357 sig reloading data and outing!

jtduncan · December 22, 2001, 02:58 PM

Well, I got to spend a couple hours at WSI in Bellevue WA with my new Glock 32.

And boy is that 357 SIG is fun round to shoot. Feels like shooting 9mm +P+ or 40SW.

A Cailfornia tanned hottie and a couple of male friends peeped over my shoulder as I let the Glock 32 rip off a couple of mags of my reloads. It drew their attention and they were blowing through 45 ACP factory ammo boxes every couple of minutes. It was great. And her boyfriends sprayed all over the targets even at 5 yards. She did too but there is just something about a good looking woman at the range! Well, anyway, my targets looked great!

All my shots stayed in the black and at 5 yards, I was shooting .50" to 1" groups slow fire and at 15 yards I had one 2" ragged hole.

Great 357 sig Recipe:
8.3 grains of Longshot, Speer 357 SIG once-fired cases, Federal primers, OAL of 1.135, and a 124 grain Rainier copper-plated flatpoint crimped to .379" per Pete, the supreme 357 sig reloader.

It is one nice load doing about 1350 fps just like our coveted Gold Dot carry ammo, PMC, UMC, Win white box or the like. More accurate than any of the above factory ammo.

Anyway, since the G32 is my carry, right now I'm training at 5 and 15 yards and as you can read the groups are pretty tight. The accuracy and feel of the rounds matches factory at half the cost.

And I want to keep my brass going for a couple of loadings, so the lower pressure can help especially since the brass will be worked more as a bottleneck round.

I'm happy with the load. Called Hodgdon for an advisory and Mike recommended the strating load due to its velocity.

Spent the extra $28 for the Dillon parts so I can load 357 sig on the Dillon 550. It's worth $30 more to pump out 400 rounds of 357 sig an hour. On my Lyman Spar-T turret press, I could only milk about 100 rounds an hour out of it.

I've tried LS in 40SW and 10mm and just didn't like it. But it's now my 357 sig powder. I'm locking down my powder measure down at 8.3 grains of LS.

Check it out!

Alaska Roy · December 22, 2001, 06:39 PM

Great post and interesting also, I didn't realize the SIG was only 124s@1350fps in factory trim?
I"ve clocked some bros loads with AA-9 from the baby Glock doing 125s@1450fps, guess his handloads were stoked up?
We use our own formula 9mms and get 125s@1350fps even from the short P-7s.

This brings to mind the question whether another 100-200fps really makes a difference once your in the 1300fps range?

jtduncan · December 22, 2001, 11:58 PM

Yes even 100-200 fps equals a nice bump up in fpe transferred into the target. I researched 357 sig and found out that the 125 grain Gold Dots perform the best in the mid-1300 range. getting great expansion to .68" and a good 14-16 inch penetration.

Most 9mm defense rounds can't deliver that performance and with the bottlenecked design, its a better feeder. I like all my 9mm's including my HK P7 PSP, but for a thinner carry gun, 357 sig and 40SW deliver some good ballistics. I prefer 357 sig since its a safer cartridge with a thicker case web than 40SW.

The 8.3 grains Longshot is only a practice round that feels like shooting 40SW and doing 1350 fps. That's the starting load. At 9.3 grains of LS, it should do 1429 fps to match some of the Corbon nuclear loads. But with all of the bang, followups may be slower and its what you need not what we like to see. The Gold Dots have proven to be very effective in the field with cops. That's what I'm looking for.

The key with LS is it no noticeable muzzle flash, is moderate recoiling, delivers good accuracy, and is clean burning. and it does a good job filling the case - so it's quite hard to double charge with.

357 sig and LS go together.

Alaska Roy · December 23, 2001, 01:50 AM

First you answered my question by saying that an extra 100-200fps delivers more fpe, ok, then you pick a lighter load??
Then you say the Glock is a thinner carry gun than the P-7 PSP, huh?
It's all in fun jt, I'm hiding from the relatives kids tonite and saw your post.
Caliber wars are always entertaining, I guess you've looked into the mega 9mms like the 38 Casull-9X23 and the 9X25?
A couple buddies are hardcore 38 Super addicts and I really wanna build a 9X25 just to see their eyes glaze over when I cap a few off at the range. I gotta check into drop in barrels for one of my 10mms..

WESHOOT2 · December 23, 2001, 08:54 AM

I suggest threshold at 1300fps, whether 115g or 124/125g.

I 'think' the ultra-speed 88/90g loads, REGARDLESS OF VELOCITY (1400+), simply don't offer enough sectional density.

Frankly, I think a .355" 115- or 124/125g JHP at 1300fps + works well (for civilians, L.E. might require certain differences).

9X19, 9X21, 9X23, 38 Super/Jarrett/XYZ..., 9X25, 357 SIG, 357 Magnum, 357 Maximum (you get the idea)...........

