's why I've never considered the caliber before. But checking the performance with the full house ammo, it's impressive.

I was not looking for this gun when it became available so I would have not bought it except it could be a .40 in about 15 seconds. But after researching it and now seeing Roland's post I seem to be warming up to it. It will fit every G19 holster and mag pouch too, added plus.

Here's an interesting video I found while reading up on this round, this is probably a .40 but I had no idea a frame flexed like this when fired.

Glock at the 3:00 mark, the Sig in .357 at the 0.50 mark.

https://youtu.be/N3-iDDqnlng?list=PL058376CF5DCF71AF

 

[welder]

Son has one... basically the equivalent of the rimmed .357 Mag, but works in a bottom-feeder. Having 2 .357 wheelguns already, I asked him why he bought it; he said it was too good a deal to pass up. He reloads, so ammo is no problem.

Same for me, I have a few Rugers in .357 that I like a lot, but I can reload it if need be and the deal was extra good.

Seems the original Sig-Sauer specs were for a 125g bullet at 1425-1450fps or so. I've seen that advertised in Cor-Bon, Underwood, Buffalo Bore etc. but a lot of it is in the 1250-1300fps range too.

 

[loaded round]

I have a brand new set of Redding 357 Sig dies for sale if anyone's interested.

 

[cadillo]

If you are a handloader, hanging onto that .40 S&W barrel may be a good idea. The .357 Sig is not an easy cartridge to handload with regard to preventing bullet setback. It only takes one mishap.

Those who love it are ardent, and I am happy for them, but I stand clear when I know someone is near me shooting handloads in one.

Having said that, the lawmen I know who are issued guns in that caliber like them due to the round's purported performance with regard to one shot stops.

 

[kd4rgwml]

I have a G23 with 357 sig and 9 mm barrels ( need a g19 mag) love the 357 and it is my EDC 90% of time.
your 32 will do 9 mm with a lone wolf barrel and mag, like three guns in one.

 

[loaded round]

Cardello, I've been reloading the 357 Sig cartridge for about a month now on my Dillon 550B using Dillon carbide dies and after firing 250 rounds thru my Sig P229, I will match my reloaded ammo with any other factory round. Since I doubt that you load this round and just repeating what you have read, it's not much more difficult to load the 357 Sig than any other pistol round if you follow directions. First and foremost, you must use a .355'' bullet specifically designed for the 357 Sig case like the Speer 125 gr GDHP, stock number 4360. Most bullets designed for the 9mm Luger are too short for the Sig case with it's short case mouth. Finally giving the loaded round a proper taper crimp, you're good to go, and I am unable to manually push the bullet back into the case after properly crimping. For the record, I have over 45 years experience loading pistol, rifle and shot shell ammo at last count in 23 calibers.
LR
I also have a b40 S&W barrel for my Sig P229 and load that caliber also.


If you are a handloader, hanging onto that .40 S&W barrel may be a good idea. The .357 Sig is not an easy cartridge to handload with regard to preventing bullet setback. It only takes one mishap.

Those who love it are ardent, and I am happy for them, but I stand clear when I know someone is near me shooting handloads in one.

Having said that, the lawmen I know who are issued guns in that caliber like them due to the round's purported performance with regard to one shot stops.[/quote]

 

[RolandDeschain]

Probably should add that in my my 20 years of G32 ownership it has only had a couple of misfires and no jams. The misfires were light primer strikes on Seller & Bellot ammo about 10 years ago. Tossed that out and no more issues since.

 

[jlmtr6]

Re: Roland's post above (last picture)
"Had my G32 about 20 yrs - one of the first to come into the country. Absolutely love it, and it still sees weekly use as its my preferred weapon for hikes and fishing. Light, reliable, don't have to worry about getting it scuffed on the rocks, and 12 rounds of 357 power equally suitable for bears, boars, and indigenous redneck druggies."

:shock: You forgot to add 'fish' to your post. :)

 

[cadillo]

Cardello, I've been reloading the 357 Sig cartridge for about a month now on my Dillon 550B using Dillon carbide dies and after firing 250 rounds thru my Sig P229, I will match my reloaded ammo with any other factory round. Since I doubt that you load this round and just repeating what you have read, it's not much more difficult to load the 357 Sig than any other pistol round if you follow directions. First and foremost, you must use a .355'' bullet specifically designed for the 357 Sig case like the Speer 125 gr GDHP, stock number 4360. Most bullets designed for the 9mm Luger are too short for the Sig case with it's short case mouth. Finally giving the loaded round a proper taper crimp, you're good to go, and I am unable to manually push the bullet back into the case after properly crimping. For the record, I have over 45 years experience loading pistol, rifle and shot shell ammo at last count in 23 calibers.
LR
I also have a b40 S&W barrel for my Sig P229 and load that caliber also.


If you are a handloader, hanging onto that .40 S&W barrel may be a good idea. The .357 Sig is not an easy cartridge to handload with regard to preventing bullet setback. It only takes one mishap.

