Have a SW99 .45 in excellent shape, box, etc. and five mags and am contemplating a trade for a similar condition M&P 357 SIG FS with box and 2 mags.

Questions for consideration:

Which model is more rare/desireable?

Are 357 SIG mags available? I'm assuming they differ from the 9mm/40 mags.

What is the story with 357 SIG ammo? Is it more expensive/less available than 9mm/.45?

Is it still possible to purchase 9mm and/or .40 cal barrels for use in this gun? What all is involved in such a swap, other than needing the appropriate mags?

Finally.... Should I make the swap?

I have precisely zero .357 SIG ammo, nor experience with that caliber. Neither do I have any .40cal ammo/experience. Always been strictly .22LR/.32/9mm/.45.
Am I nuts to trade for a firearm for which I am so I'll equipped?

For what it's worth, I have M&P .45's and love them. I have sorta replaced the SW99 in my use and, new toys are always fun.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

Cheers,
d

__________________
"Only hits count." - Air Power

I wouldn't do it. I would try to buy the M&P and keep the SW99, too.

Regarding .357SIG, I've read where some say "it answers the question that was never asked." on the other hand, Firearm Diversity is cool, and you like new toys. Where I shop, .357SIG is always scarce compared to other calibers, and yes, it's pricey. If you didn't own your M&P 45s, I would definitely say keep your SW99, but if it's collecting dust, trade it for the new sensation. Maybe someone else will enjoy it.

Better yet, sell the SW99 .45 to me!

Well, seeing as Smith and Wesson is no longer producing the 357 model, you may want to consider that. The magazines are easily found as the 40 S&W mags are used and are interchangeable between the two models,(40&357). In fact the magazines are marked 40 S&W/357.

Ammo is difficult to find and is more expensive when found, but not appreciably, all things considered. As to barrels: 40 barrels are found. As a matter of fact, a member is selling a 40 barrel on the classifieds right now. 357 barrels are more difficult to find. However, as just noted, if you get a 357, you can buy a 40 bbl and it should drop in. Wellah, two calibers!
The caliber is not difficult to use. Recoil is very manageable and report is not louder or more pronounced than any other hot round. It's a 357! It shoots very flat and is reported to be a pretty good stopper as reported by police agencies that have had to use deadly force. It feeds very well being a bottled-necked cartridge.
As to desirability, I am not sure. I think that the M&P is more, now so, since it is not being manufactured any longer. I have no idea of how many Smith produced during the caliber's run at the factory...
Personally, I would make the trade but I like the caliber and especially the M&P model.
Hope this helps.

I have a LNIB M&P40c I'm looking to trade, the SW99 is on my list of wants. I picked it up, ran 25 rounds through it, decided I shoot my G23 better, and so it sits. I took it out to clean and nothing else. If you change your mind and are considering a compact let me know. Good luck with the trade!

Thanks for the advice folks.
I think I have decided that I like my SW99 too well to trade it away as unloved. The darn thing just shoots too well! I dare say this SW99 is the accuracy/reliability equal of my M&P's.

A while back, with the ammo silliness beginning, I tried to consolidate calibers, basically choosing .45 and .22LR. I only kept a single 9mm (ww2 P-38 for nostalgia) and a few .32's (ww2 PPK's and Kel Tec P-32's).
Everything else that was not .45/.22 went away (not long guns).

Now, I just picked up a SW 915 and a couple of hundred rounds of cheap 9mm and I cannot wait to hit the range with that. And now this...the ultimate sluttiness.

I have never owned a .40 cal nor any "off caliber" handgun. Now I wanna buy a 357 SIG? I must be losing it. I am not even sure if my LGS's carry that caliber and yet, here I am, trying to figure out how to swing this gun into the collection.

I would like to blame this forum...but I really can't. I was the same gun slut before the Internet.

__________________
"Only hits count." - Air Power

Smart move I would say (keeping the SW99 .45), but as HeavyDuty Ken suggested, I would buy the M&P .357 SIG too. I mean, why the heck not? If you want it, go and get it!

The beauty of (me) being mainly a collector and only secondarily a shooter is that things like "caliber consolidation" don't even enter my mind. And I can buy anything I want that's legal in my crazy moonbatty state provided: a) I can afford it, b) I am not overpaying for it, and c) There is still room left in one of my safes for it.

A good friend of mine just died last week rather unexpectedly at the age of 55, proving once again that life is too short to worry about "caliber consolidation" or much of anything else hobby-wise. Buy what you want. Life is way too short to do otherwise.

Dr. Um, that 915 will serve you very well! Very good gun. A basic 9mm service gun, based, of course, on the lovely Model 39. As to deciding against the M&P 357, I can understand your thinking. I have found that the most serious matter with the 357 SIG is availabllity of ammunition. It can be found but it sometimes takes some doing and then it can make a serious dent in the checking account! I also understand about giving up some guns that you have had success with. I have given up many. They went for other "good gun" but I later on regretted selling, trading or otherwise giving them up. I have also found that reflection on certain deals can take time. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

One thing that I have also learned after many years of this crazy hobby is that there is always another deal out there somewhere. It may not be the same deal, but there is enough product out there that something will come along to pinch, bite or floor you that you simply cannot live without and you will get something that you are completely satisfied and happy with. And then whatever it is that you trade or not will not be as difficult to see go. Or, you just pony up the money, somehow, and get what tickles you.... And perhaps, "she who must be obeyed" will help you get it! It is kinda fun anyway! Ain't it? All these guns and so little time......

That is all excellent advice and I am grateful for it. I think I too am more of a collector than a shooter, but I do like to shoot all of it. A gun that I can't afford to shoot for fun (I draw the line right below a buck a round.) That is why I traded away my .303 and I am about to give up on my M1 Garand too. Surplus 30'06 at surplus prices seems to be about gone from this world. Very happy I went so hog wild stock piling .30 carbine ammo years ago. Wish I had done the same with the bigger stuff.

Anyway, I have about talked myself out of the 357 altogether. It is gonna just wind up being a money sink for me as I accumulate the barrels, mags and ammo to shoot it, etc. At nearly 50, I know how I do things by now. .

Instead I will keep my eyes peeled for a nice 3900 or something a bit less... deviant.



Thanks again folks.

D

__________________
"Only hits count." - Air Power