357sig vs 40s&w, thoughts?

[Dodobird1589]

Up until now I have been dead set on getting a 4.25inch 40 pro, butntoday I have been reading up on the 357sig and it has been winning me over. What are everyone's thoughts on the 357sig as compared to the 40? Do they make the 357 sig in a pro model? What are the costs and availability of 357 ammo compared to the 40? It sounds like the 357 combinesnflat trajectory with a hard hitting bullet, thoughts?

 

[Dodobird1589]

Also is the .40 chamber designed handle the extra pressure associated with the 357sig cartridge if I just ought the 40 and swapped out the barrels

 

[ronnie gore]

.357 SIG

I HAVE A GLOCK 33 IN .357 SIG AND I HAVE A 40 BARREL WITH IT, I THINK MOST GUNS IN EITHER CALIBER CAN BE CONVERTED BY CHANGING THE BARREL THE MAGS ARE THE SAME. AS TO WHICH IS BETTER I DON'T KNOW AS I HAVE NEVER SHOT ANYTHING WITH EITHER CARTRIDGE.

 

[chuck s]

.357 SIG is just another 9mm. A fast 9mm for sure, but 9mm.

This photo should answer your questions:

-- Chuck

 

[TSQUARED]

The 357 Sig uses a bottlenecked cartridge case which is a pain to reload in quantities for a pistol shooter. I limit my pistol cartridges to straight walled cases using carbide dies for reloading and no need for case lubrication or degreasing the finished round.

 

[off road]

The .357 is the gold standard of stopping power, by which all other cartridges should be judged!

That said, I started out .40 before the SIG came along, so I have stuck with the .40. Could convert my Glocks, but just never have done it. The .40 is plenty effective too.

 

[Carnage_7]

I wouldn't characterize the .357 Sig as the gold standard of stopping power. A 125g HP .357 Magnum beats it 24/7 in my book.

 

[hatt]

It all boils down to personal choice. If you want something a little different, and don't care about maybe spending a little more for ammo, get the .357 Sig. The actual difference, for defensive purposes, of good .357 ammo and good .40 ammo isn't enough to worry about.

 

[CigarGuy]

I love my Sig P229 chambered in 357Sig, but probably more for "being different" than any ballistic variance.

 

[bloodlord77]

Well, I put a 125gr fmj 357 sig through the passenger side, and out the driver's side of an old ford pickup.I couldn't get my 9mm, .40, or .45 to do the same. IMO, enough said.

 

[Dragon88]

.40 is the way to go due to ammunition selection, availability, price and ease of reloading.

 

[M29since14]

.357 SIG is just another 9mm. A fast 9mm for sure, but 9mm...

I'd say stay with the .40SW. There is not enough difference in any of the ~.36-inch bore pistol cartridges to amount to much, unless you consider the extremes (.380 vs. say 9x23).

Velocity comes and goes, but bigger is always bigger and heavier is always heavier.

As for penetration, all the major calibers penetrate sufficiently with proper cartridges, and the flat-shooting thing is a similar sham. At any normal pistol range, it is immaterial.

.357 SIG is a great thing for selling to police departments, particularly if their officers are always outdoors when they need to fire ( ), but as a practical matter for a shooter paying his own bills, not so much so. My .357 SIG guns get shot very little with their original barrels.

 

[hatt]

Cost is frequently used as a reason to not use .357 Sig. But somehow not for .40 or .45. If cost is the deciding factor using anything other than 9mm doesn't make a lot of sense.

You can get .357 for $20 a box. It's not that expensive, especially considering most people don't shoot all that much. Sure if you shoot a lot it's going to add up. Just like .40/.45 is going to add up v 9mm.

 

[Imshootin]

I picked up an M&P .357 Sig a while back in a trade. I bought a new .40 barrel for $50 so I could run either caliber through it.
Enjoyed it so much I bought a .357 Sig barrel for my Sig 226 Equinox and my Glock 23.
Now I have three guns that can run either .40 or .357 Sig with just a barrel change.
What's not to like?

 

[buskerpcr]

Up until now I have been dead set on getting a 4.25inch 40 pro, butntoday I have been reading up on the 357sig and it has been winning me over. What are everyone's thoughts on the 357sig as compared to the 40? Do they make the 357 sig in a pro model? What are the costs and availability of 357 ammo compared to the 40? It sounds like the 357 combinesnflat trajectory with a hard hitting bullet, thoughts?

In one of the hand gun magazines a writer said the demise of the 357 sig is coming
Departments are no longer using it because the cost of ammo and the Feds will be dropping it as soon as an un-named big shot retires.
You can buy Buffalo Bore 40 ammo that will duplicate the 357 Sig. -

FYI

 

[scooter123]

IMO the greatest fault with the 357 Sig is it's cost, however I'm also not a fan of light weight bullets.

