Debating if the investment is worth it.

[twyacht]

From Massad Ayoob

This is out of The Complete Book of Hanguns 2008.

.357SIG
In the early 90's, spurred by Texas troopers and rangers who loved the SIG SAUER .45ACP pistol, but missed that "lighting bolt" stopping power effect of their old .357 Mag revolvers, SIG SAUER worked with Federal Cartridge to create the .357 SIG round, It resembles a .40 necked down to 9mm, though the actual construction is somewhat more complicated than that. Different companies load to different velocities, and depending on the pistol and barrel, factory 125-grain JHP's are delivering 1325 to over 1400 fps.
High-tech bullets that open rapidly, but stay together seem to work best in this caliber. The most widely proven is the Gold Dot. From Texas to Virginia, it has been kicking butt with no horror stories of stopping failures. New Mexico State Troopers fell in love with the .357 SIG a few years ago, and stayed with that cartridge when they ordered their new S&W M&P autopistols. North Carolina Highway Patrol gave up it's beloved Beretta pistols after more than 20 years to adopt the SIG SAUER, because they could get it chambered for .357 SIG.
Gunfights indicate that this cartridge is particularly good for shooting through auto sheet metal and window glass, yet does not deliver on the street the dangerous over-penetration that some gelatin tests had indicated might happen. The spent, expanded bullets are normally recovered from the far side of the criminal's body, or from his clothing, or from the ground within a few feet behind where he was located when shot.
Winchester Ranger in 125-grain .357 SIG had worked well in actual shootings. Remington Bonded Golden Saber in 125-grain .357 SIG is deliciously accurate, and perfoms superbly in FBI protocol gelatin testing, though I haven't run across any actual shootings with it yet. The overwhelming majority of .357 SIG shooting by police have occured with 125-grain Speer Gold dot, and it has worked so well it is unquestionably the most "street proven" load in this caliber.

From what I dug up, georgia arms sells a great range round that is not too pricey, in Starline cases.

If the swap is as simple as a barrel change, than hell yes, I just might jump on that bandwagon also. 

[Timothy]

I've been looking at this caliber for a while and I've seriously considered buying something chambered in .357 Sig.  Just another pipe dream right now, other priorities, but it's one round that would sit right beside the .357 Mag and my trusted 1911 in the vault.

The numbers don't lie, it's a great round and not as scarce as one might think.  Yes, your choices in grainweight are limited but, so what?  You only need to find the best and most reliable and the reports indicate that this cartridge feeds reliably because of it's geometry with just about everything tried.

I'm sold on the caliber, just wishy washy on the gun.....Glock is out (MA restricted), M&P compact would work and the Sig is a spot on shooter.....any other suggestions?

[clm]

.357 sig and .45 gap ammo are the only calibers that have remained available at the big mart store in both of my home areas of KY and Austin, TX.
If .45acp's don't come available soon, I may be shooting with .357sig also.

[fightingquaker13]

.357 sig and .45 gap ammo are the only calibers that have remained available at the big mart store in both of my home areas of KY and Austin, TX.
If .45acp's don't come available soon, I may be shooting with .357sig also.

If you have the cash for another toy, buy it. Frankly I'd go sig if I couldn't have Glock. But, if its your go to gun, I'd get the .40 M@P and the .357 barrel. That way you're not stuck looking for a wierd cartridge on the road or in an SHTF situation. There's a reason it was on the shelves during the ammo scarcity. They weren't selling. The ammo companies will have noticed this and shifted production to .380 or the like  instead.
FQ13

[Texas_Bryan]

clm's right, in town you can only find .357 Sig at Wally World, says a lot for me cause I cain't find no .45 ACP.  If you want a new pistol, I wouldn't turn you away from it.  Great shooting round, light recoil, and fast and flat shooting.  I've only ever shot it from Sig P226's, one DA/SA and one DAK.  The DPS here love it, fast and hits the tires of moving vehicles hard.  Main thing for the DPS though is its ability to penetrate vehicle windows, so many trooper involved shooting are through the windshields of cars, bad guy's or their own.  Ammo's not crazy expensive and its available.  Not to mention a switch to .40 SW is only a barrel away, same mags!  I've not looked into it yet, but if you could get a .357 Sig pistol and a pistol carbine in the same caliber, now that's something that would make your pants tingle.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

clm's right, in town you can only find .357 Sig at Wally World, says a lot for me cause I cain't find no .45 ACP.  If you want a new pistol, I wouldn't turn you away from it.  Great shooting round, light recoil, and fast and flat shooting.  I've only ever shot it from Sig P226's, one DA/SA and one DAK.  The DPS here love it, fast and hits the tires of moving vehicles hard.  Main thing for the DPS though is its ability to penetrate vehicle windows, so many trooper involved shooting are through the windshields of cars, bad guy's or their own.  Ammo's not crazy expensive and its available.  Not to mention a switch to .40 SW is only a barrel away, same mags!  I've not looked into it yet, but if you could get a .357 Sig pistol and a pistol carbine in the same caliber, now that's something that would make you pants tingle.

Mech-Tech makes a .357 SIG carbine conversion for Glocks.

[david86440]

I have the .357 sig barrel for my G27 and it works really well using the .40 magazines. I've not had any loading issues.

The round is extremely accurate.

I can get 10 rounds of .357 sig in my 9 round .40 mags. It must have to do with the reduced neck.

Wallyworld has .357sig on the shelf when everything else is gone.

The problem is that I have my G27 listed on my CCW as a .40 cal so I don't carry with the .357 barrel. If I had thought at the time I would have asked if it could be listed as .40/.357.

[garand4life]

The problem is that I have my G27 listed on my CCW as a .40 cal so I don't carry with the .357 barrel. If I had thought at the time I would have asked if it could be listed as .40/.357.

What state are you in that requires you to detail your carry gun caliber?

[david86440]

What state are you in that requires you to detail your carry gun caliber?

Good ole' Kalifornia.

In this county I'm limited to 3 guns on permit at any one time. Must range qualify with all guns on permit.

I've had a variety listed at different times.

[TAB]

not all countys have a live fire test.

al CA law requires is a no less then 8 hours and no more then 16 hours of instruction.  Otherwise the countys are pretty much free to do as they please.