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Originally Posted by JohnHL
Well Hi There, T&B!
Yes you know I am a .357 Sig fanboy and I am bewildered that S&W chose not to chamber any 3rd gens in that hot round.
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At the time, Smith and Wesson was heavily promoting their own new Law Enforcement cartridge, the 40S&W.
I was surprised at the 357SIGMA offering in the late 90s.
Had the 356TSW been targeted toward the Law Enforcement community at that time I do not believe that the 357SIG or 40S&W cartridges would have a much of a following these days.
However, the Smith and Wesson tool room did produce at least one third generation Smith and Wesson auto-loader. It is a Shorty 357SIG. The pistol was configured like a shorty 40. The firearm pictured is a run of one piece. The serial number before and after it are different guns.
It is possible that other tool room 357SIGs were assembled in different configurations. Perhaps one day another configuration will show up.
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In my own experience, it is a recipe for incipient and eventual failure to start with a barrel proofed for a lower pressure cartridge, thin the chamber walls by reaming to accommodate the larger, high pressure cartridge, and then stick it in an aluminum frame admittedly designed as a compromise between weight and longevity.
When I tried it, even with Wolff's strongest recoil spring, that barrel left a mark where it hit that aluminum frame.
OTOH, if a shooter were to source a custom barrel, from a maker who understands metallurgy and high pressure chamber containment, and install it in a steel framed 3rd gen, then that would be an acceptable combination.
My own experience with .357 Sig barrels in steel frame 3rd gens has been quite satisfactory (as long as I run enough spring).
BTW, a 5" barreled .357 Sig semi-auto should have ballistics approaching that of the "king of the one-shot stops", the vaunted .357 Magnum out of a 4" revolver.
John
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The 357SIG does very well in a 5" autoloader. My 90grain JHPs move out at almost 1800 FPS. I have not chronographed any 125s out of the 5" barrel.
357SIG is a great cartridge and is even very controlable in SMGs. 30 rounds can be put on target in under 2 seconds.