I shoot a 9mm H&K USP V1 and I consider myself fairly good with it.  I think I could at least win a gunfight against several unarmed men.  Anyway, I am very used to shooting the 9mm cartridge, and always consider it first on any purchase.

I am getting ready to purchase a Sig 226 and I have the dilemma of picking a new caliber.  I think 9mm because I already shoot it, and I always trust the U.S. Navy Seals in their equipment choices.

But, the Sig .357 seems like it would be nice.

So my question.  Is the cost difference for the .357 worth it to move up in caliber.  I have heard it is loud, but will I notice a difference?

I also trust the U.S. Secret Service in their equipment choices, as it can't fail

My P226 is in 9mm.  It's just a better choice all around.  The price is one thing, the huge availability is another.  As far as "hot loads" are concerned, you have Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P and several Hornady TAP/FPD choices.

A lot of my fellow 226 friends purchased the .40 and do the conversion.  The newer P226 (.40's) have a stiff enough spring for both .357Sig &  .40S&W

Like you I'm simply partial to the good ole 9mm.  (.357sig is a Hobby)
$0.02

I would stick with the 9mm. If you want some hot loads try www.doubletapammo.com

It depends on its purpose. For self defense I would go with a .40. Not extremely expensive to practice with and an excellent defense round.
357 is quite expenseive for high volume practice. The 9mm is also a good choice and by far the best for practice due to low cost ($11/100). Not knocking the 9mm for defense though.. But consider that you will love shooting the 226 SO Much that you may go through A Lot of ammo..

Are the .357 barrels interchangeable with the 9mm 226 frame like the 40's are, and visa versa?

Hmmm....Yeah, I think if you buy a 357 or .40 Sig P226, you can convert it to 9mm. I don't have any other information on that though. So I might be wrong.

If you are buying the weapon for self defense, I'd go for the 357. If you just want a shooting gun, that you might occasionally use for self defense, get the 9mm.

Get the 226 in 9mm.  Then get a 239 in 357 sig.

I have two 226's, a 229, and a 239, all in .357SIG. I like the round a lot. Its very accurate and easy to shoot well with.

The biggest thing I've noticed about the round is, there are a lot of people who bad mouth it, most who I personally believe have never even shot one, as everyone I've talked to that have one seem to love it.

I keep hearing people bitch about it being loud, but I dont notice it being so. I also dont find the recoil to be any worse than anything else. The noise and recoil seem to be the two biggest complaints on the internet, and again, I suspect its from people who have never shot one.

Price over standard 9mm is going to be more, but this can be a little deceiving. I believe in practicing with ammo in the power range I intend to shoot with. Shooting standard 9mm for practice and +P+ for carry is like using .38 wadcutters for practice out of your .357MAG, a not so realistic thing, and you will instantly know the difference when you pull the trigger. If you compare 9mm to .357 here, you have to bump the 9mm practice ammo up by a lot to do this, in both power and price. I also dont believe the 9mm pistols are built to shoot +P or +P+ rated ammo on a constant basis.

In .357SIG, I use either Speer Lawman or Federal AE which I get from Ammoman mostly and it costs me $119/500 or $219/1000 delivered. I use Speer God Dots for carry which cost me $18/50 from Streichers. They are all loaded to basically the same power level.  The more or less equivalent 9mm (9mm (+P+) 124GR. FEDERAL P9HS3G) also from Ammoman costs $250/500.($25/50)  I have this 9mm for my MP5 and have shot some out of my High Power. Its not something I'd want to do very often out of the HP and the difference between it and standard 9mm is instantly obvious when you pull the trigger. Ammoman also has NATO 9mm which is a little hotter than standard for $175/1000, which is a little cheaper than the .357, but your still not using what you shoot to practice with.

I think if you go with the .357 you wont be disappointed.

The .357 sig is a hot little round, it beat out .45acp, .40 S&W, 9mm and I believe one other pistol round in an auto-body penetration test I saw not too long ago. I used to work with a guy that carried a glock G-whatever chambered in it and I shot a few mags through his. I much prefer it over .40S&W, the recoil characteristics were better and my groups were tighter. The major drawback that I can see is finding ammo for it in murphy situations, a lot of your chain or smaller places still don't stock it. If you feel like you can get by with the ammo you have on hand I wouldn't consider that a reason to avoid buying one.

There is nothing wrong with a 226 in 9mm though.

See if a local PD carries a weapon in 357 sig. Then go to the gun shop closest to the PD, I'd almost bet money they stock ammo in the 357.

There's plenty of all types readily available over the web and phone. Buy it in bulk, and just like anything else, its cheaper and delivered right to your door. You dont need to go anywhere.  

Quoted: Are the .357 barrels interchangeable with the 9mm 226 frame like the 40's are, and visa versa?

No, the 9mm version doesn't have the exact same dimensions in the slide and magazine well as the .40/.357 model (I think).

Personally, I prefer the .40S&W, primarily because I live in NY where magazines are still restricted, and I would prefer 10 .40 rounds over 10 9mm rounds.  Secondly, .40's aren't much more expensive that 9's, and I can reload .40's.  Plus, being able to switch between .40 and .357 is a selling point to me, so I could practice on the cheaper .40 loads and use the .357SIG as a defensive round in the very same pistol chassis.

People who dog on .357 are just jealous.

I've got a P228 in 9mm that I shoot the hell out of, and a P229 in .357 with a .40 conversion barrel.  I got the .40 barrel so I could shoot the P229 more often for less money, and so more ammo would be available in a SHTF situation.  

In any urban self defense situation, I'd rather have the 15+1 capacity of the 9mm, which is loaded with 124grn +P Speer Gold Dots (Sigs are fine to shoot with +P or NATO ammo, btw).  However, if I am hiking in Colorado this summer, I'll be packing the P229 with the .357 barrel, and some of that hot shit from doubletap.  Some of doubletaps .357 loads will get 1500fps out of a P226, and thats just a very cool thing

We are issed the P-226 DAK in .357 Sig; if it weren't for the fact that the department issues us the ammo to practice with and carry, I'd rather doubt that I'd choose a Sig in .357 Sig caliber.  The cost of the ammo would be prohibitive to me.

It's a great round and all, but I still like shooting my G19.

The .40 and 357 Sig models are interchangable between each caliber with factory or aftermarket  barrels. There are aftermarket barrels that allow converting from .40 or 357 to 9mm but you can't go from 9mm to .40 or 357.

I love the 357 Sig round.href=www.topgunsupply.com

Is there any fitting to using these aftermarket barrels or do they drop right in?  What does that do for the warranty?  Can this damage the gun in any way or affect overall performance of the orginal pistol configuration?

i say go with what you can afford to feed and shoot regularly.  i have a friend who has a .357 and i love shooting it, but he doesn't go out to the range often because of the price of ammo.

.357 is fun to shoot.  consider how pleasant it would be to fire that round in a room without ear protection along with the large muzzle flash in pitch black of night.  

like with everything else, go with what you are proficient in and work it out

.357 is fun to shoot. consider how pleasant it would be to fire that round in a room without ear protection along with the large muzzle flash in pitch black of night.

Well, for me, it would be like anything else. I've got ringing in my ears as I type, so I really dont see what it matters. ANYTHING fired indoors is going to do your hearing in.

As for muzzle flash, I dont notice any real difference in flash from any of my other autos. Now a 2-4".357mag is a whole different story.