Deplorable Me
.700 Nitro Express
Not many guns out there left that use this cartridge. Even Sig has cut the offerings.
Is the .357 Sig cartridge dying?
- Thread starter Deplorable Me
- Start date
I don't think it really ever took hold.
Ammo is expensive but there are a lot of highway patrols using it and certain units or teams of the secret service use it. (Not all SS units went to 9mm so spare me).
The problem is it’s really only for experienced shooters because of the extreme muzzle blast.
It’s not dead and will be around. Not many calibers ever actually die. Most things are cyclical.Trends change.
The problem is it’s really only for experienced shooters because of the extreme muzzle blast.
It’s not dead and will be around. Not many calibers ever actually die. Most things are cyclical.Trends change.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
The extra 300 fps does well for a little better hard barrier penetration but other than that, it does nothing extra that another service caliber will do. It will expand to roughly the same diameter within a millimeter or so and penetrate to within inches of one another in a body.
Not worth the extra blast and recoil in my opinion.
Not worth the extra blast and recoil in my opinion.
GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
I've been searching for a .357 barrel for my FNS-40 but don't feel like breaking the bank 
C3D
.338 Win Mag
Dying? It's been dead, for a decade. 9mm is King, .45 is Queen.
Deplorable Me
.700 Nitro Express
Cases available at Target Sport!
Robin
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Very expensive to shoot, but of all the hand guns and calibers it is the one I shoot the best in speed and accuracy, by far, just can't afford to shoot it a lot.
I would advise anyone owning this obsolete calibered gun to dump it while it still has some value. I will do a free hazmat pick-up on all surplus outdated ammo.
Robin
I would advise anyone owning this obsolete calibered gun to dump it while it still has some value. I will do a free hazmat pick-up on all surplus outdated ammo.
Robin
Deplorable Me
.700 Nitro Express
I'm already planning for the next pandemic and when Barron Trump gets elected for his second term. Maybe I'll cross the .357 Sig off my list.
I had the Sig Saur 320 full size. It was around 30 oz unloaded.
It had less or equal recoil as my Shield 9mm with 124 grain rounds.
I had no problem with recoil, just the $24 per box of cheapo target FMJ. I sold it for $10 more than I bought it for. I paid $550 and it came with a kidex holster and 2 mags. I sold it for $560 to a friend who offered because he couldnt find one and I was hesitant.
I had the Sig Saur 320 full size. It was around 30 oz unloaded.
It had less or equal recoil as my Shield 9mm with 124 grain rounds.
I had no problem with recoil, just the $24 per box of cheapo target FMJ. I sold it for $10 more than I bought it for. I paid $550 and it came with a kydex holster and 2 mags. I sold it for $560 to a friend who offered because he couldnt find one and I was hesitant. :
It's always been kind of hard to even find someone who even has one.
I've had a box of it (just WWB target stuff), for what has to be around ten years or so, that I offered to give away locally and haven't found takers. An ex, 4.. maybe 5 exes ago, accidentally bought a box instead of .357 magnum. Even offering it for free (on the old forum I think), I found all of one taker. I went to the guy's house.. but forgot the box. We we're friends for a little while but have since lost touch... and I never gave him the box so it's still sitting here somewhere. It's even made a move.. or two.. I lose track. I can't bring myself to just throw out ammo.
I've had a box of it (just WWB target stuff), for what has to be around ten years or so, that I offered to give away locally and haven't found takers. An ex, 4.. maybe 5 exes ago, accidentally bought a box instead of .357 magnum. Even offering it for free (on the old forum I think), I found all of one taker. I went to the guy's house.. but forgot the box. We we're friends for a little while but have since lost touch... and I never gave him the box so it's still sitting here somewhere. It's even made a move.. or two.. I lose track. I can't bring myself to just throw out ammo.
There are a bunch of calibers which would be great to have but you have to reload to take advantage of them.
.356 TS&W
9x21mm
9x23 Win
9x25 Dillon
.357 Sig
38 Super (still alive but 9mm Major is trying to kill it)
.327 Magnum
.357 Maximum
.445 Super Mag
.414 Gibbs
The .41 magnum is alive because of the .41 Mafia is relentless.
