Saturday, January 24, 2015

NateMail: 357 Sig?

Anonymous Stilicho asks... "Anyone own a .357 Sig? Thoughts?"
 
There is a big difference between 357 sig and 9mm...  and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  Even the hot +p loads don't compare to the 357 sig.  But... where does the hype stop and the truth begin?  A lot of folks claim you get 357 magnum performance out of this round... and that's just not the case.
 
A 125 grain 357 magnum with a 5 inch barrel is rolling at over 1600 fps.  A 125 grain 357 sig is closer to 1450... which is still rolling... but its 150 fps down from the wheel gun.  In terms of energy... the magnum is beating the sig by right around 100 foot pounds.
 
All across the board on all sizes of bullets the magnum is significantly out performing the sig.  
 
But... if you don't have a 5 inch barrel...  well then its a different story.
 
This is what I can tell ya...   357 sig is expensive...  there is a ton of blast... and it is not for the recoil sensitive.  That said if you don't like it you're a barrel swap away from a .40.  So what have you got to lose?

I personally have only shot 357 sig out of large pistols...  full sized beefy things.  Its fun.  its a lot of fun. If I were carrying it for defense... I would have some high end defense rounds on the larger end of the scale.  Hornady makes a couple good options... 135 grain critical duty and 147 custom XTP hollow points.  

That's a philosophical thing though.  I want a heavier slower bullet.  I want penetration but I don't want over penetration.  I would prefer the bullet to stop inside you... because that would mean you took every ounce of the energy.... and that means you're more likely to be on your ass.  And that's what the 357 sig gives you over the 9mm... a chance to carry heavier bullets.

I would stay away from the 115 lasers....   they are liable to cauterize the hole on the way through. No thanks. 
 

9 comments:

Res Ipsa said...

Since nobody else has piped in on this, I don't like the 357 sig.

Now I love sig pistols. I own and carry a sig pistol. I don't like the 357 Sig.

#1 its a bottlenecked pistol cartridge. Remember the 9X25Dillion? Great concept. Powerful performance. You don't remember it do you? There is a reason for that.
#2 reloading, yes if you are just a little careful you can reload it with out scrunching up too much brass. This is good because as Nate mentioned, its expensive to shoot.
#3 exactly what was it you needed this cartridge to do for you? Seems to me that you have that need met with guns that shoot inexpensive ammo.

If you want a toy and this looks cool, have at it. Guns are fun. If you are a cop and the taxsuckers supply you with practice ammo by the crate, great (for you). If you need the gun to be a tool, you have other options.

Nate said...

I dunno... yes its expensive... but you can still shoot a box of ammo a month and not go broke. At a box a month... you'd still be better than 99% of the people out there.

I don't know what else does what 357sig does. 9mm+p isn't hot enough... and 10mm is even more expensive than 357 sig.

i see it as an option if you are already carrying a full sized pistol anyway and the extra 10 or 15 bucks on ammo is ok.

Nate said...

also there have been successful bottle necked pistol cartridges... the 7.62x25 for example.

Nate said...

those Freedom Arms wheel guns are badass.... but... I would just as soon have a rubber grip.

Res Ipsa said...

On the bottlenecks, If you have good magazine springs you will seldom have a feeding problem, because the overall design of the cartridge is sloped. IF your springs start going bad they tend to go bad all at once and you will notice problems right away. That can be good or bad depending on how often you shoot your pistol.

I agree with you, if you're shooting a box a month the cost isn't much of a factor. I don't tend to shoot that way. Mostly I shoot a whole bunch at a time (4 to 5 boxes) each week during the summer. Then when hunting season rolls around I stop shooting handguns and focus on my long guns. I go most of the winter without shooting anything unless we get a couple of nicer days. So if your shooting 12 boxes a year on average that's not too much of a factor.

The FA big bores are more comfortable to shoot than you might think. You can get a rubber grip but you don't really need it.

Nate said...

really? I've got a ruger vaquero in 44 mag with hard grips... and yeah they are pretty... but damn they are no fun.

Res Ipsa said...

The recoil is a solid strong push. Depending on which load you are using you have 400 grains of bullet coming out of the barrel.

If you do ok with a 44mag you can handle the bigger bore guns. The push is substantial but its not a sharp kick. There not cheap, but Bob makes a top quality gun. One other thing his guns are heavy compared to other manufactures, at least the 454's are. I think a 454 that is basically a mid weight 45LC that's had the barrel replaced and a larger cylinder installed is much harder to control than a full frame FA.

I guess I need to admit that I've never shot a 454 with a rubber grip, so maybe they do wonders. I don't know.

Athor Pel said...

I left a comment in this thread and now it's gone.

Was it the comment system or was I moderated?

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