.357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

My twin brother recently purchased a .357 Magnum revolver & yesterday we went to the local range to shoot it. We used first 38 special shells to get used to firing the gun and then switched to the .357 Magnum rounds. The experience was INCREDIBLE! From the recoil to the sound it was a great experience. Not to mention the shooters on both sides of us looked over a few times they all had .22's and 9's so we were the loudest there. Then after it was all said and done I realized I'd like a 357 too. Problem. I hate revolvers. I'm more a fan of semi auto's, ever since my time in the military where that is what we used (Beretta 9 mm). I so I started lookingon the net and I believe the only semi auto that uses .357 Magnum is the Desert Eagle. They cost too much and I've heard they have problems so I'd rather not get that. The next thing I saw was the Smith & Wesson M&P 357 sig. I like the look but I was wondering if that round can compare to the .357 Magnum round Concerning recoil, sound, penetration? Any and all advice/experiences would be appreciated.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

Gmc, the .357 Sig is, in my opinion at least, a very excellent round. Indeed, I often carry a Glock 33 in that caliber. To equate it directly to the .357 Mag, however, is rather misleading. It is true that the original idea behind the development of the round was to create an auto cartridge that would compare favorably in performance with the .357 Mag revolver round. To a degree at least, they succeeded. Essentially, the .357 Sig is a .40 Smith and Wesson cartridge casing bottlenecked down to take a 9mm (.355) bullet. What you end up with is a sort of ".40 S&W on steroids," so to speak. :D The bullet (usually a 115-125 grainer is used) will exit the muzzle at somewhere around 1350-1500 fps. Thus you have similar performance to the .357 Mag round. It is a most effective man-stopper. Here is a sight that will give you about all the info you will ever need on the round:

http://www.handguninfo.com/Archive/www.Pete-357.com/

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

My brother has one and although he has never tried a penetration test I think it sounds good when it goes off. It's hard to tell about recoil because of the different grip shapes between a revolver & auto but I thought it was a nice pistol to shoot.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

I'm a huge fan of the .357 sig cartrige. It's loud, it's powerful, and you have the advantage of a larger capacity compared to a wheelgun. It is less proven than the .357 magnum, but I wouldn't doubt that it is an extremely effective cartrige.

To reload, it's a royal pain in the a$$. Neck tension or lack of it makes it difficult to seat the bullets without pushing the bullet clean into the case. The slightest maladjustment on the taper crimping die and you get a cartrige that looks like an elephan stepped on it (shoulders crush really easily). It is difficult to find cheapo FMJ bullets for target practice. I plan on investigating if I get better luck with a Lee factory crimp die.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

.357 mag wins.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

If my memory serves, .357 sig and .357 mag were both in Street Stoppers, and according to this excellent publication, preliminary results yielded one shot stop percentages within a single point of each other. It runs in my mind that .357 magnum achieved a 96 percent one shot stop, where .357 sig achieved a 95 percent one shot stop.

Unfortunately my copy is sitting 300 miles back home and not in my dorm so I can't cite it for sure. Plus there might be a newer edition of Street Stoppers by now, but in any case, I suspect that ballistically, the race between .357 sig and .357 Magnum is not such a clear cut issue.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

.357 mag in a revolver. .45ACP in a semi-auto.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

Well said very well said :) nothing more to say ;)

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

But Ron, if there were nothing more to say, TFF would get boring! :D ;) :p I must say, though, it's hard to beat either one of those calibers when the excretory material impacts the rotary impeller. ;)

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

HAHAHAHAHAHA........dats funny!

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

:eek: Was that impellar rotating or stationary?! :D

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

Therein lies the difference between single and multiple opponents, Bruce. :D ;) :p

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

I use a Lee die set. It's true that these rounds can be a pain to load. I seat the bullets and crimp the neck in two separate steps. This works well for me.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

the .357 mag and the .357 sig with bullet weights from 115 to 125 gr. fired from similar barrel lengths (4 inches or so) are identical in performance from a ballistics standpoint, terminal, internal and external... Its when you load up some 158s or 180s in the .357 mag that it outperforms the .357 sig. in every category.

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

Why not .45 ACP in both?


:p;):rolleyes:

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

To my understanding: The .357 Sig doesn't have quite the power of a .357 magnum...but it's penetration performance matches that of a LIGHT .357 magnum load (125 grain). Beyond that, the .357 Magnum comes out well on top especially with heavier loads like the 158 and 180 gr.

Some have said, I won't swear to this, that the 10mm semi auto has energy equal to that of the .357 magnum...but someone else smarter than me can comment ont his

Re: .357 Magnum Versus 357 SIG
 

It's my understanding that the 10mm stacks up to the .41 mag about the same as the .357 SIG stacks up to the .357 mag.

mag all the way

:)