Which .357 Sig handgun?

The only 357 sig I have expereince with is the Glock 33. It is an excellent gun and very fun and comfortable to shoot. The recoil is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be, for crying out loud the G33 is my mothers CCW and she has a blast shooting it. So it always cracks me up to read grown men posting on how much it kicks and how bad the blast is when I have shot hundreds of rounds through it with my mother just for fun. But the .357 sig is an excellent caliber that I love so you are making a good choice. And by the way a .40 cal kicks much more than this gun with more muzzle flip, at least to me it does and the 357 sig is much more pleasurable to shoot.
 
I'd definitely go with the Glock 27/23/22/35 in 40s&w and get a 357sig barrel for it, no other changes needed.
That way your not stuck with 357sig if it becomes hard to find or undesirable for whatever reason.
You can also put 9mm barrels in those Glocks. Just swap the barrel and use 9mm magazines.
The Glock 40's are very, very, versatile.
 
Walt,

Yes the .357 Sig LEO base is smaller, and it may have been adopted by their departments in 1994, or 1998 for all I know, but they have used them for many years and used them before any ammo reduction due to cost cutting. If there were problems with Glocks and the .357 Sig round they would have discovered them at least a decade ago.

Google .357 Sig glock problems.

Dash,

Due to the unsupported chamber area with .40 Glocks (and kabooms as a result) I'd prefer getting a .357 Sig instead and an aftermarket .40 barrel (they have better chamber support.)

Btw, the .357 Sig has 5000 cup more pressure than the .40 S&W but because of the thicker web, making the case stronger, there are very few kabooms with the .357 Sig.

Deaf
 
I can’t speak for Glock or other brands chambered in .357 Sig but I can relate some of my experiences with Sig pistols. Please note the following is my OPINION or preference only.
I shoot a lot of .357 Sig in my P226, P229 and P239 pistols and have not had any wear or maintenance issues in any of them. I switched to the .357 Sig cartridge after years of using a .45 ACP for my carry round.
I researched the round and tested it before trusting it for carry and was quite pleased with my findings. It is an accurate, flat shooting, hard hitting round with tolerable recoil. Some loadings can produce a lot of muzzle flash but some do not. If you reload, using faster powder will usually produce less flash. As a reloader, I have very little experience with factory ammo so I may be mistaken but I would expect manufacturers producing defensive ammunition to use flash retardants in their powder. Does anyone know if that is the case?
Reloading the .357 Sig is a bit more demanding than a straight wall case but really no worse than any other bottleneck case. I think of it as the price you pay for loading a high performance round.
I found bonded bullets such as Gold Dot, XTP, etc are a must in this caliber. All other bullets (Sierra, Zero, Montana Gold, Berry, Xtreme, Rainier) fragment or otherwise come apart to different degrees and penetration suffers as a result.
I like the option of changing from .357 Sig to .40 S&W with a simple barrel change. The .40 cal magazines work fine with .357 Sig so you don’t need dedicated .357 Sig magazines although they are available.
I particularly like the P239 since, in addition to the .40/.357 swap, it can also be changed to 9MM by simply changing the barrel. Unlike the P239, the P229 and P226 require a top end change to switch from .40/.357 to 9MM. Sig sells caliber conversions which are complete top ends. I think I paid approx $300 for my last one with night sights.
All three of the models I have feel and point differently so I would suggest you try each BEFORE buying one. The P229 is slightly wider and has a more blocky feel than the P226 but I found it to be slightly easier to carry in a vehicle due to its slightly smaller profile.
After carrying a 1911 for many years, I found the slimmer P239 points best for me and is the easiest to carry. It doesn’t have the capacity of the larger pistols but I’ve always thought 8 rounds are adequate in a carry pistol.
All my Sigs are VERY accurate. To experiment, I did put BarSto barrels in some and had mixed results. The BarSto barrel made a noticeable difference in two and not so noticeable in another, which was already quite accurate.
I have never had any failures with my Sigs nor have I had to replace any parts yet. I don’t shoot thousands of rounds per week but I do shoot regularly and I do reload so I may shoot more than the average gun owner. I did have a leading problem in ALL of my Sig pistols when I loaded cast bullets in .40 S&W. I never did solve that issue. I tried a couple of different brands of cast bullets and had the same leading with all of them so I stopped using cast bullets in my Sigs. It was no big deal since I mostly shoot .357 Sig and load plated and jacketed bullets.
Grips make a HUGE difference in the way these Sigs feel and point so handle some before you buy if at all possible. Also, just because one style works well with one Sig model doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll like that style on other models. For example I love the Hogue G10 grips I put on my P226 pistols but that same grip style didn’t feel very good on the P229. I much prefer the stock grips on it. There are a number of grip choices available for Sig pistols and each style has a unique feel. Some grips can be a bit pricey so it pays to try them before you buy them if possible.
Sig offers regular and short return triggers (SRT). I have both types and have found them to be, in my opinion, mostly a matter of preference. The SRT offers a shorter reset. The SRT triggers are readily available and fairly easy to install.
Sig also offers a .22 conversion unit. I have one for P229. I’m kinda lukewarm on this .22 conversion. It works OK but I’m having trouble warming up to it. Just my personal preference I guess.
To sum it up, my experience with Sigs has been very positive. I like them. Mine have all been 100% reliable. I carry Sigs these days when I’m out and about.
It hasn’t always been that way. I carried 1911’s for 40 yr until I transitioned to the Sig platform. I still love my 1911’s and enjoy shooting them but I carry Sigs now. They suit my needs better these days. Your mileage may vary.
There are some very good deals to be had on red box Sigs. To the best of my knowledge, these are agency turn –ins which have been factory inspected and internally reconditioned for resale in red boxes rather than the normal blue, black or grey cases. They may show some carry wear or signs of use but are functionally perfect. I found some smoking Gunbroker deals on red box Sigs and was VERY pleased with what I received.
Sigs may cost a little more than some other brands but I feel it’s money well spent in the long run. I don’t see how anyone could go wrong with a Sig.
That’s my two cents. . . . . . . . . .
 
