The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Handguns => Topic started by: MAUSERMAN on November 28, 2010, 11:44:25 PM
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I'm planning to buy a new piece of combat tupperware the Glock37 in .357sig. I would like to hear the pros and cons to the caliber, and from any of you that own the g37.
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On its own, it seems like ballistically nice round. It just seems expensive and potentially hard to find. I guess the real question is what will it do that 9mm,.40 or .45 won't? I get the flat shooting thing, but we are talking about a Glock here. For IDPA or SD it doesn't seem like it really matters, and for punching paper you can get more acuracy from a nice 1911. What attracts you to the round?
FQ13
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Here is a link to the Gunblast review (of the .357 SIG with some mentions of the Glock). Its a pretty informative article. I'm still not sold, but it did make me think. The interchangebility with the .40 is a strong point. Does it go both ways though? Can you shoot .40 from a .357 SIG or is it like .556 and .223?
FQ13
http://www.gunblast.com/RKCampbell_357Sig.htm
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Isn't Glock 37 the 45 GAP?
I've shot an XD 4" service in .357 sig quite a bit. Is a bit snappy, but also snaps back on target quick.
Seems to be alot louder to me than 9mm in the same size xd. If you had to use it to save your life, your hearing would probably be more jacked for the immediate aftermath than with the 9 (borderline deaf).
I have seen .357 sig hollow points blow clear through some surprisingly thick pine trees.
My good buddy swears by the caliber.
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If you reload you will have to treat 357 sig( as well as any higher presure bottle neck cartrage) as if it was a rifle round.
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The .357 Sig was designed to achieve .357 Magnum performance in a conventional auto pistol. Up until it came along about the only gun that could accomplish that was the Coonan Arms .357 that was built along the lines of a modified 1911. It has become somewhat of a collectors item. I heard it is back in production, but I've yet to see one for sale anywhere.
The .357 Magnum achieves 97% one shot stops with 125 gr. Jacketed Hollow Points for those who put faith in such things. I think that is what they were trying to replicate in the evolution of the .357 Sig. It does have a good selling point with it's interchangeability with the .40 S&W. With the popularity of auto pistols in the self defense market, I think it is a round that will have enough of a following to keep it around, much like the .41 Magnum has in the high powered revolver market. I would consider getting one, but I don't shoot the .40 S&W. In auto pistols I stick with 9 MM and .45 ACP. If I want .357 Magnum performance I have several revolvers that fit that category nicely. I am not one who believes the wheelgun is destined to disappear like the Betamax and the 8-Track tape player. At least not anytime soon. But as for the .357 Sig itself, much like most of what we own, it is a nice want that does not require to be justified as a "need" to purchase. If you like it, go for it and enjoy it. And as far as the Glock it comes in, well let's just say how can you possibly have too many Glocks? Bill T.
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Bill
Does the interchangability of the .357 SIG go both ways? I know you can shoot .357 SIG out of a forty (with a different barrel). Is the reverse true?
FQ13
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The .357 SIG is a nice round, I've shot lots of it through Sig P226's. The only thing that's required for the interchangeability to .40SW is a barrel, or reverse. The frames were made to fit each other and so were the magazines, .357 SIG is a necked down .40SW. As far a price and availability goes, I see them at Wally World for not much more than 9mm all the time.
I can't say anything on Glock's, but going for the .357 SIG wouldn't be a bad decision. I wish someone made a pistol carbine for it though. And remember the caliber is here to stay, lots of LE agencies have been using it for almost fifteen years.
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Bill
Does the interchangability of the .357 SIG go both ways? I know you can shoot .357 SIG out of a forty (with a different barrel). Is the reverse true?
FQ13
I'm not entirely sure, but I believe so. .40 S&W magazines can be used in both, and the .357 Sig is based on the .40 S&W case, so the extractor, etc. is the same as well. Bill T.
