Any Thoughts On Carrying a 357 SIG For CCW?

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GlockedNLoded32

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I recently bought a G32 .357 sig to use for my ccw? Just want to know what yall think. I know the 357 sig round is a hot and nasty round but how much should I worry about over penetration??? and what about knock down power?
 
From what I've read its a good round, and carried by the secret service. Over penetration, in my mind, is a discussion of tactics and not ballistics. Remember one of the 4 golden rules "be aware of your target and what's behind it.

It's plenty hot for CCW use. I think the biggest concern would be availability and cost of practice ammo. I don't like it because it's necked and that introduces complications for reloading.
 
Not my cup of tea because of the Teutonic Gnome Tax, but seems to be a good performer. Just make sure you carry high-quality HPs and it should work fine.
 
.357 Sig is really no better or worse than any other major handgun caliber commonly used for self defense. Over-penetration is possible with any handgun bullet since they're made to penetrate things and Stuff Happens.

And "knock down power" isn't a real thing.
 
357 Sig is really no better or worse than any other major handgun caliber commonly used for self defense. Over-penetration is possible with any handgun bullet since they're made to penetrate things and Stuff Happens.

And "knock down power" isn't a real thing.
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so there isnt such thing as knock down power also known as Stopping power is a colloquial term used to describe the ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause a penetrating ballistic injury to a target, human or animal, sufficient to incapacitate the target where it stands.The term is not a euphemism for lethality. It refers only to a weapon's ability to incapacitate quickly, regardless of whether death ultimately ensues. Some theories of stopping power involve concepts such as "energy transfer" and "hydrostatic shock",
 
I think there are something like 3 aspects in play here due to how you phrased the question.

357 Sig has as good a record (actual street use vs theory) as the 9mm, 40 and 45. Its advantage in a very specific situation/environment is being able to get though barriers others would not.

Over Penetration is an impossible to answer question as there are too many variables in any given shooting.

It has no more "knockdown" power than the aforementioned calibers (I think you have to get up to a 20mm cannon before you can get into knockdown power).

Theories are just that, theories. Real world use and results are what matters. In this case the theories are irrelevant. We are past theories and we have real world empirical results. You use real world results to assess the validity of theories. Said theories have fallen well short of reality.

In any given situation, a given caliber and bullet combination may indeed be a true show stopper (rare)

In any given situation, a given caliber and bullet combination may indeed not work at all (rare but more common that it took too long or they did not die but were deterred)

What the real world statistics show is that when you take ALL the real world shootings into account, none of the calibers we discuss rises above any other caliber. The only factor that actually affects the statistics is shot placement (that assumes a good self defense round).

Over penetration is an impossible to determine aspect and you have to deal with that. In my case, if someone is trying to kill me, then I am going to shoot that person and a round continuing on is going to be something I will live with afterwards (if I do my job its not going to happen but that is not a given in a shooting situation)

I am going to hope that if that occurs its lost sufficient velocity to kill or injure someone even if it hits them.

If someone is standing behind the person you are shooting, they may be safe as the bullet is going to take and erratic path through the body and exit other than on a direct path. Someone standing to the side can be at as much risk.

How many people is the person you are shooting going to shoot if you do not take them out? You do the best you can and that's life.

Avoiding someone in a traffic accident is no different. You may kill someone else doing that. And yes I had exactly that dilemma. My reflex was to avoid and that in turn had me head on with another car. I realized that, took what action I could and at least made it a glancing blow (my take was the person I was avoiding was the cause and I did not care what happened to them vs what I thought was an innocent bystander.

In a sever twist of irony that innocent bystander was the one who directed the person out into my path in the first place. Life is like that, you do the best you can and the chips fall where they will fall. The two idiots that precipitated the accident were lucky, neither was hurt or even injured (the one idiot was saved by airbags).
 
I say carry what you are comfortable with. Overpenetration is a possiblity but after the round hits your target, I bet it has lost so much energy that it likely would not do much afterwards.

I am curious why you chose that particular caliber over another. I would love to have a Glock in every flavor but cannot afford it right now. The next one I'd get would either be a G17 or a G20.
 
i got the glock 32 on A trade for a tactical 12 gauge mossberg 500 with ati 6 point collapsible stock ghostring night sights and 175 dollars.... and the glock was still sealed in the box and i got 50 rounds of winchester jhps to go with it... thats why i got the 357 sig i couldnt pass on that deal
 
i got the glock 32 on A trade for a tactical 12 gauge mossberg 12 ga with ati collapsible 6 point stock and 175 dollars and the glock was still sealed in the box and i got 50 rounds of winchester jhps to go with it... thats why i got the 357 sig i couldnt pass on that deal
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Nice, you made out like a bandit! I would have done the same thing.
 
Current Winchester chart from the LEO catalog;
Caliber Penetration in Gelatin / heavy clothing
9mm 147 grain - 13.9 (.62) - 15.8
40S&W 180 grn - 13.8 (.613) - 13.9
357sig 125 grn - 12.5 (.576) - 12.0
45acp 230 grn - 12.1 (.845) - 12.2

So no your 357 Sig isn't anymore concern then the other calibers. I included the recorded expansion diameter next to the penetration in bare gelatin just to put it in perspective. I used the figures for the bonded ammo as they tended to have more penetration then the T-series.
 
I will add in that if I had to choose another caliber (9mm is what I have now) it would be the 357 Sig.

Carry a slower round and you match +P loads, and you can go up from there to suit your specific situation (I think it was Chicago Transit police who picked it so they could shoot through the windows and car barriers).

