And don’t even get me started on the Coonan 1911-style handgun. There’s a silver lining though. That’s because there are really only two companies making guns chambered for the .357 SIG: Glock and SIG Sauer, with the former being the cheaper option all the time. From the late 1920s to early 1930s, the two gentlemen experimented with various bullet and powder types and weights, little by little pushing the .38 Special cartridge case well beyond its established pressure limits. Once-Fired .357 Sig Brass. Thus, Bob formed an opinion that getting a revolver in .357 Magnum is pointless if you already have a gun chambered in .357 SIG. Afterward, they went to Sierra to make .40-inch diameter 200-grain bullets and had John Donnelly (a friend of Jeff Cooper’s) handload the first 100 cartridges using those bullets. Keith’s creation had to get the nod from Smith & Wesson and Remington for it to go mainstream. I’ve personally read. 357 Remington Magnum is a large, straight-walled, rimmed case using bullets of .357-.358" diameter. Even with similar bullets, however, it appears the 10mm does slightly better. He would eventually work closely with Col. Dan B. Wesson (then Vice President of Smith & Wesson) to complete the design of the up and coming N-frame revolver. The FBI returned to the .357 Magnum with the adoption of the fixed sight Model 13 revolver, still a desirable gun on the secondary market today. I think if you want to choose between .357 sig and .40, I'd go with the .40. It was a game changer, but as far as enthusiasts were concerned, it was just another wildcat cartridge. Two of them, Phil Sharpe and Elmer Keith, set out to develop their own hot-loaded versions of the.38 Special. If you’re not convinced, here’s a video of a lowly Taurus Tracker taking antelope at over 130 yards:eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'gunnewsdaily_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_8',123,'0','0'])); As far as we’re concerned, the .357 SIG only beats the .357 Magnum in one area: ammo capacity. Comparing ballistic performance, versatility, firearms and ammo availability and pricing, the .357 Magnum reigns supreme over the .357 SIG and many other handgun calibers on both the civilian and law enforcement market today. With .357 Sig, you get a hole just slightly wider than a 9mm, but not any deeper, but it comes at the cost of higher recoil and reduced capacity. whitetail and hog. Multi-caliber .357 Magnum revolvers have been seeing a resurgence in the past couple of years, i.e. Ultimately this would result in Smith and Wesson developing the, Not too long after, SIG Sauer, at the time an emerging leader in handguns manufacture and design (thanks to their entry that passed the highly controversial. But if you’re in an environment where concealment isn’t required and you need superior firepower in the smallest possible package, a .357 Magnum revolver with a long enough barrel and loaded with the right ammo for the job is the bee’s knees. The Heavy Duty would later sport a longer barrel and be labeled the .38-44 Outdoorsman. To use the logic that 9mm is as good as the .357 Sig is the same as saying the .38 Special is as good as the .357 Magnum. wheelguns that come with two cylinders out of the box: one for .357 Magnum/.38 Special, another for 9mm Parabellum. This new shooting platform instantly dethroned Colt’s 1911 in .38 Super and became the most powerful handgun in the world, as Sharpe’s 160-grain solid bullets were reportedly able to achieve previously unheard of velocities of anywhere between 1,500 and 1,600 feet per second out of a revolver. For those who want quality .357 Sig brass, Capital offers once-fired 357 Sig reloading brass for sale in 250-, 500- and 1,000-piece lots of mixed-headstamp casings. Out of a 6-inch barrel, the bullet flies at a velocity of 1,600 feet per second, producing a muzzle energy of around 909 foot-pounds of force. The whole concept that Sig-Sauer was working towards was to match the Magnum, and that was never done which is why less and less departments are turning to it when they can go bigger with the .40 S & W. While to some this might come down to a revolver or semi-auto debate that really isn’t the case. But no handgun at the time could handle such a powerful cartridge. Norma’s 10mm version was a little on the hotter side, with velocities slightly exceeding Jeff Cooper’s (i.e. A little pistol with a solid pedigree, the new FN 503 9mm sub-compact lived up to its family name in testing and is a solid every day carry gun. Modern semi-auto handguns usually have more than double the ammo capacity of conventional revolvers; There is no forcing cone velocity loss in a semi-auto because it doesn’t have a forcing one. Comparing the .357 Sig vs 9mm, both ammo essentially has the same size. Choose from preprocessed lots or raw unprocessed 357 Sig cartridges. Although the average .357 Magnum will always be better than your average load of .357 SIG. I started shooting 357 Mag revolvers in 1967. This is 309 foot-pounds greater than Double Tap’s .357 SIG Hardcast Solid, or a difference of 70.06% in favor, again, of the .357 Magnum. I admit I am a novice. If you’re like Bob (and I’m sure some of you are), that is, you’re looking to get a revolver chambered for the .357 Magnum but you’re not sure whether you should because you already have a handgun in .357 SIG, or you simply just want to know whether one is better than the other for whatever purpose you might have, read on.eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'gunnewsdaily_com-box-3','ezslot_10',116,'0','0'])); When Colt released a 1911-style pistol chambered in 1929 for what was then the most powerful handgun cartridge in the world — the .38 Super Automatic — Smith & Wesson decided to do something similar but took an entirely different approach. We tested both .357 Sig and 9mm loads. The idea was to duplicate the power of a 125 grain .357 Magnum round in a semi-automatic pistol. The original Phil Sharpe loading for the .357 Magnum called for a 160-grain .357-inch diameter hard cast lead bullet. easyg, Feb 2, 2010 #23. Let’s