Solid choice.

Photo request. All three slides upside down with barrels removed to see the milling under the slide.

I am a fan of light and fast unless I am out hiking. Then will stick with heavier projectiles.

Any of the double tap or underwood loads are good to go. 115gr is what I usually look for and I’ve never been interested in the copper only bullets.

Strangely for ball plinking ammo. This stuff also is great. They list it as 650ft lb of energy but don’t give the test gun or barrel length information. https://ppu-usa.com/ppu/357-sig/ I have a chronograph and eventually will test it out. That ammo seems hard to find lately though.

No, I've never been to a train assault course or worried if my carry round could penetrate through a beverage cart.

There is no magic cartridge - only different compromises.

Almost 1600fps for 125g?!
I'm going to look for this stuff.

How about 7.5 grains Unique, and a pull-down Speer Gold Dot?

13-cent shipped - Bullets here:
https://americanreloading.com/product/9mm-124gr-gold-dot-pulled-500ct/

Quickload says...

Attached File

Can I get that transaleted into Freedom measures?

Ewwwww. Hell naw. If it doesn’t have more ass than that behind it you might as well shoot 9mm.

For you then, 147 cast lead with a full case of Bullseye.

Would like tkk ok see what that would do. Might need to find a Thompson Contender for that load though.

@NachoDip
9/357/40

Thank you!

How did the 357 Sig perform, and what bullet type was tested for it?

What other testing did they do on 357 Sig and how did it perform compared to 9mm and 40?



No one currently loads 357 Sig to its full potential.  Original spec was 1,450 fps with a 125 grain bullet from a 4" barrel.  Most factory and even boutique brands like Underwood, load it slower than that.  I've gotten some underwood ammo that exceeded the spec, but it is not within their loading criteria.  Their spec is 1,475fps from a 4.5" barrel.  Peak pressure for 357 Sig exceeds that of 40, so can be loaded hotter but no one does it.

In my opinion, the best current defensive loads for 357 Sig are (in no particular order):

1. The Underwood 124gr Nosler bullet round
2. The Underwood 68 grain Xtreme Defense solid copper bullet round
3. Speer Gold Dot
4. HST / Sig Performance

To get true peak power though, you'll have to hand load it.  You could easily get a 124 / 125 grain projectile up to ~ 1,600 fps from a 4" barrel and still be within the pressure limits.    

I’d like to see some load data for 1600fps 124gr from 4” none of the books I’ve consulted show it close to that. Of course I’ve loaded 38 super that was well above what people consider it will do.

Round was Speer Lawman 124 GDHP.  In a number of the barrier tests the 9mm and 40 both deflected more going through the barrier and resulted in poor hits on target.  I wish I could tell you the exact ammo in 40 and 9mm, but I don't recall. I prefer the 357 Sig because it has considerably less drop than the other two out to 100 yards. Although, there is probably comparable 9mm ammo now.

Max pressure for 10mm and 9x25 dillion is 37,500 psi.  Max pressure for 357 sig is 40,000 psi.  You'll be hard pressed to find a reloading book that has 357 sig data anywhere close to max pressure.  Also, 124gr / 125gr @ 1,600 fps is not max pressure in a 357 Sig.

I hadn't considered Unique for 357 SIG before, but your information matches Alliants. I think they also show something like 6.6 gr max for 147s.

I would likely be suspect of any pistol caliber that couldn’t utilize unique

I meant at that performance level. Unique can work in damn near anything, but it's never the fastest or potentially the most accurate option for any given cartridge. It is probably the best candidate for the old "if I could only have one pistol powder" debate.

I’d agree with that not typically the fastest or the most accurate just there when you need it

Yeah.

But, it is a great cartridge but the cost is high.

Awesome. Thanks, I;m going to look for some if this stuff.

When you run handloads to mega-max because you are “still within pressure limits,” you have to wonder whether the firearm you are firing it in will be RELIABLE with that mega-max load.

The gun has to cycle normally, or you might as well be firing it in a T/C Contender.

And if the mega-max does cycle, what are you doing to the gun? How many rounds until that punishment causes the gun to fail? Do you know the warning signs to look for?

Will unusually-high ambient temperature cause that mega-max load to pressure-spike?

I get it that there is usually some headroom to boost velocity safely. But when you go there, you are signing up for duties to test and monitor that are far higher than “just using normal ammunition.”

It has never been a perfect solution, but it has always been a solution.

I still need a ball powder suitable for 357s top end velocities as originally designed. I've noticed the disappearance of powders like Ramshot Enforcer locally. And don't forget 800X. I emailed Hodgdon requesting they consider its return. Their exact response was: "Sorry, we won’t see 800x again.

There are other powders that will work in it place"

Like what?

Since this is a thread on 357 SIG, ima recommend a powder for the 357 SIG.
Winchester 572.  
Got higher than expected velocity right on the first try.
There are a big bunch that should work quite well.
AA N7, blue dot, that CFE that they keep trying to jamb down everyone's throats, power pistol.  

No idea what your one pound at a time local situation is.
I started hoarding powder 2 at a time the last panic.

Now a powder they should bring back is SR 7625.

I can't tell a difference in performance, can you?

I wouldn't say it's "easy" to get 1600 fps with a 125gr 357 SIG out of a 4" barrel.  

I've loaded the 357 SIG hot, real hot.  I even played around with loading actual .357 Mag bullets in the 357 SIG and got great results.

I'm well aware of what the 357 SIG can be loaded to, and to get 1600 fps from a 4" barrel you're really packing that case with some powder.  Now I did run 125gr XTP's (actual .357 Mag XTP's) to 1620 fps from a 4.5" barrel and nearly 1700 fps from a 6" with a rather full case of 800-X.  Not bad.  I like the cartridge, I just got out of it a while ago.

Also, nobody really loads any cartridge to absolute max, not even the boutique guys, it's just too big of a liability and something that can really only happen with handloading.  The problem is, how do you know when it's too much?  Gun blows up in your face?  That's not fun. It's neat to see what a cartridge is capable of, the .40 will run a 135gr JHP faster than a 357 SIG will run a 125gr, but probably very few care about that.  But again, seeing what a cartridge is capable of is fun, but some people fall into the trap of thinking they need every last drop of velocity for something to be effective, as though a 125gr 357 SIG at 1450 fps just won't work when it could be ran at 1600 fps.  I wouldn't want to shoot any cartridge at absolute max all of the time, maybe from time to time, but not ALL of the time...that is unless I hated the gun and my wrists.

I was planning on trying 357 bullets for SIG as well. The biggest drawback for 357 SIG is the lack of 9mm bullets bullets that can retain their integrity at 1400+ fps. How did the accuracy work out for you? My only planned prep is to slug my SIG barrel to make certain it isn't freakishly tight or anything. I still have a small amount of 800X left.