.356 TS&W
9x21mm
9x23 Win
9x25 Dillon
.357 Sig
38 Super (still alive but 9mm Major is trying to kill it)
.327 Magnum
.357 Maximum
.445 Super Mag
.414 Gibbs
The .41 magnum is alive because of the .41 Mafia is relentless.
Deplorable Me
.700 Nitro Express
One of the negatives I see is the .357 is NOT a straight wall case and you have to lube it to resize for reloading (time). Any of my straight-walls I clean, resize and measure. Stockpile for a future date/time. IIRC Sig use to make the Sig239 in .357 Sig. Nice, compact, 8 rounds. Nice power in the little frame.
This..
357sig was beat out by .40sw in the 90s for high pressure rounds
Pretty much the only thing that kept it around and alive was niche agencies that adopted it (better budgets than most) and those agencies are now and have been going back to 9mm
I watched a video a few weeks ago (Paul Harrell) where he compared the .357 with the .40 and in almost al cases the .40 was a better way to go. Velocities were very close to where the .357 didn't even make sense. Unless you get some high end specialty round there just wasn't a noticeable difference.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
The only relevant calibers in a semi auto platform are .380, 9mm, .45 ACP, and 10mm.
.380 for ultra deep concealment for tiny mouse guns. Once they figure out how to make something like the Ruger LCP chambered in 9mm, it will die off as well.
10mm for hunting.
.45 ACP for Merica and for people that think bigger is better without really knowing how bullets work.
And 9mm for everything else. You can get a +P+ load that comes within 100 fps to the .357 Sig if you really needed the extra hard barrier penetration for things like thicker tin and aluminum found in truck doors compared to car doors.
.40 S&W and .45 GAP are left out since they do nothing extra that 9mm or .45 ACP can do. The .40 will go the way of .357 Sig in a decade or two when existing guns are gone or relegated to living out their lives in a safe.
.380 for ultra deep concealment for tiny mouse guns. Once they figure out how to make something like the Ruger LCP chambered in 9mm, it will die off as well.
10mm for hunting.
.45 ACP for Merica and for people that think bigger is better without really knowing how bullets work.
And 9mm for everything else. You can get a +P+ load that comes within 100 fps to the .357 Sig if you really needed the extra hard barrier penetration for things like thicker tin and aluminum found in truck doors compared to car doors.
.40 S&W and .45 GAP are left out since they do nothing extra that 9mm or .45 ACP can do. The .40 will go the way of .357 Sig in a decade or two when existing guns are gone or relegated to living out their lives in a safe.
I have it, I love it, and I will keep it thank you!
Expensive round, yeah, but you can get it at a fair price if you know where. And it's .357 Mag performance in a Semi... So I'll keep it
Botique round? Sure, but again, I'll keep it. Been saving brass just in case it ever gets scarce too
Expensive round, yeah, but you can get it at a fair price if you know where. And it's .357 Mag performance in a Semi... So I'll keep it
Botique round? Sure, but again, I'll keep it. Been saving brass just in case it ever gets scarce too
GAP is dead. Pretty much the last hold out for GAP was NYSP, Speer told them they were no longer making them Gold Dots because it wasn't worth their time since well it was the only agency pretty much using it
Deplorable Me
.700 Nitro Express
Some factory data from Hornady.
Hornady Critical Duty; Flex tip bullet
I pack a 5 shot .357 mag for hiking in black bear territory. There's the possibility of wild pig in PA/Southern Tier of NY. I carry a 9 when I'm on the road with my wife doing business. 1911 in the house for house gun. If I did get a .357 Sig I'd probably not bother to reload and use it for hiking-bear gun.
Hornady Critical Duty; Flex tip bullet
I pack a 5 shot .357 mag for hiking in black bear territory. There's the possibility of wild pig in PA/Southern Tier of NY. I carry a 9 when I'm on the road with my wife doing business. 1911 in the house for house gun. If I did get a .357 Sig I'd probably not bother to reload and use it for hiking-bear gun.
| .40 | 175 gr | 396 ft-lbs |
| .357 Sig | 135 gr | 450 ft-lbs |
| 10mm | 175gr | 523 ft-lbs |
| .357 mag | 135gr | 487 ft-lbs |
| 9mm | 135gr | 306 ft-lbs |
| .38 special | 110gr | 249 ft-lbs |
| .45 ACP | 185gr | 411 ft-lbs |
Just for fun I checked out the Speer line for .45acp
185g is 435ftlbs., would 24 more foot pounds make a difference, not even a little haha but just saw that
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Ft pounds in slow moving pistol bullets makes no difference in wounding. None whatsoever. Penetration after expansion and what it actually hits is the only thing that matters.