HK has some models they make (or made) in .357. I have a P2000SK in 357. Another option is to get a 40 and swap in a 357 barrel. Better than Glock or Sig in my opinion.
 
I second what Bottom Gun said. I also have a P239 in .40 and right now have the sig .357 barrel I can just drop in without changing anything else. Being able to drop in the 9mm barrel and use a 9mm recoil spring makes it much cheaper to practice with as well given the price these days. Maybe rent one if possible at a range and give it a try. Since I bought mine it has become my primary ccw. As for expense of the pistol, look around and you can likely find a very good used one for a good price. Mine was used but it looked like it had hardly ever been fired so they are out there.
 
229sport_mags.jpg


Find a 229 sport. It is the most overbuilt highest quality 357Sig I have seen. Mine is one of my really high round count guns because it is such a hoot to shoot. Its accurate, fun, light recoiling and easy to bang away with.

I liked it so much I bought a full spare top end just "in case".
 
I'm curious about the issues S&W has had with their M&P in .357 sig. I bought one before Smith dropped it from their lineup. Mine has been fine so far (only about 400 rounds total) I just like to know what to look out for.
 
I have a P229 in 357sig and it shoots very well. I just can't see myself shooting 357sig with a polymer gun. I think the more weight you have the better.
 
It is possible to have a Browning HiPower in .357 Sig. Here is a thread about it. KKM will make a special run of barrels of we can get at least 10 orders. We're about half way there.

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=477265

The barrel would need to be fitted by a gunsmith to a .40 bhp. To me, this is as good as it gets in a .357 Sig pistol.
 
kcub,

Well I'd like to see a 5 inch 1911 in .357 Sig. Would not kick much at a 125 gr JHP at 1500 would be quite effective.

But since one can get a 10mm 1911 and a 9x25 Dillion barrel I guess it's moot. 125 at 1700 fps sounds even better.

Deaf
 
So you could just as well have a 10 round single stack 1911 in 38 Super and concede nothing ballistically.
Click to expand...

That would be the case if you shot nothing but Corbon but most .38 Super factory ammo is not loaded to this level. Many of the manufacturers are downloading the cartridge to accommodate some of the lesser quality foreign made pistols.
I can’t say what other factory velocities are but I checked my Lyman reloading manual and found most of the .38 Super loads listed are under 1200 fps. I didn’t see any loads in the Corbon velocity range but I didn’t check any other sources. I have an older Lyman manual from the ‘70’s somewhere. I’ll try to find it and check to see if the .38 Super loads were any hotter then. Seems like I used to get some pretty decent velocities from my .38 Super reloads back then.
A point to consider when making this comparison is that the Sig round has the advantage of having a bottleneck case which is more jam resistant than a straight wall case.
 
How about..

357 SIG 125gr Bonded Defense JHP. Doubletap made.

3.5" barrel - 1415fps
4.5" barrel - 1525fps <-- yea a Glock 31 would get that!!

http://www.doubletapammo.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=303_332&product_id=614

OR

357 Sig 124 Grain XTP Jacketed Hollow Point by Underwood

Muzzle Velocity: 1475 fps Muzzle Energy: 604 ft. lbs.

http://www.underwoodammo.com/357-sig-124-grain-xtp-jacketed-hollow-point/

Or

Buffao Bore 125 gr. Jacketed Hollow Point

Sig. Mod. 229, 4 inch barrel - 1,430 fps (567 ft. lbs.)

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=123

Or

Cor-Bon 125 gr JHP at 1425 fps.

http://www.corbon.com/ballistics-chart-jhp/general/ballistcs-jhp

Deaf
 
Well keep in mind Metalboy the polygon rifleing in the glock adds 5 percent more velocity for the same barrel length.

Both Sigs and Glocks have their points.

Deaf
 
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