After visiting the gun show this weekend i am now in NEED of a 357sig. -lol.

really though. in short i understand that its basically a 9mm projectile with a 40 casing???

Im thinking of trading in my HK USP compact 40 for the SIG. I love the HK, but im not able to hit targets as fast as I would like. it seems that i can engauge almost twice as fast with my XDS 9 because it doesn't take as long to bring it back on target.... Prob just the sights.


Anway, thinking of swapping the 40HK for the SIG 357.

any experience?

How is the ammo availability?

Ammo availability isn't that great compared to the 40 or the 9. 357sig recoils about like a 40 and is muy loud.  My brother shoots 357 out of a Glock 32, he likes it. MS highway patrol went to 357 SIG from the 40SW a couple of years back based on their own testing of shooting through car doors. Take that for what it is worth.

I am firmly in the "9 is fine" category and for me I have no real need for it, but it is a good round if you don't mind it being loud and don't mind having trouble finding ammo all the time.

If I were in your shoes, I think I would keep the USP.

If you are looking for something with less recoil, 357SIG is definitely not the answer. If that is what you are looking for then you just need to go to 9mm.

Just buy a .357sig barrel for your USP. The mags are the same.

http://www.hkparts.net/shop/pc/HK-USPC-357-Sig-Barrel-p1902.htm#.U9aHgNN0w1I

I think Lone Wolf made a barrel as well.

well, in regards to 40 vs 357 i was thinking that if i am going to have the recoil of a 40, i might as well go with the 357 and get the additional penetration. maybe its not that much greater.

WHAT! i could simply get a barrel and shoot 357?   im gonna check it out.

the sig does have a 15 rnd capacity. my HK has 13. which isnt a huge difference.

I have a HK USP compact in .40 and love it.  I have shot some of my best times with it and think the .357 Sig barrel is a good idea.  If you find you don't like the .357 Sig you can sell the new barrel and if you do you can shoot .40 to practice as the ammo is both cheaper and easier to find.

SIG .357 has way less recoil than a .40 and is more accurate and has tremendous penetration, it does have a good muzzle blast though....

9mm works pretty good too with the same handloaded bullets used in the .357SIG

I love 357SIG.   I have two.  Of course they are SIGs.    I got rid of my USP 40 after looking into getting a 357 SIG barrel but everything I read says they don't work and had issues with the mags.     My first SIG 357SIG was a 40 but I sold the barrel and got a 357SIG barrel and it worked great.    The mags for SIG pistols  are marked 40/357

I have owned 357 sigs since 1996. For an outdoors/defense/woods gun they are fantastic. For my indoor home defense handgun I think I'm transitioning back to 9mm.

I fired a HST in a building without ears and I was literally deaf for 30 seconds. Not good.

Ouch

Yes, it's only a barrel swap for your USPC 40.

I have a 357Sig barrel for my USPC 40.

Unless you will be shooting into cars it isn't worth the trade offs. Just get Winchester 127s jn a 9mm and you're 200fps slower, which is very little.

It has less recoil than a 40

Imo

Yup when I was looking into it, newer, hotter 9's really covered 90%+ of the 357S's envelope

I had a Glock 32 Sig.  It is a powerful accurate caliber.  In my mind it is limited by it's inability to accept really heavier bullets.

In balance 357 Sig is not worth the extra recoil, blast, gun wear, and lower capacity.  Wound profiles are very similar to good 9mm ammo.  Eventually I sold it, it's more or less a solution looking for a problem.

My SIG229 has both a 40 and .357SIG barrel. I shoot the .357Sig 90% of the time.

I put a couple boxes of .357 sig 124 grain HPs through my M&P FS this weekend.  Didn't really notice it being bad.

Then I shot my new CZ P09 in 9MM and the 9MM was like shooting a .22.  My brother shot my M&P, his 1911 and then my CZ and he was joking about it being a pop gun compared to the recoil of the other 2 handguns.

I like the cartridge.  Just tired of fighting pistols (M31 doesn't shoot good groups and feels like handling a 2X2 and the M&P just hasn't been reliable and it keyholes badly several rounds out of each magazine - same reloads the Glock does not keyhole with, but the M&P does for some reason).

I need to get a .357 SIG barrel for a P07, then I'll be set.

I have a sig 226 with both the 357 sig barrel and 40. Due to ammo availability, the 357 doesn't get shot as much until I can build up my ammo fort. It's a fun cartridge, the muzzle blast is definitely there and it is very very loud.

I am really starting to appreciate .357Sig. I shoot a G31C and you can get some impressive velocity from a 125gr. bullet. For pure penetration it has a lot going for it. Recoil is very manageable and it is easy to reacquire the sight picture for quick follow-up shots.

That being said I am not giving up my G19 for CC anytime soon.

Slightly less recoil than .40. More recoil than 9mm.

Lots of muzzle flash regardless of ammo type.

I've always found it very flat shooting and accurate. I was testing a .357 Sig 1911 and easily made repeatable body shots on 3/4 size steel at 100m. Something I just can't do with other guns or calibers (even 9mm,.40, or .45 1911s) with any regularity.

ETA: Just like .40 it wears a gun significantly faster than 9mm.