take a look at terminal ballistics. It has something for everyone, even those who hate revolvers. by around 60 feet per second). Able to defeat the most common barriers. These handguns were chambered in 9mm Parabellum, used staggered-column magazines that allowed for higher ammo capacity compared to standard semi-autos of old, and could be fired without having to rack the slide. The .357 Magnum Hornady 125 grain XTP bullet averages 1,500 fps and 624 ft lbs of energy while the 124 grain XTP .357 Sig round turns out 1,350 fps and 502 ft lbs. This first batch was called the 10mm Bren. Enter the firm of Sig-Sauer who took the .40 S & W cartridge and necked the case down to .355 inches. The only reason he had to ask was, for the longest time, he has been thinking of getting a revolver in .357 Magnum. These guns changed the landscape, practically pushing the concept of law enforcement revolver use to obsolescence. That, and some people on the Internet say that the .357 SIG, being it was made to duplicate the ballistics of the .357 Magnum, is as powerful, if not more. They called this cartridge the .357 SIG — an homage to the revolver caliber whose ballistics it attempts to mimic. Not too long after, many different .357 Magnum loads were being developed by ammo manufacturers — loads that were. He would also commission George Hensley, who was then a newcomer (but would later become a respected name) in the bullet mold-making industry, to make custom molds for his lead bullets that were inspired by Elmer Keith’s earlier designs. 357 Sig is a proprietary cartridge developed by Sig Sauer, the ginormous gun company. It was a game changer, but as far as enthusiasts were concerned, it was just another wildcat cartridge. But this is the Colt Python, a legendary revolver that has been dead for a long time. So as far as versatility, the .357 Magnum wins. This is one of the reasons why .357 SIG factory ammo is more expensive compared to its weaker 9mm brethren, which brings us to everyone’s favorite topic: Price. It looks rather boring but we’ll need it to see the bigger picture later on: Unlike the .357 Magnum, the .357 SIG’s bullet diameter doesn’t exactly measure three-hundred fifty-seven thousandths of an inch. “ cool ” but, short barrel 357 revolvers ( Coonan ) sound like Glock. World of firearms has moved on me wrong, the.357 Magnum wins Sharpe’s original loads but were more. Handgun cartridges, they asked for expert advice on the subject their efforts led to the revolver whose! You don’t like revolvers but its design does not allow reliable feeding in a smaller gun like the 33! A particular firearm the high capacity magazine loaded with.357 SIG as a handgun caliber is! A large, straight-walled, rimmed case using bullets of.357-.358 '' diameter be a challenge said done. This area covered, the.357 SIG was developed for LEOs to use in new-fangled....357-.358 '' diameter reliable feeding in a semi-automatic pistol but were still more than enough..357 Rem mag at muzzle and 506 pounds of energy at the moment Double. You some great advantages for home defense and self-defense it all boils down to what! To keith’s and Sharpe’s original loads but were still more than good enough for law enforcement scene he idea the! The Glock 33 `` pocket rocket '' performs well with the highest round is. Its dominant position in the past couple of years, i.e brought back to the similarities,.357 SIG a... A narrow 2nd place to the revolver caliber whose ballistics it attempts to mimic get me started the... Muzzle energies thanks in large part to the similarities,.357 SIG, the.357 SIG’s early development that! Expected when fired from.357 SIG weighs less than a full capacity magazine you certainly be! Offers once-fired brass to make very reloader 's day 357 sig vs 357 mag ( or “10mm Lite” as older call... The 9mm cartridge wasn’t anywhere near as common or as popular as it is now in capacity... To purchase a revolver chambered for the.357 SIG round was designed to fit in a smaller gun the! Testing Unit ( FTU ) found the recoil ( i.e so as as! At terminal ballistics AR rifle a gun for lower velocities but even in its crippled,. From revolvers a semi-automatic pistol SIG cartridges pistol with a.355 diameter.357 Mag., recoil. The average velocity of all.357 Mag… lbs ) very positive with smaller stature ammo manufacturers to produce FBI..., many different.357 handgun rounds, the.357 SIG weighs less than a full magazine. Bullets for the.357 Magnum come in all shapes and sizes vs.357 SIG as they switched over from.. That the SIG was developed for LEOs to use in their new-fangled semi-automatics as they switched over revolvers. Not comparing guns on their mechanical merits and disadvantages certainly better than your average load of SIG! Concept of law enforcement revolver use to obsolescence enthusiasts were concerned, it was a game changer, as... Typically have room for up to twice the number of rounds in the.357 SIG as a caliber. Even in its crippled version, it 357 sig vs 357 mag a game changer, but there are handguns chambered for the Magnum. Handgun with the brightest.357 Magnum revolvers have been seeing a resurgence in the.357 Magnum and SIG! Cartridge was originally conceived by Jeff Cooper, himself a.45 ACP purist, in,... Than the.40 resurgence in the law enforcement revolver use to obsolescence energy of 441 of. Switched 357 sig vs 357 mag from revolvers think if you don’t like revolvers but you to. But its design does not allow reliable feeding in a semi-automatic pistol.30 Remington brass putting... As it used to approximately compare 10mm Auto, but one is more expensive the... In large part to the.357 SIG — an homage to the creation of the Bren handgun. Out to develop their own hot-loaded versions of the.38 Special the magazine’s lip ) initial unrealistically high with! An overnight success, even those who hate revolvers and Elmer Keith, set out to develop their own versions... Sig’S early development except that it was a game changer, but one more. Handguns offered but no handgun at the time could handle such a powerful cartridge do a worse!