Anyone here shoot the 357 Sig?

[Abbynormal]

I've had a P229 in .40 S&W for 10+ years. About 8 years ago, I picked up a .357 Sig barrel on the net for $100. I really liked the P229 before that, but once I shot .357 Sig, I found a carry gun for life!

The bottlenecked shell is 100% reliable. The .40's, I've had feeding problems with 180 gr ammo. The .357, shoots to the same sight setting as the .40 and the sight picture works for me out to 100 yds, I'm still using the factory Sig "dot the I" sights and not compensating for drop.

I've used .357 Sig on bowling pin matches and boy does it clear the table better than .40. I can clean a table of bowling pins faster with a P229 in .357 faster than I can with either my P220 or a 1911 in .45.
With the P229, I've won a couple of bowling pin matches, with either the P220, 1911 or 27/28 Smith, the best I could do was second place.

While it is louder and has a bit of blast concussion, I prefer it to the .40, as I can get back on the sights much quicker.

I doubt that I'll ever be without a .357 Sig or an N' frame .357 Magnum. Ballistics are real close .357 Sig is the closest thing to a good 125 gr. 357 Mag load that I've ever found.

My favorites are:

Revolver: .22 LR, .357 Mag & .38 Spl
Pistol .357 Sig & .45 Auto

PS: I've been a 9mm for over 25 years, now I've gotten rid of my Belgian Browning HP 9mm (that I've had for over 30 years) and ordered a Bar-Sto 9mm barrel for my P229! That's how much I like the platform.

FYI: I do shoot .40 out of it, but only for practice. Since .40 Smith is cheaper than .357 Sig. I don't carry .40 at all, I have total faith in the .357.

 

[7tenz]

Only thing that keeps the 357 sig from becoming my favorite round is the power potential of the 10mm. I like guns that are more accurate than I am. That may be most of them, but that's beside the point. I seem to be able to shoot pretty well with the sig round. I first had a Glock 22 converted with a drop-in Barsto barrel in 357, then a Sig 239. In the case of the g22 it was a big leap in accuracy over the factory 40 barrel.

 

[yaktamer]

Does the 357 SIG have any of the "cartridge not fully supported by the chamber" issues that the .40 cal. does?

 

[KCOG]

357 magnum performance in a high capacity auto loader. What's not to like.?If you shop the interweb you can find deals on good ammo. I shoot the 357 sig in a Sig 229 and 250. Very accurate. No more recoil than a 40 caliber IMO. Check out the performance tests on the 357 sig on tnoutdoor9's you tube site. Very impressive.

 

[Rule3]

Does the 357 SIG have any of the "cartridge not fully supported by the chamber" issues that the .40 cal. does?

Probably not if you buy a after market barrel. If it is a stock Glock barrel I do not know. The Glockettes would know about that.

 

[monet61]

Mine is a Glock 32. I like both the size of the weapon and the round. As others have said, snappier than a 9mm. Nothing bad to say about either the round or the gun.

 

[perrazi]

for those talking about cost of ammo, does no one reload? brass is easy to find and no more expensive to load than 9mm.

 

[7tenz]

Does the 357 SIG have any of the "cartridge not fully supported by the chamber" issues that the .40 cal. does?

My barsto 357 g22 barrel looks to be nearly 100% supported. I don't feel like unloading the Sig 239 to check right now, so I'll assume it is supported, probably more so than one in .40. I'm starved and want to go stuff my face.

edit:Took them both apart. I'm full and happy, so here's some so-so pics of chamber support. Looks nearly complete, but the sig has slightly less support.

 

[AKAOV1MAN]

The .357 SIG is currently my designated duty weapon. The issue weapon is a 229-the all steel stainlesss version. Recoil in the heavier gun is mild IMHO, accuracy is excellent. I just fitted a .357 barrel to my HiPower and have been carrying it even though I lose 3 rounds capacity, the HP being one of my favorites.
My youngest son was in an officer involved shooting out west last year, he was using a Glock .357 and the BG went down like he had been poleaxed.
I am getting to like the SIG, but I bought an M&P in .357 instead, initial impression is excellent.