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The .357 SIG is a fine round. I have a SIG P239 in .357 SIG which I bought for more punch that I get from a 9. I also have a .40 barrel and several .40 magazines for the pistol. The .357 SIGs will function in the .40 mags but the .357 mags have a shoulder that prevents the .40 from functioning in it. That may be a SIG single stack only issue. I under stand that the P226 mags are the same for .357 & .40 but they are double stack and the P239 mags are single stack. I use more .40 mags than .357 for practice, but when I carry I use the .357 mags.
The best recommendation I have heard for the .357 SIG is that it is what the Secret Service uses even though the Justice Dept is a .40 outfit for most. Another biggie is that the Texas Rangers use .357 too. If it is good enough for those guys it is good enough for me.
The Air Marshal's guns are .357 SIG as well.
I use a Dillon 650 to reload the .357 SIG and shoot quite a lot of them -- obviously. That keeps the cost down. I got most of my empties for free several years ago and am still working on them. It is a good round and reloads well. I do not reload the .40. And have rarely fired it with that barrel in place. I am not a fan of the .40, which is a good round but I prefer others.
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The Air Marshal's guns are .357 SIG as well.
That surprises me based on the penetration factor alone. Bill T.
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The .357 SIG is a fine round. I have a SIG P239 in .357 SIG which I bought for more punch that I get from a 9. I also have a .40 barrel and several .40 magazines for the pistol. The .357 SIGs will function in the .40 mags but the .357 mags have a shoulder that prevents the .40 from functioning in it. That may be a SIG single stack only issue. I under stand that the P226 mags are the same for .357 & .40 but they are double stack and the P239 mags are single stack. I use more .40 mags than .357 for practice, but when I carry I use the .357 mags.
The best recommendation I have heard for the .357 SIG is that it is what the Secret Service uses even though the Justice Dept is a .40 outfit for most. Another biggie is that the Texas Rangers use .357 too. If it is good enough for those guys it is good enough for me.
The Air Marshal's guns are .357 SIG as well.
I use a Dillon 650 to reload the .357 SIG and shoot quite a lot of them -- obviously. That keeps the cost down. I got most of my empties for free several years ago and am still working on them. It is a good round and reloads well. I do not reload the .40. And have rarely fired it with that barrel in place. I am not a fan of the .40, which is a good round but I prefer others.
Thanks for the info stryker. I was wondering about how far the two could be interchanged. You answered the question. As far as SS using the round? Those guys could give a rat's ass for collateral damage for obvious resons. The Air Marshalls? :o WTF?
FQ13
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The advice I give people who ask me about .357 Sig, is to suggest they should go over to our ammo area and look at the stock of .357 Sig rounds. We don't carry much stock and it is more expensive that other rounds. I advise people to either reload or buy 9mm, .40 S&W or .45 ACP. However, several people buy Sigs in .40 S&W and then get a .357 Sig barrel.
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If you buy a 357 Sig, make sure you buy a 40 barrel for it. At least you can shoot it when ammo supply becomes an issue.
As far as SS using the round? Those guys could give a rat's ass for collateral damage for obvious resons. The Air Marshalls? :o WTF?
The Secret Service is a LE agency just like any other fed LE agency, collateral damage is a concern for them as it is for anyone else.
Wouldn't look too nice to drill the bad guy and kill the Head of State of Whogivsashitz.
We'd probably end up writing an even BIGGER check than we were going to give them in the first place.
Bullet construction and velocity determines penetration. A bullet made to break up like a bomb will do so if pushed fast enough. If it's 'bonded' its still a bomb but will go a little deeper. Inside an aircraft is no different than a bus, train, or school. Dump enough energy and even if the round gets through, the likelyhood of it doing fatal damage goes way down.
The Air Marshalls are supposed to be at the pinnacle of handgun proficiency. Don't know for a fact, just read it somewhere.
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There was an article about tungsten bullets. They were supposed to powder upon impact and do massive damge without penetration (and only $3 per round! ::)). I would hope Air Marshalls would be using something like this. Honestly though, I'd rather work midnights as a crime scene clean-up guy than have to fly commercial and stay sober. That's my own version of hell.