And more speed can mean faster expansion which can lead to less penetration, which MAY result in not reaching vitals
gun_slinger_boy
.338 Win Mag
Yes. You have to reload to get the most out of 10mm. Then you'll see huge differences between 10mm and 40. The 10mm stuff you get at the store is pud loads.
And back to the thread topic. I get my fill of fast bottleneck pistol cartridges from 762x25. Never saw a need to get 357 sig chambered gun if i was ever to carry a round like that.
Ok... So let's escape the garbage commercial loads that are dumbed down. True .357Sig Spec at 1500fps, not the junk 1350 that's typical commercial branding. My SD loads are hitting hard 115gr-1550fps-614ftlbs, and they (in testing) never fail to expand!l, don't bounce off windshields, etc! Lol... Good stuff!
Only problem would be home use at night as the muzzle flash will most certainly be an issue. Can be defeated by closing one eye while shooting to maintain some night vision. But if (God forbid) I ever had to, I would hope that those first few shots are doing their job. At the range in daytime, I think the flash is a few inches and concussion draws interest down the line, lol. In the SIG 229, it shoots like a dream, really manageable and very accurate. Definitely more so than I am able to get from it, bit I do pretty ok out to 15yds, can post pics lol
Anyways, again, I love my .357Sig, and would hate to have to move on. .44 Mag then? Lol?
Only problem would be home use at night as the muzzle flash will most certainly be an issue. Can be defeated by closing one eye while shooting to maintain some night vision. But if (God forbid) I ever had to, I would hope that those first few shots are doing their job. At the range in daytime, I think the flash is a few inches and concussion draws interest down the line, lol. In the SIG 229, it shoots like a dream, really manageable and very accurate. Definitely more so than I am able to get from it, bit I do pretty ok out to 15yds, can post pics lol
Anyways, again, I love my .357Sig, and would hate to have to move on. .44 Mag then? Lol?
Ok... So let's escape the garbage commercial loads that are dumbed down. True .357Sig Spec at 1500fps, not the junk 1350 that's typical commercial branding. My SD loads are hitting hard 115gr-1550fps-614ftlbs, and they (in testing) never fail to expand!l, don't bounce off windshields, etc! Lol... Good stuff!
Only problem would be home use at night as the muzzle flash will most certainly be an issue. Can be defeated by closing one eye while shooting to maintain some night vision. But if (God forbid) I ever had to, I would hope that those first few shots are doing their job. At the range in daytime, I think the flash is a few inches and concussion draws interest down the line, lol. In the SIG 229, it shoots like a dream, really manageable and very accurate. Definitely more so than I am able to get from it, bit I do pretty ok out to 15yds, can post pics lol
Anyways, again, I love my .357Sig, and would hate to have to move on. .44 Mag then? Lol?
Hell even quality SD loads have less flash, companies actually account for shooting in low light conditions
ProgSpear
.338 Win Mag
KARMA! KARMA! KARMA!
OK, this is an official thread hijack! (Jeez, I think I need to get an eyepatch now, to try to emulate @CaseHardened)
I have a box of Speer TMJ plinker .357SIG/38 Super 125 Grain. (.355 TMJ FN) that I bought by mistake. ANYONE that can use them, PM me, and the 7th PM gets them. Rules are simple, 7th PM gets them, and you may PM multiple times. I’ll PM back for shipping address. I’ll send them cheapest flat rate boxI can find. Hijack over. ProgSpear out.
OK, this is an official thread hijack! (Jeez, I think I need to get an eyepatch now, to try to emulate @CaseHardened)
I have a box of Speer TMJ plinker .357SIG/38 Super 125 Grain. (.355 TMJ FN) that I bought by mistake. ANYONE that can use them, PM me, and the 7th PM gets them. Rules are simple, 7th PM gets them, and you may PM multiple times. I’ll PM back for shipping address. I’ll send them cheapest flat rate boxI can find. Hijack over. ProgSpear out.