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Old November 19, 2008, 09:27 PM   #1
benzuncle
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Anyone loading 357Sig Rounds?

I had the privilege recently of firing 100 rounds through a Sig Sauer chambered in .357Sig and really, really liked the caliber. I liked it enough to consider purchasing another Sig chambered in that round. But doing so will hinge on the possiblity of reloading. Does anyone have any advice/experience loading said round that you would be willing to share?
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Old November 19, 2008, 10:35 PM   #2
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I haven't loaded the 357 Sig, and wouldn't want to. I would be concerned with bullet set back, by the design alone, as well as having the difficult and expensive time of loading the right bullets for it. I'm not sure if you can use your standard 9mm .355 115 grain bullet, as it would create OAL problems. This round is very sensitive to OAL in regards to pressure, more importantly, over pressure. The 125 grain bullets to load for it properly are more expensive. I wouldn't use lead unless I was running velocities around 1,000 fps, in which, I'd just get myself a 9mm and shoot factory loads all day for less anyhow. Even loading mid range loads for the sig you're right at your typical 9mm, so, bahhhhhhh.
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Old November 20, 2008, 12:17 AM   #3
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It's not complicated. I roll 115's and 124's. Its not much different than loading 9mm, just more powder! Brass doesn't last too long, though. This is a fairly high pressure cartridge at up to 40,000 psi compared to 9mm at around 32,000 psi and .45acp at about 20,000.

The case splits sooner than my other cartridges. It doesn't affect reliability, just longevity of the brass. Even first loading, I lose one here and there to a split neck.

I had problems with my RCBS .357sig die set (too long of headspace) but my Lee dies work fine.

The only hitch is you gotta lube as it's a bottleneck. I use a lube die and/or smear a little lube in the hopper. But I lube my straightwalls, too. Long ogive 9mm bullets (Ranier) will not work. Do a search, there's a few of us here loading .357sig. It's a VERY fun round to shoot as you have found out!
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Old November 22, 2008, 02:23 PM   #4
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ooooops. Got the tables crossed up.

Lee book says a gain of 100fps in similar .357 sig loads. Glock owners manual says more like 225 fps, like Seven's says below. Gotta drink less coffee while surfing! :P

20% more velocity, but about 50% more muzzle energy.
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Last edited by totalloser; November 22, 2008 at 10:04 PM.
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Old November 22, 2008, 03:54 PM   #5
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Umm, you aren't really saying the .357 Sig sends a bullet out of the bore at nearly 2,300 FPS are you? Am I reading that wrong?

Expect 200-300 fps more over similar 9mm loads.

As for loading it, some folks have said they size it twice with two different sizers and no case lube. They size the outside diameter with a carbide .40S&W/10mm sizing die, and size the neck with the .357 Sig die.

If you have a .40 cal Glock, a Lone Wolf barrel in .357 and your original .40 mags make for a quick, cheap, easy and scary accurate conversion. You will need .357 Sig brass however... I don't think you can form it from .40 brass.
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Old November 22, 2008, 05:05 PM   #6
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Yeah, I'd stay away from trying to form 357sig cases from .40s&w. The .40s&w is just a wee bit shorter, and there is little enough neck on the 357sig already. Some posters have said they do it all the time with no problem. But my Speer #13 book warns against it. I tried it once with a dummy (no powder, no primer) load, and couldn't get a good clamp on the bullet.

BlueDot is my powder for the 357sig. Fills up the case. No setback problem.

Finding inexpensive workable bullets is the major problem. .355 (9mm) is the correct size; maybe .356 (38 super). But most bullets have too much of a pointy nose. If you set the bullet far enough forward for the case to get a good grip, you are over the SAAMI max OAL and the finished cartridges won't fit in the magazine.

Speer #4362, 125gr, designed for 357sig, works great but is expensive.

Lead bullets may cause problems at 357sig speeds; and if you ain't going for 1300 fps or so, then put away the 357sig and just take yr 9mm. Glocks are not supposed to be fed lead anyhow, and my 357sig is a G-31.

Hornaday has a 9mm plated flat point bullet that is right on the ragged edge of seating safely. Regardless of what others say, I am convinced that the 357sig headspaces on the cartridge shoulder, and my RCBS dies put a roll crimp. So I bought a canelure device to put a grip ring in the bullets. Made some test batches. No setback problem, but have not had a chance to shoot them yet.
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Old November 22, 2008, 05:34 PM   #7
Peter M. Eick
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Tips as a hard core 357 sig user.

