.357 SiG

[Marshall 357]

Anyone reload the .357 SIG? Tell me about it. Thanks

 

[Wayne M]

A great round using a bottlenecked case. Unless the die makers came up with a new wrinkle that bottleneck precludes the use of a carbide sizer: you'll need to lube every case. I know lots of people use case lube even with carbide dies but if you plan to shoot thousands of rounds a year that extra couple steps, at least to me, rules out the SIG.

 

[WR Moore]

Anyone reload the .357 SIG? Tell me about it. Thanks

A couple of reloading authorities state that 2 reloads is about max per case. There just isn't enough case neck to maintain proper tension and the bullets setback during feeding. No personal experience-I've been on the line with state troopers firing the things, don't want any part of them.

 

[Marshall 357]

So it sounds like they are difficult to reload.

 

[505Gibbs]

I don't know about current factory offerings but the initial loads from Federal supposedly 'glued' the bullets in. I would also worry about setback of the bullet.

 

[fredj338]

A great round using a bottlenecked case. Unless the die makers came up with a new wrinkle that bottleneck precludes the use of a carbide sizer: you'll need to lube every case. I know lots of people use case lube even with carbide dies but if you plan to shoot thousands of rounds a year that extra couple steps, at least to me, rules out the SIG.

Well, not really. Many 357s reloaders use a 40 carbide sizer to size the case body then the steel 357s die to form the neck. Dillon is the only maker of a 357s carbide sizer & that is what I use. Adjust your dies properly & loading for the 357sig is not really much diff. than any other semiauto round. The exception is bullet choice. You must use a truncated cone/FP profile to get the correct OAL & enough bearing surface inside the case neck. This means you can't use conventional 115gr or 124grFMJRN in the 357sig (unless you are shoting a 1911 or sim. pistol w/ more nag room). It's not that big a deal though, there are many good bullet choices available; MontanaGold, Zero, Berry's, Ranier, Speer, Precision Black, SIerra JHP, XTP JHP, Nosler, even cast TCFP work.
Die setup is important. The die needs to size the case enough to push the little shoulder back enough to allow proper headspace. Many do NOT use the expander, but I find it hurts accuracy of plated or lead bullets if you shave the base during seating, turning down the expander so it is no bigger than 0.352" will allow good neck tension w/ a tiny bit of expanded mouth to allow good bullet seating. Then finish w/ a good taper crimp. You can use the LFCD, but over crimping can lose the neck tension, so go slow. I've loaded some cases as many as three times & they still work fine. You can also load .357" bullets for add'l. neck tension. You have to drop your powder charge a bit to get sim. vel./pressures, but they shoot well.

 

[Reloader Fred]

fredj338 pretty much nailed it. I've loaded about 15,000 rounds of 357 Sig, and once you're set up properly, it's no different than any other caliber. I also have the Dillon Carbide dies, but I also use a set of Redding 357 Sig dies in conjunction with them.

As for case life, I haven't found that to be a problem. I don't know who said they were only getting two loads from 357 Sig brass, but evidently my brass didn't read that book.

The use of a powder that fills the case properly precludes bullet setback. Accurate Arms #9 is ideal for this caliber. Speer makes a Gold Dot bullet specifically for the 357 Sig round, and it works great. For general shooting and informal target shooting, I use Berry's 124 gr. Flat Point bullets.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[perrazi]

you can also use nosler 115hp, remington bulk in 115&124hp in addition to the above mentioned. i agree on the life of brass. no worse than any other powerful pistol cartridge. been loading them since they first came out. quite impressive if loaded all the way up. nice shooting loads in the 1100-1250 range plenty fast to enjoy without stressing gun or shooter. shot about 4500 rds through and early sig p229. great fun at 100yds.

 

[fredj338]

you can also use nosler 115hp, remington bulk in 115&124hp in addition to the above mentioned. i agree on the life of brass. no worse than any other powerful pistol cartridge. been loading them since they first came out. quite impressive if loaded all the way up. nice shooting loads in the 1100-1250 range plenty fast to enjoy without stressing gun or shooter. shot about 4500 rds through and early sig p229. great fun at 100yds.

I was not able to seat the Rem. 124grJHP out far enough in my P239 to get good neck tension. THe longest I can seat is 1.145" & the bullets setback. I haven't tried the 115gr. The Nosler is a great shooting bullet in the 357sig as well as the Sierra 115gr & 125grJHC.

 

[Reloader Fred]

The Remington bulk work, but the Golden Saber won't, since they have two diameters. The bearing surface of the Golden Saber ends up inside the case when loaded to the proper length for the 357 Sig.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[frank_1947]

I have some 357 sig brass if you start reloading it, never new all that about the sig not alot of reloaders out there on sig good info

 

[FlyFish]

I use the double resizing step that fredj338 mentioned (.40 carbide die/.357 SIG steel die) to avoid having to lube the cases and it works just fine. I'm using a progressive press, so there's no additional work involved. Overall, I don't find the .357 any more difficult to load than the other cartridges I shoot and I can't say I've noticed any particular problems with short case life.

 

[VAdoublegunner]

I tried it and initially found it a PITA, especially if you have to lube all the cases. The 2 die set up is the bomb to keep it simple with this cartridge. AA#9 is a good powder for performance and gives high loading density to help prevent bullet setback. I had pretty good luck using Ranier plated 124gr TC bullets for a plinking/target load. I did use the expander die for those plated bullets to prevent shaving, but for a progressive setup this left me with seating/crimping in one step and I didn't particularly like that with this cartridge. So, it worked best to size/prime/expand them all then reset dies for charge, seat, taper crimp. Still a PITA, but not as much as lubing.

It goes without saying, but be sure to use 9mm bullets!! I remember when the cartridge first came out and a fellow at the range was testing some of his first handloads. After a few rounds he came over to ask me about his brass, which was severely deformed at the base and had pierced primers. I thought it looked like a way overpressure situation, to which he replied "but I started at 15% under the max load and these are the lowest ones". When he went back to fire the next set of loads, I picked up my stuff and moved wayyyyy down the line. Sure enough, on about the 3rd shot he blew the gun (a nice SIG), extractor gone to parts unknown, brass ruptured at the base. "Hmmmmm, well, looks like you'll have to stop testing those loads for today." Turns out he was using .357 jacketed bullets.

I got a steal on a HK .357 SIG barrel for my 40 USPc. It's nice that it is a drop in conversion, no other changes needed to get the versatility of that cartridge. It is very accurate and shoots to POA with the sights. However, it is not a cartridge I really choose to load often, eventhough I can. If I want to shoot it these days I more often just use factory ammo.

 

[Reloader Fred]

One thing that really helps in loading 357 Sig is to chamfer the inside of the case mouths. This only has to be done once, but will solve some bullet seating problems, particularly with plated bullets.

I shoot and load a lot of this caliber, and like I mentioned above, it's really no different than loading any other caliber, once you're set up for it.

One thing that throws people off track is the name of the cartridge. When Sig named it, they left off the period before 357 on purpose. The reference to 357 was to the .357 Magnum, which it's supposed to duplicate in a 4" barrel length, using 124/124 grain bullets in both calibers. As noted, it uses .355" diameter bullets, the same as the 9x19.

Hope this helps.

Fred