is the .357 sig a dead round?

[Lynyrd]

I am considering a P226 in .357 but it seems like it is not a very popular round. I'm worried it will become less and less popular and die out. Can I get some of your perspective on this round? Good points and bad?

[Bullzaye]

I love mine. From my perspective...it seems that factory .357 Sig has become more available, and less expensive. I don't think it's dead at all...no!

[jls in az]

Ammo is widely available and it is a great round with ballistics approaching the 357 Magnum 125 grain cop load. I'm going to try and take a deer with one this year.

[AZ_Five56]

I don't think it's dead, but it's more on the exotic side as far as handgun rounds go. The great thing about .357 Sig on the P226 platform is that you can swap out the barrel to change over to .40 S&W. I'm not 100% sure if you have to swap out anything else like the recoil spring.

[Suck My Glock]

A 357 Sig PC in SBR form would actually be interesting to see if the longer barrel adds even more to the already awesome terminal ballistics of the Sig from just a handgun.

I agree with that. In fact, I have toyed with the idea of getting a CMMG Banshee with their radial delay/locking system in .357SIG and/or 10mm. Probably a 10in. bbl in either caliber. I'm also infatuated with the idea of a custom barrel version in 9x25Dillon. WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! 9mm pills at AK velocities!! (But as I reflect on it,...that could probably be achieved with .350Legend much more easily.)

My only complaint about the .357SIG is that it takes up too much space in the magazine, when 9x23Win. duplicates the performance, but holding more rounds in a magazine of the same length. In my dreams (where money is not a factor) I want to get a Caspian widebody 1911 carry gun in 9x23Win, which would give me 18 rounds per mag, but in a standard 1911 envelope. The same frame using .40 magazines for .357SIG only hold 16. Yeah, I know...that's only a 2 round difference. But lives have been lost or saved on such margins.

[QuietM4]

I don't know that it will ever die, but it will certainly only get more expensive and more difficult to find. It may be relatively reasonable in price and availability now, but 5 years from now? 10 years? Will you even have the gun in 2 years?

Go into a small gun shop and try to find a box of .45 GAP...or even a large gun shop.

[effjaybay]

That's why I have not bothered with it. I've downsized to common calibers.

This is also my reason I haven't made the jump to a new caliber. Although I've read great things about the .357 Sig over the years, I just can't do it. I would if I could though. I wish I had bought that damn $410 mil lottery ticket sold in Glendale that's all over the news today.

[doubletapp]

I don't think it's dead, but it's more on the exotic side as far as handgun rounds go. The great thing about .357 Sig on the P226 platform is that you can swap out the barrel to change over to .40 S&W. I'm not 100% sure if you have to swap out anything else like the recoil spring.

From a 10" to a 16" barrel the 357 sig zips down range at 1700 - 1800 fps

[cool arrow]

I guess I am the only one that didn't like the .357 SIG.

My first Glock was in .357 SIG, and I didn't like it. Too much muzzle flip and too long to re-acquire my target. I switched to .45 and liked it 1,000 times better.

[THE ICEMAN]

When I picked up my S&W M&P .40 a couple years ago I did it knowing I could get a .357 Sig barrel for it. Real easy swap... Two guns in one...

[pneuby]

I just don't perceive it as ever having had much life. It fared scads better than Glock's proprietary GAP round attempt. Heck, I've read there are a few Federal agencies still rocking it, Secret Service and Air Marshalls, IIRC. But ...as good as it may be, it suffers the same as the 10mm, just too scarce and too expensive.

[Pscipio03]

Dead? No. Boutique round at this point? Yes.
Good round? Yes.
Couple of downsides- 1. High pressure auto round that has a very low margin of error for handloading, so that rules it out for me.
2.Ammo expense. 3. Very snappy round. Almost not fun to shoot if you’re using full power factory loads. 4. The thing is a mini flame thrower. If you ever shoot one at night, even the venerable 10mm takes a step back for how much flame comes out the front.
I doubt it will die, just like the 38 Super and 9x23. They have their fans (I love 38 Super and 38 Super Comp) but they’ll never be mainstream.

[Bard]

I.M.O... it's roughly in the same price range as anything that isn't 9mm. The round has plenty going for it, as others have said, and if you aren't thrilled with it, spend the bucks for a conversion barrel to 40 S&W. Like the above poster said, the 357 sig isn't going anywhere, and neither is the 40, if you that direction

[792mauser]

Dead, no.
Moribund maybe.
I personally like the round. I have a P239 that for some reason I can shoot really well.
I reload for it, but I reload for dang near everything I shoot.

[Harrier]

When I picked up my S&W M&P .40 a couple years ago I did it knowing I could get a .357 Sig barrel for it. Real easy swap... Two guns in one...

and a 9mm bbl... 3 guns in one...