As for it's flatter trajectory, it's a handgun caliber so who's going to use it at ranges long enough for trajectory to matter. In addition that light bullet will shed energy faster at long ranges than a caliber using a heavier bullet.

Finally, police departments in the US have moved to the 40 caliber and the 45 ACP because they have proven to be more effective. If NATO ever shifts to the 40 caliber I would expect that police agencies in Europe would do the same. If so, there is a very real likelyhood that the 40 caliber could become less expensive than the 9mm parabellum. BTW, when I started shooting handguns the cheapest center fire you could shoot was the 38 spl. which at that time was the most widely employed caliber for police duty in the world. If you don't think that police usage of a particular caliber effects the cost to us consumers, take a look at the cost of 38 spl. today.

Bottomline, stay with the 40 caliber. It's been proven to be fairly effective and it's cheap enough to shoot that you'll be able to shoot it a lot more than the 357 Sig.

PS; if I wanted to shoot old pickup trucks I'd choose the 357 Magnum instead a of somewhat compromized imitation.

 

[Lost Lake]

Well, I put a 125gr fmj 357 sig through the passenger side, and out the driver's side of an old ford pickup.I couldn't get my 9mm, .40, or .45 to do the same. IMO, enough said.

That's what we should base our ammo choice on, exact science ballistics like this

The .40 is available with more power, heavier bullets, ammo is more available and less expensive, and there are about 30 .40S&W rounds compared to less than 10 .357sig. The .40 is easier to reload.

As for power in a handgun, the recoil will be greater with a more powerful load, this is physics. If you have more power, you get more kick. Yes the .40 can kick more, or you can tone it down and kick less. I think if you get a more powerful load than a .357sig, it will be more powerful, and if you get a load less powerful than the .357sig, it will be less powerful. That was easy!!!

You can put a .357sig barrel in a .40 M&P. You can also drop in a 9mm. I don't think you can do that if you buy a .357sig.

And an important fact to remember: a 357sig IS NOT a .357 magnum. Kind of like that whole Dodge Hemi thing people get bent out of shape about.... Hemi's aren't a special engine.... The first 440 Hemi with 6 packs were, but Hemi just means the pistons had a hemispherical dome that allowed a bit more compression and directed the force a tad... The first Hemi's had some power but new Hemi's aren't anything I'd stick a badge on a vehicle about... LOL

 

[off road]

I wouldn't characterize the .357 Sig as the gold standard of stopping power. A 125g HP .357 Magnum beats it 24/7 in my book.

They are virtually the same!

I paid my way through college working for the medical examiner's of a large populous county, back in the day when local law enforcement was packing 125 gr .357 Mags (mostly 4" barrels), so nobody needs to convince me of that rounds effectiveness!

But....when you look at ballistic tables, you will notice that the Mag data is usually for something like an 8" 'test barrel'. So, for all the paper posers out there, sure the Mag looks real hot....but it is basically dishonest!

Then, you go to the same manufacturer's tables for the Sig and it is an honest velocity for a 4" barrel, and yes it will be a couple hundred fps slower....but who in the hell CC's an 8" revolver, huh??? If you had the real velocities for the revolvers folks actually carry (~2"!), the picture would look much much different.

 

[hatt]

My Glock 32 is a similar size to my 2 inch .357. The G32 has a ballistic advantage over the 2 inch magnum. Both using 125 grain. ANd the G32 holds 14 v 6 for the Lawman. The Sig round is a great cartridge. Especially if you grew up around .357 mag revolvers. You get similar performance in a small hi cap package.

 

[Bmanz]

And an important fact to remember: a 357sig IS NOT a .357 magnum. Kind of like that whole Dodge Hemi thing people get bent out of shape about.... Hemi's aren't a special engine.... The first 440 Hemi with 6 packs were, but Hemi just means the pistons had a hemispherical dome that allowed a bit more compression and directed the force a tad... The first Hemi's had some power but new Hemi's aren't anything I'd stick a badge on a vehicle about... LOL

A bit OT, but...
Not the best analogy. I completely agree the 357Sig is no 357 magnum. However, as for Hemis, they have hemispherical combustion chambers in the cylinder heads to allow the intake valves be placed opposite the exhaust valves but with an OHV layout instead of OHC. This enabled both valves in each cylinder to be larger and have a crossflow design that made truckloads of power. They still do. The robust Hemi cylinder head design is the same today as it was way back when only now it has been enhanced with variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation (via valve shut off) for even more power and economy without sacrificing reliability. It is still a special engine and still a simple, maintenance-free OHV layout, vs OHC, which makes it less costly to buy and maintain while yielding near nil in power output to modern 4 valve pent roof cylinder head designs.