1) Get real sig brass
2) Use AA9 as it is almost perfectly suited for the sig. It supports the bullet so setback is not an issue.
3) Pretty much any reasonable bullet weight works well in my 229 sport, but I tend to shoot 115 Rem JHP's the most.
4) Make sure if you are not using AA9 that you have a bullet that won't set back.
5) Dillon carbide dies are worth it.
6) Lee FCD actually works well in this caliber.
7) RCBS has the best seater in my opinion.
8) 90 grn screamers can be driven into the 17XX fps range if you want to.
9) 147 XTP's are the most accurate bullets in my gun.
10) even with carbide dies, a touch of case lube is worth it.

Have fun. The sig is easy to load for if you follow these rules.
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Old November 23, 2008, 09:51 PM   #8
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A plethora of valuable information for me to digest. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. This caliber/firearm will probably be my next project; I'm making my plans...
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Old November 23, 2008, 11:14 PM   #9
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No different to load than any other caliber. 13gn AA#9 prevents bullet set back. Real sig brass. Do not over bell the case mouth.
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Old November 25, 2008, 04:34 AM   #10
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AA7 is SUPER SUPER cheap right now at www.hi-techammo.com if you don't mind bending a little on having a faster burning powder. I use No5, personally. But $80 per 8 pounds for the no7 at hi tech.

No 9 means a compressed load, though, right?
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Old November 25, 2008, 09:40 AM   #11
Peter M. Eick
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Yes it is generally compressed with AA9. That is the whole point!

If the charge is compressed already, you are getting extra support from bullet setback during the feed cycle. Now you are not just depending on the short case neck to hold the bullet in place, you are using the neck and the powder to support it. This is where you get the safety factor from.

AA9 is what all of my sig loads are made with for this very reason.
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Old November 25, 2008, 12:20 PM   #12
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Sig 357

I use the cases to make 8MM jap Nambu.

Works great.
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Old November 25, 2008, 05:53 PM   #13
benzuncle
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Thanks again guys for all the great info. I spoke with someone today that said he sizes the casing in a 40 S&W die, then runs it through the 357sig die and this eliminates the need to lube. Any thoughts on that?
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Old November 25, 2008, 08:24 PM   #14
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Well, as to case lube I have the RCBS case lube pad which I use for rifle cases as instructed, lube up the pad and roll the cases around on the pad, etc.

357sig cases are much shorter than typical rifle cases. I just pick up a little lube from the pad on my thumb and index finger every third case or so, and that transfers to the case as I slip the case into the case holder of the RCBS rock chucker single stage press. Works for me.

Per instruction of RCBS, the 357sig dies do not have a carbide steel insert so case lube is required. The case forming die should be set down to where the shell holder lightly presses the bottom of the die as the ram over-centers and locks at the top. (In contrast to forming dies with the hard-and-slick-but-brittle carbide steel insert, where there should be a small space between shell holder and die at the top of the stroke.)
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Old November 26, 2008, 09:41 PM   #15
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RE no9 I thought that's what you were getting at. Apparently Lee offers a factory crimp for .357 sig, now, too.

I use a RCBS lube die in station 1 to lube/decap. I think the RCBS decap system sucks, though, so I modded mine to take the Lee decap pin by precision drilling and tapping to 1/8"npt. Saves a step, but honestly I think a smear of case lube in the shell hopper is just as, if not more effective. Now I do both.

Still feeling stoopid for those erroneous numbers I posted previously :P I think I'm gonna give that .40 resize a try just for curiousity.

Huh, I just resized a few .40's to .357 sig. They grow longer consistently by .010" when sized. So they wind up being VERY slightly shorter (.005" to .007" shorter) than .357 brass. Hovering around .847" to .850" Where my .357sig brass seems to be about .855" I didn't expect that to be quite so easy or effective. My curiousity is sated, but I have TONS of .357sig OFB from Cheyenne, so I don't think I'll bother with this. Interesting, though.

PS I know everybody probably knows this, but just in case; I have had better luck avoiding setback upon chambering when SERIOUSLY limiting belling (flaring) the case mouth. I only bell just enough to allow the bullet to sit square on the mouth before seating.

And my favorite bullet (.357 sig is picky as noted above) is the 124 grain Remington match hollowpoint. A real bargain. This should IMO be the stick to measure against ALL .355/.356 projectiles due to the remarkably low cost for such a high quality bullet. Obviously capable of noteworthy accuracy, too. 9 cents per projectile from www.midwayusa.com 2000 bulk for $182. They were more like 10.5 cents last time I bought them.
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Last edited by totalloser; November 27, 2008 at 12:55 AM.
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