I've been wanting for a while now to scratch the 357Sig itch, and I came across a very reasonably priced M&P357Sig Compact that I bought on an impulse.

For those of you familiar with the caliber, can you tell me what the ammo sold for before the current craziness? I bought a little to get started, but I'm looking ahead to whether to wait out the shortage before getting more, or "biting the bullet" and purchasing some more at the current pricing.

What I bought was 125 grain FMJ by Precision One (the only stuff my LGS had) for .70 per round, and some 125 grain Federal HST JHP from an online warehouse for $1.25 per round, which had some of the best results in the Lucky Gunner ballistics tests.

Any ammo advice for a caliber newby?

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

I think the last .357 SIG ammo I bought (Fed. American Eagle FMJs) was around $360/1000 (plus shipping cost), but that’s been some time ago. I don’t buy much of it so I can’t be much help. When I found FMJs in a store somewhere, it was usually Remington in the green and white box and was in the $25/50 range. Again, some time ago.

I was always pleased with how well my guns shot with the FMJs both from Federal and Remington. I have a 229 and a full-size M&P. Neither gets a lot of use, but nice shooting weapons nonetheless.

I’d say bite the bullet and invest any money you are planning to spend on factory ammo on getting started in reloading. If you do some looking, you can find used reloading equipment at reasonable prices. The only components difficult to find right now are primers. Powder, projectiles, and brass are still somewhat readily available.

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

I assume the FMJ was a box of 50, which would put it at $35?!
And the JHP was a box of 20, going for $25 then?!

That's right there with the current MSRP of a bunch of manufacturers. Not a great deal but MSRP.

SIG Elite 125gr has an MSRP of $25.26 for a box of 20.

Speer Gold Dot 125gr with an MSRP of $31.99 for a box of 20.

Fiocchi 124gr FMJ $30.95 for a box of 50, so is Sig Elite ammo.

I'm not sure how much it was before the panic buying started, I didn't really follow that .357Sig trend.

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Jorge

only shoot it sparingly through my Sig P250. but about a year ago lawman or ranger was $20/50... Sig357 was loosing favor along with 40S&W so prices were nice at gun shows.. not sure if those days will return or not... wish I had bought more then... like about everyone else...lol

Yes on the FMJ, but the Federal HST was a box of 50.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Call Lawmans in Raleigh, they may have some. Their prices are hard to beat usually.

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Sure you did

Congratulations

That is a great little compact. I used to carry one in my ankle rig as a backup to my full size.

BTW, those easily use the full size magazines. X-grip has a spacer for them that makes them even more comfortable with the longer magazines

I have been shooting and hand loading this cartridge since the mid 90s. 93/94 I was working Dallas County and ended up meeting some of the Texas DPS guys that were evaluating the cartridge. I fell in love, the only other big thing at the time was the 40S&W which fell short for me as a 10MM Auto shooter

Back across the decades, if you bought full cases of ammunition, 357SIG was about $1 per box more expensive than the comparable 40S&W offering. I can not comment about today since I have not looked at prices.

I buy full cases because almost every time I have hosted a visiting Forum member, we have taken my MP5/357 SMG out to shoot along with other firearms. The SMG eats up 500-1000 rounds during each visit

This puppy will put 30 rounds on target in about 2 seconds and everybody does a few mag dumps the first time out



In my 357SIG handguns I carry the 125 Speer Gold Dot or the 125 Winchester Ranger. Both were issue ammo at one tome or another. I feel 100% confident with either loading.

I still have a case (+/-) of the Remington 150 JHPs, but those were for suppressor use in the MP5

If you decide to hand load this cartridge, there are a few idiosyncrasies that are cause by the short neck and I can help you avoid these issues

I use a 5 station progressive.
Station one is a 40S&W carbide sizing die for the body (and decaps)
Station two is a 357 carbide sizing die that then just need to work the neck and shoulder (plus prime)
Station three flares the neck (and drops powder)
Station four seats the projectile
Station five collet crimps the projectiles

Even with both carbide dies in the press, I give the brass a spritz of Hornady One Shot case lube to reduce sizing friction. About every few hundred rounds I spritz and hand mix the brass

Because the neck of the 357SIG cartridge is so short projectile shape is very important. Many 9MM projectiles will not work because of their long ogive. There is not enough neck tension to hold the projectiles. This is why there are 357SIG specific bullets out these these days

However, the Lee Collet Crimp die makes a much larger sampling of projectiles feasible in this cartridge. This die creates a factory style crimp and does not require a cannelure in the projectile, the die will create it's own

Most all of the XTPs work superbly.

Because of the collet crimp, I have a 90 grain JHP that leave my SIG Allround at just over 1700 FPS. This is probably the load that I have the most fun with

DO NOT try forming 357SIG brass from 40S&W. Internet Urban Legend that the 40S&W is the parent case of the 357SIG is not correct. Brass formed this way will be .010 too short. That just makes the neck tension issue worse and creates a very poor crimp.

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"Acta non verba"

I was buying all my .357 Sig ammo from my local police store. In March I was paying $20 a box for Speer Lawman 124gr FMJ, $30 for a 50 round box of Gold Dot hollowpoint. Back in early June the FMJ was up to $25, and the JHP was $39 when I bought the last boxes they had. I found a box of Fiocchi FMJ a few weeks ago at a local shop and paid $31 for it.

I sold my .357 P-229 years ago because the ammo was expensive. I bought my Glock 32 .357 last year because the ammo was available at a reasonable price, in large part because I was buying trade in ammo from agencies that switched 9mm. Fortunately I stocked up on it, so I’ll keep the Glock.

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Wheel guns are real guns.

You asked about cost and I neglected to address hand loading

Going on the basis that whatever you are hand loading, the brass is initially a left over from Factor Ammunition

50 hand loaded 357SIG cartridges is within pennies of similar 9MM Luger, 356TSW, 38SUPER or even 9x23 Winchester hand loads

All use the same primer
Some use a little bit more powder than others but this a tiny difference
Jacketed projectiles are almost identical in price and most can share many of the projectiles.

I hand load the same 147 grain Gold Dot in all 4 of these cartridges.

So, to a hand loader, shooting 357SIG is no more expensive than 9MM Luger

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"Acta non verba"

From my records, FMJ Speer was $22.95 for 50 and Federal HST was $28.95. I lucked out and picked up a bunch of LEO trade in ammo for $18.99 a box.


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