I looked at them back then, and I looked at them here as of recent actually.  They are a really cool round, and have some good attributes to it.  BUT, like Combat Jack pointed out, there are just too many things that you can get, that are too close, way way cheaper.  

It's too bad they never seriously took off, seing as how they are pretty dang nifty.    They are not a 45GAP by any means, but they are far from popular to a point of serious viability.

I had a P229 in .40S&W that wasn't really turning my crank.  After hearing the conversion was merely a barrel swap, I bought a used .357 barrel.  Now that P229 is my most accurate handgun and my friend who hates Sigs has been trying to talk me into a sale or trade for years after reluctantly shooting it.  From there, I forayed into a HK P2000 LEM and 3 Glock 32's (a Gen 2 and 2 Gen 3's).  I really like the round.  I found that the Glock 32 (and probably 31 and 33) can be found used for cheaper than the comparable Glock 19 or 23 due to caliber.  All those handguns seem more accurate to me than the 9mm versions of the same model that I own.  It may be perception, but the targets sure look better.  357Sig isn't very fun in an indoor range, but it is better than my Glock 20C was with hot ammo.  It's also more expensive to shoot than 9mm.  Funny thing was during the latest ammo shortage, I could often find 357 when almost no other handgun ammunition was to be found.  But since things have loosened up a little, I only occasionally find WWB 357 at Mao Mart (~$25/50) or way overpriced HP's at the LGS, Academy or Cabelas.  I have some irrational reluctance to pay >$1 per round for handgun ammo, but at gun shows HST's and Ranger in 50 round boxes are comparable to and often less than the 9mm versions with those bullets.  So, I have become a fan of that caliber, just not to the point of supplanting the more mainstream calibers.  I can't speak to the USPC in 357, but the P2000 with the LEM v4 TGS is sweet.  The journey in search of my grail gun/load is part of the fun/obsession.

I love my M&P in .357SIg. It handles both .40 and 9mm with just a simple barrel swap.

I really like my HK USPc in .357 Sig but do not shoot it much because I do not reload the sig and ammo is not cheap.

I love my 357 sigs glock 32 and 33.  It is a great self defense round.  There was a lot of studies done with experts much more educate than me in ballistics before the secret service decided to use it.

When at the indoor range and I shoot my 357 sig, People stop and look because the sound is that much louder.

Buy a barrel. I bought a .357 Sig barrel for my Glock 23, uses the same .40 cal mags.

The Glock magazine followers are different however.

I wish ATK or Winchester would design a new 147gr bullet for the 357sig high velocity. and skip the 115-125gr bullets.

The OLD 147gr XTP-HP has a lot of penetration according to there test I saw.  I think it was 18inches


I like the 40S&W 180gr loadings and think they are  best of all the loads on Dr. list.  Ranger 180B and 180gr HST are my to favorites I use in my P229.

I also started ccw in 9mm again. I even use a load that Doc didn't list. 124gr HST because the standard pressure  124 loads have less recoil than the 124+P and 147gr HST.

I have a  98 P229 40S&W that I will never give up. It can keep rounds touching using 180 and 200gr JHP hand loads.

I've heard guys brag about  HK P30 being the most accurate. I will take my P229 over my P30S 9mm any day. (BTW  P229 40cal / 180gr has less recoil than P30S and shooting 147gr)

Haven't bought a 357sig barrel yet. I wouldn't mind having even more accuracy than the above.

I've only shot .357 Sig out of M&P's; but I've shot the caliber many times. I love my M&P40(mid-size) and Compact models. I carry the "C" 90% of the time with Federal HST 180 grain. That said, my brothers M&P in .357Sig recoils harder in any loading I've tried than a 180 grain .40 load. It might just be because the M&P was designed to be a .40 first, then a .357sig and 9mm. M&P really tamed the recoil in .40 using 180 grain loadings, (most popular loading anyways in ball and HP rounds). I equate it to shooting a 9mmNato ball round out of a Beretta 92fs. For the guys stating the .40 recoils more than a .357Sig;  I'm going to assume most are talking about 155 & 165 grain loads. My experience in .40 has been great (M&P series) and is a very accurate round that hits hard in almost any loading. My favorites being Ranger B's and HST's always in 180's... YMMV.

My father in law gave me a HK P2000sk in 357 sig as a wedding gift. It's a cool round, but I use the .40 barrel 98% of the time. For carry too.

I'll carry the .357 in it though as soon as I pony up the cash for some quality SD ammo.

ETA I carry a G26 most of the time with +p 124gr Gold Dots and in no way do I feel undergunned.

For a long while I had a G32 barrel for my G23.  I do like the 357 Sig, it did recoil a little less than a .40, but louder, which echoes what most say about it.   Accuracy was very good too and I had some decent bullets for it, mainly 125gr Gold Dots, HST's and Ranger T's.   For me though, I like bigger bullets and for the G19/23/17/22 sized Glocks, the .40 offers the biggest bullet (not counting the fat slided 45 GAP).  For me I'd rather have a bigger bullet with good energy than a smaller bullet with similar energy, and while I don't doubt the effectiveness of it, I've never liked the idea of going smaller just to gain a few ft-lbs.  But I can see why many like the 357 Sig.