December 22, 2001, 02:58 PM	#1
jtduncan Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 1999 Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Posts: 1,686	357 sig reloading data and outing! Well, I got to spend a couple hours at WSI in Bellevue WA with my new Glock 32. And boy is that 357 SIG is fun round to shoot. Feels like shooting 9mm +P+ or 40SW. A Cailfornia tanned hottie and a couple of male friends peeped over my shoulder as I let the Glock 32 rip off a couple of mags of my reloads. It drew their attention and they were blowing through 45 ACP factory ammo boxes every couple of minutes. It was great. And her boyfriends sprayed all over the targets even at 5 yards. She did too but there is just something about a good looking woman at the range! Well, anyway, my targets looked great! All my shots stayed in the black and at 5 yards, I was shooting .50" to 1" groups slow fire and at 15 yards I had one 2" ragged hole. Great 357 sig Recipe: 8.3 grains of Longshot, Speer 357 SIG once-fired cases, Federal primers, OAL of 1.135, and a 124 grain Rainier copper-plated flatpoint crimped to .379" per Pete, the supreme 357 sig reloader. It is one nice load doing about 1350 fps just like our coveted Gold Dot carry ammo, PMC, UMC, Win white box or the like. More accurate than any of the above factory ammo. Anyway, since the G32 is my carry, right now I'm training at 5 and 15 yards and as you can read the groups are pretty tight. The accuracy and feel of the rounds matches factory at half the cost. And I want to keep my brass going for a couple of loadings, so the lower pressure can help especially since the brass will be worked more as a bottleneck round. I'm happy with the load. Called Hodgdon for an advisory and Mike recommended the strating load due to its velocity. Spent the extra $28 for the Dillon parts so I can load 357 sig on the Dillon 550. It's worth $30 more to pump out 400 rounds of 357 sig an hour. On my Lyman Spar-T turret press, I could only milk about 100 rounds an hour out of it. I've tried LS in 40SW and 10mm and just didn't like it. But it's now my 357 sig powder. I'm locking down my powder measure down at 8.3 grains of LS. Check it out! __________________ The Seattle SharpShooter Reloaded .223 Rem, 9mm, 40SW, 357 SIG, 10mm, 44 Mag, 45 ACP Today?

December 22, 2001, 06:39 PM	#2
Alaska Roy Senior Member Join Date: May 29, 1999 Posts: 281	All Days At The Range Are Better! Great post and interesting also, I didn't realize the SIG was only 124s@1350fps in factory trim? I"ve clocked some bros loads with AA-9 from the baby Glock doing 125s@1450fps, guess his handloads were stoked up? We use our own formula 9mms and get 125s@1350fps even from the short P-7s. This brings to mind the question whether another 100-200fps really makes a difference once your in the 1300fps range?

December 22, 2001, 11:58 PM	#3
jtduncan Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 1999 Location: Seattle, Washington, USA Posts: 1,686	Yes even 100-200 fps equals a nice bump up in fpe transferred into the target. I researched 357 sig and found out that the 125 grain Gold Dots perform the best in the mid-1300 range. getting great expansion to .68" and a good 14-16 inch penetration. Most 9mm defense rounds can't deliver that performance and with the bottlenecked design, its a better feeder. I like all my 9mm's including my HK P7 PSP, but for a thinner carry gun, 357 sig and 40SW deliver some good ballistics. I prefer 357 sig since its a safer cartridge with a thicker case web than 40SW. The 8.3 grains Longshot is only a practice round that feels like shooting 40SW and doing 1350 fps. That's the starting load. At 9.3 grains of LS, it should do 1429 fps to match some of the Corbon nuclear loads. But with all of the bang, followups may be slower and its what you need not what we like to see. The Gold Dots have proven to be very effective in the field with cops. That's what I'm looking for. The key with LS is it no noticeable muzzle flash, is moderate recoiling, delivers good accuracy, and is clean burning. and it does a good job filling the case - so it's quite hard to double charge with. 357 sig and LS go together. __________________ The Seattle SharpShooter Reloaded .223 Rem, 9mm, 40SW, 357 SIG, 10mm, 44 Mag, 45 ACP Today?

December 23, 2001, 01:50 AM	#4
Alaska Roy Senior Member Join Date: May 29, 1999 Posts: 281	OK jt, Now I'm confused? First you answered my question by saying that an extra 100-200fps delivers more fpe, ok, then you pick a lighter load?? Then you say the Glock is a thinner carry gun than the P-7 PSP, huh? It's all in fun jt, I'm hiding from the relatives kids tonite and saw your post. Caliber wars are always entertaining, I guess you've looked into the mega 9mms like the 38 Casull-9X23 and the 9X25? A couple buddies are hardcore 38 Super addicts and I really wanna build a 9X25 just to see their eyes glaze over when I cap a few off at the range. I gotta check into drop in barrels for one of my 10mms..

December 23, 2001, 08:54 AM	#5
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	IMNSHO -- .355" bore I suggest threshold at 1300fps, whether 115g or 124/125g. I 'think' the ultra-speed 88/90g loads, REGARDLESS OF VELOCITY (1400+), simply don't offer enough sectional density. Frankly, I think a .355" 115- or 124/125g JHP at 1300fps + works well (for civilians, L.E. might require certain differences). 9X19, 9X21, 9X23, 38 Super/Jarrett/XYZ..., 9X25, 357 SIG, 357 Magnum, 357 Maximum (you get the idea)........... __________________ . "all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"