.357 Sig or 5.7x28mm for self defense?

B

Brian the gunner

New member
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each caliber?

My options are:
Glock 32(.357 Sig)
Colt 1911(.357 Sig)
Sig Sauer P226(.357 Sig)
FN Five-seveN

What weapon / caliber would choose?


PD: As you may have noticed my English is not very good and sorry for my bad English :D
 
Having owned all of them, sometimes several of each type, my personal preference is in a pistol platform to stay with things that are of a common caliber to other weapons you already have.

for instance if you have other 9mm handguns, i would likely recommend you stay with 9mm and make your ammo restocking operations easier. the same would go for any other caliber as well.

i just sold my Five Seven USG on friday. although i'll miss it (i also sold 11 other weapons on Friday) the most, unless i was going to also obtain a PS90 or get a tax stamp and go through the waiting period and get a P90, it really didn't make sense to own it. it's an expensive cartridge to get into with SS197SR regularly running $.60/round. it's also non-reloadable. i can get 3x .45ACP rounds or 3x 9mm rounds for that price and when it comes down to it, practice makes you better, not higher velocity rounds for a special purpose platform.

sheer cool factor? five seven
classic cool? 1911
rough and tough and don't have to worry about it ? glock
more weight and money but also as reliable? sig

i don't ever see myself getting into .357Sig, .45GAP or those other special purpose or high pressure rounds. 9, .40 and .45 should get it done. if not those then .357Mag and if i need bigger then that then i'm going for a rifle (and yes, i've owned .44Mag, .454Casull, 5.7x28, 10mm, .50AE, 7.65x25, 9x18Mak, .380, .25ACP, .32S&W-L, .32ACP, .35ACP and a bunch of others).

just my $.02

maybe buy a glock 23 and just get conversion barrels?
 
Sweet Shooter said:
ust a thought—and I might be wrong depending on where you live—unless you are have an FFL, you might not want to say that out loud.
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I may have this wrong -- in which case I'm sure it'll all be corrected, quickly. (I too lazy to pull out the federal regs to double-check, and I know how hard it is to finding the right info when I haven't looked at the stuff it a while. It would probably take me an hour. Somebody here, I'm sure, knows for the correct answer.)

IF state law allows it, and the guns are sold IN-STATE in a private transfer by a state resident to another resident of the state, state law, not federal law controls what is required, who can do it, and how it is to be done. Unless state firearms law requires it, an FFL doesn't always have to be involved.

FFLs are required to inform the BATF when they transfer more than one handgun to an individual in a given week -- but that's an FFL reporting requirement, and not a limit on transfers. (Some FFLs say they can only transfer one handgun per week to an individual, but I think they simply misunderstand the regs -- or don't want to do a little extra paperwork.)

If they do multiple handgun transfer and the related extra reporting, the person receiving the weapons could get a call from the BATF asking about the transfers. That said, I've not heard of anyone getting that sort of call... maybe because those sorts of transfers just doesn't happen that much, through FFLs.
 
To the OP, your English is fine. To answer your question, the hot 22 is not available in many pistols, the 357 Sig is. Are you limited to these choices? I understand no "military" calibers are allowed in Mexico, so maybe that's a yes. The only disadvantage, and it applies to both rounds, is the availability of ammunition. But 357 Sig is used by some (not many) law enforcement agencies in the US, so it gets the nod on that account also. It was designed to match the ballistics of the .357 Magnum 125 grain round fired from a 4" revolver in a semi-auto. It comes pretty close. The .357 Mag was, and is, an unquestioned bad guy stopper.
 
Here in North Carolina, the NC Highway Patrol used S&W M&Ps in .357 SIG and had some problems.

In researching the problem with S&W engineers a lot of things were tried, but nothing worked. As the HP checked with other agencies they found that there were also some problems with some Glock models using the .357 Sig round.

Nobody using the SIG P-226 in .357 Sig reported issue and that's now the standard issue for the NCHP. (My son is a Trooper.)

With that in mind, and if you choose .357 Sig, you may want to look at a SIG P226...
 
If you go with .357 Sig you may also have the option of a drop in barrel in .40 S&W since both rounds were based off of the same cartridge case.

With the 5.7 you are limited in firearms, and ammo manufacturers.
 
If it were my money I would buy the Glock 32, if it were someone else's money, the Five and Seven without hesitation...:D
 
Brian, I had a SIG P226 and a P229 Sport in .357 SIG caliber. I also had the use of an FN five-seven for a few months. The 5.7 fires a .22 caliber projectile at high velocity. The FN SS192 ammunition I chronographed averaged 2025 FPS fired from the pistol. Fast, interesting and highly penetrative, but I would not choose the 5.7 for defense use myself. The .357 SIG is certainly good for defense, but not enough better than the best 9MM ammunition to go to an unusual bottle-necked pistol cartridge, with a smaller selection of more expensive ammunition.

By the way, I used to have a Beretta 92fs pistol. It was an excellent pistol overall, and 100% reliable with every type of ammunition I used. I would keep the 92fs.........
 
I like the 357sig cartridge. I just ordered a conversion barrel for one of my .40's.
Out of your list, the 226 is a no brainer if you like full size carry guns.
 
I too like the .357 sig. I have one (m&p full size) If you reload or buy the right ammo, it has more than a little advantage over the 9mm.
 
I'd get either the Glock 32 or SIG P226.

IMHO .357 SIG is going to be much more powerful and effective for personal defense. Still has plenty of capacity, won't be any louder, but a 125 grain bullet moving at 1400 FPS+ is one hell of a good defense round. It was proven with .357 magnum revolvers, and it's still being proven by the new SIG round.

5.7x28mm... unless you have full auto capability or are going up against body armor, it just ain't going to do the same amount of damage. Yes, I know 5.7 can have a pretty big wound track, but it just isn't going to best the .357 SIG with it's nearly 600 ft-lbs of energy with a full power load, far greater caliber, and much greater bullet weight.

All with a 15 round magazine, in proven platforms like the Glock and SIG P226... yeah this is pretty much a no-brainer for me.

.357 SIG all the way. :cool:
 
I don't have experience with either of these rounds but isn't there a considerable difference in recoil or muzzle flip between these choices in .357 Sig and the FN?
 
My options are:

Glock 32(.357 Sig) - Very reliable, accurate, powerful. Can get a .40 S&W barrel and have 2 guns in one. In fact can get a 9mm barrel by several makers and mags and have THREE guns in one.

Colt 1911(.357 Sig) - Never seen a 1911 Colt in .357 Sig. Who makes it?

Sig Sauer P226(.357 Sig) - Very reliable, accurate, powerful. Can get a .40 S&W barrel and have 2 guns in one.

FN Five-seveN - hard, really hard to find, ammo. Not impressed with a .22 Magnum performance pistol.

I have the Glock 31 and 32 now days. I've shot them often and they make excellent defensive guns. I have no doubt the SIG would be the same way to.

Deaf
 
Colt 1911(.357 Sig) - Never seen a 1911 Colt in .357 Sig. Who makes it?


I have a friend who is a gunsmith and he factory suppressor, conversions, barrels, magazines, etc.
 
Brian the gunner said:
Colt 1911(.357 Sig) - Never seen a 1911 Colt in .357 Sig. Who makes it?
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The STI Eagle 1911 is available in .357 SIG. http://www.stiguns.com/the-sti-eagle/ -- And Coonan still makes a .357 Magnum 1911 (based?) gun.

The STI in .357 SIG isn't a surprise, as several friends shoot STI .40 1911s competitively. I doubt we'll see it used in the GUN GAMES however.
 
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