[AK103K]

Not picking on you here Airborne, but you just happened to list a lot of things that you often see stated, so you made it easy to stay focused.

It is a far more reliable feeder in a semi handgun than any straight-walled cartridge.

Having shot a goodly amount of .357SIG over the years, as well as .45acp, 9mm, and a few others, I never noticed the 357SIG being any more or less reliable than anything else. If anything, the 357SIG is more prone to bullet set back, if proper powder/loads (IE compressed loads) arent used.

2 - SIG 357 is loaded hotter and still remains within acceptable SAMMI standards.

While SAMMI may not have a published listing for +P+ 9mm, companies like Speer, Winchester, etc, seem to do have data for that loading and in fact do load to it.

I emailed Speer a number of years back over a similar "squabble" thread, and according to their engineer that responded, 357SIG and +P+ 9mm are both 40000 psi rounds, and both calibers, using similar type and weight bullets, will deliver similar performance.

I think a lot of the problem here, is emotion instead of actual facts. Its no different than any of the other "debates". Everyone likes "their" choice best, and will often go above and beyond to prove its worth.

4 - SIG 357 is a far more accurate, flatter shooting tack driving load.

Compared to what? Ive shot 357SIG, .40, and 9mm from the same guns, and cannot say I ever noticed one was more accurate than another.

5 - SIG 357 is a far better penetrator, especially against glass and heavy clothing. It's just a better overall, all-purpose pill for the serious shooter who carries for a living.

Far better? Better over all? All purpose? I have to say "not quite" to all. If anything, as I used to get told all the time, its a "one trick pony", and as much as I argued otherwise then, I see now that the quote is really closer to the truth than not. Most of the other calibers offer more versatility "overall".

The two advantages 9mm holds over SIG 357 are higher capacity mags and less recoil. And I typed all of the above as a true advocate of 9mm (which I carried for many years), especially with modern pills. But still, 9mm does not compare favorably to SIG 357.

You could add price of ammo, variety of loads, availability and variety of components, to the 9mm list for a couple more. The 357SIG is somewhat limited in those respects.

Less recoil doesnt apply to the +P+ loadings, and maybe one or two of the +p loadings as well, depending on whos 9mm ammo youre using. I used to shoot both 357SIG and +P+ 9mm from the same Glock 31 (as well as quite a bit of +P+ in a number of 17's), and and unless you saw the ammo go into the gun, and except for the "bark", you couldnt tell which was which was which by felt recoil. They handle and shoot pretty much identically.

One thing I did notice in the negative with the 357SIG was with my Glock 31. It was beating itself to death using run of the mill 357SIG loads. Something none of my 9mm's of the same "type" have ever shown doing. The 31 was peening the underside of the slide heavily, with no indication of stopping. My one 17 has a little over 50000 rounds through it now, with more factory +P+ through it than my 31 had 357SIG, and its barely showing some minor finish wear in the same spot on the slide that was peening on my 31. Now, this was never an issue with my SIG's, but it was a problem with the Glock, which I thought was kind of surprising.


If you like the 357SIG, thats cool, theres really nothing wrong with it, and its no different than anything else when it comes to having "faults", they all have some kind of some sort if you want to nit pick. For me, while I always liked the round, I just came to the realization that those who were saying its really no better than 9mm (or anything else for that matter) were right, and I could get more for my money going that route, especially when the ammo took off in price when Obama first got elected.