 

[M29since14]

...I am getting to like the SIG, but I bought an M&P in .357 instead, initial impression is excellent.

I have an M&P357 too and I believe it would shoot right along with the SIG229 (which is pretty good) if I could handle the trigger as well. I am going to have to look into adjusting the M&P trigger. It does not seem to be "getting better" with use.

 

[Dirtman]

For quite some time I have considered buying a 357 Sig barrel for my M&P40. Cost is about $90 to $100 but it would be great to have.

 

[yaktamer]

My barsto 357 g22 barrel looks to be nearly 100% supported. I don't feel like unloading the Sig 239 to check right now, so I'll assume it is supported, probably more so than one in .40. I'm starved and want to go stuff my face.

edit:Took them both apart. I'm full and happy, so here's some so-so pics of chamber support. Looks nearly complete, but the sig has slightly less support.

Thanks for the pics. I'd be leaning toward the 239, so this helps.

 

[7tenz]

Thanks for the pics. I'd be leaning toward the 239, so this helps.

If your concerned about chamber support, compare it to a .40. I wonder why I see concerns about chamber support in any .40 pistol. I can only think maybe the larger diameter bullet for the 9mm sized gun? I know the 40 glock barrel I pulled out of the g22 had a lot of case exposure at the ramp.

Hope you go for the sig round. The 239 is a nice size for carry, I feel like I'm wearing nothing at all. And I never thought I could transform a stupid glock into a near target grade gun until I put that BarSto in it.

 

[Doug M.]

The .40 is a very high pressure round, and also very prone to setback. The .357Sig is also high pressure, but not near as prone to set back, and also has a more stoutly built case as I understand it.

 

[Dirtman]

The .40 is a very high pressure round, and also very prone to setback. The .357Sig is also high pressure, but not near as prone to set back, and also has a more stoutly built case as I understand it.

At the risk of sounding gun stooopid, what is "set back"?

 

[bigchuck83]

had a few different guns in 357 sig LOVE the round but ammo costs are just too high for me right now. owned a sig229, M&P357, Glock 32c liked them all
but traded the glock and some ammo for a winchester 94, now i have 2 94's. and yes 357 sig is loud.

 

[yaktamer]

At the risk of sounding gun stooopid, what is "set back"?

When recoil or other reasons cause the rounds in the magazine to push deeper into the case. There was a thread about this the other day, warning that in some autoloaders, repeatedly cycling a round into the chamber can also cause the bullet to set back. This can be more of an issue with higher pressure rounds in autoloaders than revolvers, due to the fact that you cannot crimp the autoloader rounds as much.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

It is a fun round. Easy to reload for and I shoot mine a lot.

I have over 10,000 rounds down my 229 sport and it is still "banging away".

The sig is fast accurate and reliable. What more can I say?

 

[Doug M.]

At the risk of sounding gun stooopid, what is "set back"?

*
The main problem about which I was speaking comes from repeated chambering of the same rounds. As a general rule, once I chamber a round in an autoloader, I dispose of it, usually by firing it. I rarely unload that round any other way. Setback is the pushing of the bullet into the cartridge case as a result of force, usually the force of hitting the ramp and entering the chamber under the relatively harsh mechanics of properly loading technique. Some rounds are more prone to it than others, and it takes very little movement to reduce the case capacity enough to really bump up the pressure, often past the tolerance of the cartridge case and/or pistol. Bad stuff often follows.

I have recently become aware of the concern that this could occur with some rounds in ultra light pistols, similar to the "pulling" of some bullets in really light revolvers. In the pistol, this is a result of the rounds in the magazine being slammed into the mag by recoil force. I am not a physicist so I am not qualified to have an opinion as to the likelihood of this happening.

 

[forresth]

Is it really that much better than light weight 40? You can find 40sw hollow points down to 135gr. The differences on paper look very minimal.

Does the bottle neck make it harder to reload?

I guess I am in the "would like to try it" boat, but am very reluctant to fork out what a new barrel would cost. I also like to stick with the more common calibers so I don't end up being Betta-ed