One shooting had a Texas Patrol (rangers?) that a 40 did not penetrate a truck door but the newer guy with the newer issued 357 Sig did.

9mm is less expensive overall and fine for my use, but I do think the 357 is worth serious consideration.
 
.357 Sig may actually UNDER penetrate depending on the bullet. I would not use any lower than 124gr JHPs. 115s for example would be way too light for such high velocity.

This has prob been posted before elsewhere, but here's a good example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=w9tMqnNXaDY

Winchester PDX 124gr only penetrated 12 inches in this test, while Gold Dots & Hornady FTXs were over 14 for the same weight bullet. To me that's a big difference!

I was going to get a G33 for CCW but I decided to go with a G27 instead due to the much higher cost of range ammo for the 357. I really hate shooting the .40 and may still get a G33 barrel, but for now I decided the 357 wasn't quite worth it compared to 9mm +P.
 
so there isnt such thing as knock down power also known as Stopping power is a colloquial term used to describe the ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause a penetrating ballistic injury to a target, human or animal, sufficient to incapacitate the target where it stands.The term is not a euphemism for lethality. It refers only to a weapon's ability to incapacitate quickly, regardless of whether death ultimately ensues. Some theories of stopping power involve concepts such as "energy transfer" and "hydrostatic shock",
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I love it when somebody gets called on something and responds with a pretentious word salad post to try to look smarter. Pro tip: it doesn't work, nothing you've said makes any sense.

1) "Energy transfer" is a meaningless phrase in this context. Energy is a physics term you clearly don't understand (and cut-and-pasting the Wikipedia definition in response isn't going to change that.)
2) "Hydrostatic shock" is not a meaningful wounding mechanism for handgun cartridges.
 
My only concern in using aq .357 Sig would be choosing the right bullet to avoid underpenetration. In its early loadings, the .357 Sig was loaded with standard 9mm JHP bullets at 1400+fps. It was quickly found that bullets designed to be driven at 1100-1250fps would frequently overexpand and/or fragment causing less-than-optimal penetration when driven at 1400fps or more. The solution to this was two-fold: most manufacturers dropped the velocity of their .357 Sig loadings to about 1350fps and different bullets were designed to hold together at the higher velocity inherent to the cartridge. Were I to carry a .357 Sig, I'd want a bonded bullet like Speer Gold Dot or Federal HST or at the very least a less aggressively exanding non-bonded bullet like a Hornady XTP.

Because of the higher velocity and thus more aggressive expansion of the .357 Sig, their penetration in "soft" media is roughly the same or less as that of a 9mm, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP with a comparable loading. The .357 Sig does have a bit more penetration against hard targets like sheet steel and wallboard, but that's really more of a concern for LEO's than private individuals.
 
I love it when somebody gets called on something and responds with a pretentious word salad post to try to look smarter. Pro tip: it doesn't work, nothing you've said makes any sense.

1) "Energy transfer" is a meaningless phrase in this context. Energy is a physics term you clearly don't understand (and cut-and-pasting the Wikipedia definition in response isn't going to change that.)
2) "Hydrostatic shock" is not a meaningful wounding mechanism for handgun cartridges.
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First off all I'm trying to do is find out information, Secondly I'm only 22 and I don't have that much experience when it comes to handgun ammunition and thirdly I'm not trying to act like i know what I'm talking about.... I'm simply asking a question on the ballistics of the .357 sig because this is the first time owning one... the reason why I joined this forum is to learn from people that know more than me not learn from people that talk crap about a younger guys who dont know as s much.
 
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I'll address something that's gone unaddressed so far: the G32 as a carry platform. :) I've fired a G32 and was quite impressed, with some caveats.

The good points were that it was fairly accurate and controllable, with enough weight to tame the recoil somewhat and allow the gun to stay on target. I liken it to firing a S&W Model 19 with a 3" or shorter barrel; I found it easier to shoot well than a S&W Airweight J frame loaded with .38Spl+P's that I used during the same range visit. The bad points? It is LOUD, there is a LOT of muzzle flash, and recoil is certainly what I would describe as snappy (same as the M19 above). This is one of those guns that gets other folks at the range asking "What IS that?!?" and being surprised when they see it's a Glock rather than a Magnum revolver. :cool:

I liked it, and I'd classify it as a good carry piece, but it's certainly not for everybody. FWIW the owner had bought it from someone who sold it to him because "it was too much for him", and I could understand why.
 
If you like it and shoot it well, by all means, carry it. I had a 31, and a bunch of SIG's in the caliber, and all worked and shot well.

From a performance standpoint, its as good as anything else. What drove me away from it, was the constantly rising cost, of both loaded ammo and components for reloading (especially since the ammo shortage thing), and realization that it, and +P+ 9mm are basically the same thing.
 
T he .357 is a powerful round in my opinion. when i was a leo in florida my issue side arm was a sigsauer p229 chambered in .357 sig.
 
Very accurate round. Powerful round. Yes it will get the attention of others on the line to your right or left. If the price of ammo starts to get to you all you need is a G23 barrel and another mag. You made out well with the purchase.
 
Noreaster-Very accurate round. Powerful round. Yes it will get the attention of others on the line to your right or left. If the price of ammo starts to get to you all you need is a G23 barrel and another mag. You made out well with the purchase.
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I was planing on getting the 40 to 9 conversion as well as the g23 barrel that way i can shoot 40 cal 357 sig and 9 mm
 
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