Those who love it are ardent, and I am happy for them, but I stand clear when I know someone is near me shooting handloads in one.

Having said that, the lawmen I know who are issued guns in that caliber like them due to the round's purported performance with regard to one shot stops.

[/quote]


Forty-Five years? Actually I've been loading for over forty-six years, cast my own bullets, and so on and so forth. That and two dollars plus tax will get me a cup of coffee. Fact is no one cares whether we have been at it for five or fifty years.

I indeed have loaded it on a Dillon 550 with those very high dollar .357 Sig Dillon dies. Slow down on the assumptions and periodically check your spelling. You've surely heard the old axiom about the use of the word 'Assume".

I'm glad you are happy and confident with your loading of the .357 Sig, and hope that you have continued success, but I have seen the result of bullet setback in semi autos, and having tried my hand with the caliber, choose to opt out.

 

[loaded round]

I did not mean my post as a ''putdown'' to you or your post. Up until the time I purchased my Sig P229 and 357 Sig dies I've read more than several articles by so called armchair experts who touted the fact that the 357 Sig is so difficult to load (along with the 9X25 Dillon). As previously stated, after carefully reading the instructions, started out loading this caliber on a single stage press until I felt confident using my Dillon 550B press. The 357 Sig is not much different to load than a bottle necked rifle cartridge with just several more steps. FYI, I took my shoes off and counted off the years I actually reloaded and it's been 47 years now. I also cast my own bullets until my wife finally made me stop ''stinking up the house'', and also made my own 22 and 30 caliber jacketed bullets for almost 20 years until it became time prohibited for me. Just so you know, I used spell check before sending this post. :)




s Siexperts

Cardello, I've been reloading the 357 Sig cartridge for about a month now on my Dillon 550B using Dillon carbide dies and after firing 250 rounds thru my Sig P229, I will match my reloaded ammo with any other factory round. Since I doubt that you load this round and just repeating what you have read, it's not much more difficult to load the 357 Sig than any other pistol round if you follow directions. First and foremost, you must use a .355'' bullet specifically designed for the 357 Sig case like the Speer 125 gr GDHP, stock number 4360. Most bullets designed for the 9mm Luger are too short for the Sig case with it's short case mouth. Finally giving the loaded round a proper taper crimp, you're good to go, and I am unable to manually push the bullet back into the case after properly crimping. For the record, I have over 45 years experience loading pistol, rifle and shot shell ammo at last count in 23 calibers.
LR
I also have a b40 S&W barrel for my Sig P229 and load that caliber also.


If you are a handloader, hanging onto that .40 S&W barrel may be a good idea. The .357 Sig is not an easy cartridge to handload with regard to preventing bullet setback. It only takes one mishap.

Those who love it are ardent, and I am happy for them, but I stand clear when I know someone is near me shooting handloads in one.

Having said that, the lawmen I know who are issued guns in that caliber like them due to the round's purported performance with regard to one shot stops.

Forty-Five years? Actually I've been loading for over forty-six years, cast my own bullets, and so on and so forth. That and two dollars plus tax will get me a cup of coffee. Fact is no one cares whether we have been at it for five or fifty years.

I indeed have loaded it on a Dillon 550 with those very high dollar .357 Sig Dillon dies. Slow down on the assumptions and periodically check your spelling. You've surely heard the old axiom about the use of the word 'Assume".

I'm glad you are happy and confident with your loading of the .357 Sig, and hope that you have continued success, but I have seen the result of bullet setback in semi autos, and having tried my hand with the caliber, choose to opt out.[/quote]

 

[Don Lovel]

I had Sig 229 & 239 guns with both 40 & 357 barrels. I really liked shooting 357 Sig and always wanted an AR Carbine in 357 Sig.

 

[welder]

If a man can still dream, what about a G something that paired with a G32? Talk about a barn burner. I'd take five yesterday.

 

[WendyZXZ]

We are both fans of the caliber here. We only have the one .357 SIG here:



Springfield Armory XD. The short barrel does give a bit of muzzle flip and the caliber is LOUD, but the recoil is not at all bad.

My husband got this pistol years ago:



S&W M&P .40 and that year his birthday and Christmas presents from me were conversion barrels in 9mm and .357 SIG as well as several 9mm magazines.

 

[welder]

That's a nice Christmas present, makes for a very versatile gun. Cheap practice, serious power and probably would be able for at least one of the three.. I'd suspect that XD soaks up the recoil easily, I had one on .40 when they first came out and it handled that round well. Wish I still had it.

I have a G19 and G26 for 9mm, but with the G32, gained two more calibers. Goal now in to put back a good supply of ammo for it. i remember seeing the .357 ammo on the shelf during the last frenzy but not sure if it'd be that way next time, I won't take that chance though.

Thanks for the pics Wendy, that are nice.

 

[WendyZXZ]

It really does Welder, for the price of 2 extra barrels and 3 extra magazines the Smith is one pistol and three calibers. So far(about 7 years) all three calibers function perfectly and shoot close enough to POA to be a great pistol