Posted in Handguns | 8 Comments
The .357 SIG In Perspective
Rising In Popularity, This Round Has Proven Itself For More Than 17 Years
About 20 years ago, SIG executive Ted Rowe noticed police departments switching from .357 Magnum revolvers to SIG’s 9mm and .45 ACP pistols. The one thing said about trading in their old sixguns was they missed the devastating stopping power of the 125-grain Magnum round. Texas Department of Public Safety personnel said they’d found the SIG P220 .45 ACP to be a decent manstopper, but it lacked the “lightning bolt effect” some of their personnel had reported when they shot armed felons with the 125-grain .357 Magnum.
Rowe brought SIG together with Federal Cartridge, and the result was the .357 SIG round of 1993. Its bottlenecked case allowed enough power to drive a 125-grain .355″ 9mm bullet 1,350 to 1,450 fps out of a service pistol. Led by Delaware State Police, LE agencies started buying it. Today, there are more state police/highway patrols issuing the .357 SIG than issuing .45 ACP, and the .357 round is second only to .40 S&W in popularity among the state trooper agencies. Texas DPS adopted it, for one, and has been delighted with its performance since. Apparently, so have the others.
Felt recoil is a subjective thing, and shooters debate whether the .40 S&W or the .357 SIG kicks more—proof positive they’re in the same ballpark in that regard. The .357 SIG can be tougher on the gun, though. Glock suggests armorers replace recoil springs on the .357s every 2,000 rounds or so. By simply purchasing a new barrel, you can swap from .40 S&W to .357 SIG or vice versa. Magazines will usually interchange between the two calibers, though the little SIG P239 is a notable exception.
The .357 SIG is a remarkably accurate cartridge. SIG’s own P226 in that chambering has put five 125-grain Speer Gold Dots into 1″ at 25 yards for me (slightly better than I’ve ever gotten from the same model in 9mm, and distinctly better than I’ve ever achieved with any SIG in .40). In service-size Glocks, my G31 in .357 SIG clearly outshoots my G22 in .40 S&W.
>> Click Here << To Read More December 2011 Handguns
>> Click Here << To Order Your Copy Of The December 2011 Issue Today
I have heard many good things about the round over the years, and the quality of a Sig is unquestionable. Good mix!
IMO it is a solution searching for a problem. It does not do anything significantly better (e.g. recoil, capacity, stopping power) than .40, and it leaves a smaller hole, which usually means reduced terminal performance. Is it terrible? Hell no, but it’s a lot harder to find and way more expensive than .40, and you get no real benefit from it. I’m certainly not putting any stock in it anytime soon.
Actually you are incorrect, police departments in Virginia and Texas notice a distinct difference in stopping power and the “lightening bolt” effect when using the .357 sig. The average violent felon drops to the ground 2-3 seconds after being hit, even with a shot to a non vital area. For some reason the round has an effect that is no quantifiable on “paper” and goes beyond the logic of the “small hole theory” that you have. It always amazes me how people can be experts on things that they have absolutely no personal experience with. The round does everything better than the .40, just because you are not aware of this data doesn’t mean it does not exist.
Having a Sig .357 and a .40 I have to agree with Vhyrus; My preference when carrying is my .40 as I feel it packs that extra UMPH! and to me more terminal damage. It’s just a minor + and dont get me wrong as I Love my Sig .357 and know it will get the job done just the same.
The 357 SIG is with out a doubt the most tactically sound cartridge on the market today. Given it’s ballistic performance, low recoil for fast follow up shots, incredible accuracy and capacity capability, not to mention it’s incredible real world performance, it near impossible to top in all categories.
It’s the only round I carry anymore. Plus being able to swap out barrels to the abundant and cheaper 40 S&W for plinking and practice and still being able to use the same magazines is a huge bonus!
I’ll take my 10mm 1911 with Double Tap or Buffalo Bore ammo over any of those aforementioned rounds. Like Vhyrus mentions 357 Sig is not readily available, at least in my area anyway and is more expensive than 9, 40 and 45.
You talk about 357 sig not being available.Where do you find 10 mm? As a rule that is the hardest to find unless you direct deal with specility manufactures like B B
With modern +p or +p+ hollow point ammunition, don’t count out the 9mm luger as a service pistol caliber. The higher pressure 9mm ammo has stopping power rivaling many of the .40 s&w cartridges.