Happiness is a new gun 2

[Bawanna]

You fixing to bob and buff it? Had to look it up, nice looking gun.

[Armybrat]

I almost bought a T9 Elite back in the day.
Had no idea they would become unicorns

IMO, those are the most beautiful semiautos ever designed.
The graceful simplicity & quality are stunning to me.

[dao]

First time I've seen one in the wild with the frontstrap checkering. They do exist!

[rx7sig]

Well with all this NEW GUN talk I went and had a Sig M11A1 follow me home.

Nice! But guaranteed, if you get a 357SIG upper, then you will seldom shoot it in 9mm again!

rx7sig

[Barth]

Nice! But guaranteed, if you get a 357SIG upper, then you will seldom shoot it in 9mm again!

rx7sig

I've got twin P229s I picked up LNIB on the cheap.
Have 40 and 357 barrels for both.
But the 357 barrels are what live in the guns

[dao]

I've never quite understood the attraction to .357Sig. Of course I've never really pursued the answer before. What are the things about the caliber that make you like it so much Barth? As compared to say, .40S&W.

[Barth]

I've never quite understood the attraction to .357Sig. Of course I've never really pursued the answer before. What are the things about the caliber that make you like it so much Barth? As compared to say, .40S&W.

My thoughts for what it's worth -

As LE transitioned from revolvers to semi-automatics,
many officers missed and longed for the performance of the venerable 357 Magnum.
In the field, junkyard dogs and felons on drugs just seems to anchor better with the Magnum round.
They wanted a semi-auto with that kind of performance.
Sig, in partnership with Federal, realized that by necking down a 40 S&W cartridge
they could duplicate 357 Magnum 4"-barrel 125 gr @ 1,450 fps performance.
The 357 Sig round was born

That's why I'm such a big fan.

Microsoft showed the world how important first to market can be.
40 S&W beat 357 Sig to market.
Also, the 357 Sig bottle neck cartridge was more expensive to produce.
And in full power runs at a higher pressure than 40 S&W.
Real or perceived, 357 Sig was viewed as having more recoil and concussion than 40 S&W.
Also, it seemed the full power higher pressure round was wearing out guns quicker.
In response most all large ammunition manufacturers watered down 357 Sig to 1,350 fps.
I'm guessing approximating 40 S&W pressure.
IMHO that erased the real advantage of 357 Sig
Now you've got two cartridges that perform very much the same.
With 357 Sig being more expensive and 40 S&W already owning a large share of the market.
The 357 Sig round never really caught on and has become much like 10mm (niche market).
Today you have to go with small expensive companies (Underwood, CorBon, DoubleTap ...) to get full power 357 Sig Performance.

Note: My preferred carry load is Underwood GDHP 125 gr @ 1,475 fps.

[dao]

Yep, I get all that. I frequent other boards as well, and it seems like there are a lot of people who view the .357Sig as some sort of holy grail. Including those who already have a .40S&W gun but switch it over to .357Sig with a barrel swap, because they feel, and even in the case of some people who have never even shot .357, that it is the best that can be had. Doesn't matter to me as I've never been that dedicated to one single cartridge and am open to everything. I'm not saying it isn't better than another caliber either. I've owned a .357bbl and mags for one of my P239's but sold them along with 4 boxes of ammo, without ever even shooting it. Never shot 10mm either, but I do still have .380, 9mm, .45acp, 45Colt, and .22LR. The thing that has kept me from going down the .357 road is cost of the ammo, and the reports of the very high sound volume of the rounds being fired. And because I no longer spend much time in the woods I've never owned a 10mm. Recoil never bothered me when I was younger, though I do admit I feel it now more than I did then.

[Bawanna]

We tested and considered going to 357 Sig at my old dept briefly. Thing I loved most was the bottle neck cartridge. The feed like chickens thru an egg. Super slick. Due to cost for ammo, and all things needed they didn't go that way.
I still have a K40 that I hang onto in case of another ammo pandemic. If I was shopping for a 40 or 357, I believe I'd go for the 357 myself. Never had a real desire for a 10mm. Course I will never abandon the 45. All ammo now days is ridiculous price wise. It's like gas, they create a shortage, jack the price up, everybody gets used to it and they drop the price to 3 times what it should be and everybody is oh happy day, gas is cheap. Same with ammo.
I'm getting semi low on 45, but I got lots of cases and bullets, I can always crank up the press when needed.

[jeepster09]

I have all my bases covered with Sig.....I have ALL the calibers