FQ13
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To answer a couple of questions i saw in this thread, the Air Marshall's use a fully fragmenting round similar to the Glaser blue round that was developed for them even though the worry of over-penetration has been somewhat exaggerated. The 40 & 357 Glocks are identical except for the barrel and markings. All parts will interchange and you can swap barrels either way. The same magazine will work for both but the 357 would chamber and fire in a 40 barrel (not sure what would happen in this case and don't want to be the crash test dummy either) where obviously 40's would not chamber in the 357.
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To answer a couple of questions i saw in this thread, the Air Marshall's use a fully fragmenting round similar to the Glaser blue round that was developed for them even though the worry of over-penetration has been somewhat exaggerated. The 40 & 357 Glocks are identical except for the barrel and markings. All parts will interchange and you can swap barrels either way. The same magazine will work for both but the 357 would chamber and fire in a 40 barrel (not sure what would happen in this case and don't want to be the crash test dummy either) where obviously 40's would not chamber in the 357.
I wouldn't voulunteer for that test either. As far as .40 to .357 SIG?
Probably just bad accuracy. I owned a Blackhawk in .357 that had a 9mm cylinder. It worked fine, but the accuracy suffered. It was more of a gimmick than practical, but it did give you a fall back option.
FQ13
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The big question about .357 Sig is, "...WHY?"
I don't get it and probably never will.
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Bill
Does the interchangability of the .357 SIG go both ways? I know you can shoot .357 SIG out of a forty (with a different barrel). Is the reverse true?
FQ13
the 357 sig is a 40 sw necked down to .355( aka 9 mm) every gun I know of its just a barrel swap. There might be a few you have to change the recoil srping, but I doubt it.
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My M+P .40 full size mags, also have a "/" for .357Sig. I have pondered and scrounged pennies for a .357Sig barrel, but based on ammo prices for the .357Sig round, a 180gr. JHP should be plenty in .40.
Kinda like the 10mm, great round, no question,...41 Magnum the same, but in today's day, I need the price point to meet the want.
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The reason for going with .357 sig for me is to make my tupperware family larger and I have personally taken two hogs with my dads 226. Yes the ammo is a bit on the expensive side but so is 10mm my all time favorite. I dont plan on using it as a plinker but as a back up when hunting or back packing in the woods. The part about swapping barrels seems cool but I prefer to keep my guns dedicated to the caliber they were made for. The info was top notch guys thanx.
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10mm has more power then 357 sig. you can throw heavier bullets at the same speed or faster.
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My M+P .40 full size mags, also have a "/" for .357Sig. I have pondered and scrounged pennies for a .357Sig barrel, but based on ammo prices for the .357Sig round, a 180gr. JHP should be plenty in .40.
Kinda like the 10mm, great round, no question,...41 Magnum the same, but in today's day, I need the price point to meet the want.
My local wallyworld hass .357sig ammo (white box) for almost $3.00 a box cheaper than .40S&W ($19.79/40 and $16.98/357sig)
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10mm has more power then 357 sig. you can throw heavier bullets at the same speed or faster.
Very correct, there are some 10mm loads out there that are very comparable to .44mag while it's a stretch to get an average .357mag load out of .357sig. That being said a hot 125gr round from the .357sig should be fine to scramble a hogs brain but I wouldn't count on it dislocating its shoulder like a .44mag if you miss the head shot. If I wanted to carry a Glock for a backup when hog hunting I'd carry a model 20 with the super hot CorBon 10mm load.
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I do carry a G20 as back up when i hog hunt. My g20 has 6inch tube with a 20lb spring assembly and my carry load is win super X 175grn whoop ass. The reason behind wanting the .357sig is that its lighter than by GP100 and i can carry more ammo in one mag than any wheel could.
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S&W makes a 8 shot 357 mag. its what I carry in the woods.
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I have a Glock G27 .40 S&W and the .357 Sig barrel. During the "ammo shortage" WallyWorld had .357 SIG pretty much all the time and I was able to stock up on ammo.
As far as operation, either round shoots equally reliably using the Glock .40 mags. One advantage is I can get one more round in the G27 mag when using .357 SIG.
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Same here .357sig is sometimes cheaper and more available.