357 sig.....40 s+w.......9mm.......which to choose?

[soggybottomboys20]

I just wanted to start off by saying thank you for everyones help. A while ago I asked a question about a rifle - which caliber is most accurate, good enough for north american game, and doesn't have much recoil. Thanks to all of you, I took the advice and went out and bought the rifle and I love it. It did everything I wanted.


Now I have another question I hope I can get some help on. I am starting to buy handguns. I have narrowed down a revolver choice to the Smith & Wesson 657   41 for a hunting round.  On the other hand, I also want to buy an auto. My personal preference choice that I have been looking at is Glock.    I want a round that I can take to the range and not spend a lot of money on ammo, but I also would like the caliber to do some damage to the things I would shoot at. Personally I narrowed the choice down to the 357 sig  40 s+w  and the 9mm, although I will take anyones suggestion on their caliber of choice and brand of company for these reasons. Price range around 700-800  is what I was expecting to pay.

I would like to thank everyone in advance for their opinions and time.

[williamlayton]

The 9mm is the least expensive to shoot.
You can have two in one with a SIG by purchasing a .40 and .357 barrels.
The 9mm will be the easiest shooter.
I prefer the .357 Sig over the .40.
Another choice, which you have not mentioned is a .38 Super. It is quick and flat and an easy shooter. A favorite with the gamers.
Can of worms, is it not !?
Blessings

[Mikey]

soggybottom - if your criteria is inexpensive ammo, then the 9mm is the caliber of choice.  There is soooo much 9mm surplus out there it is almost silly not to take advantage of it.  Neither of the other two choices you mentioned foster inexpensive surplus ammo.  The 357 sig is a great caliber but it doesn't do anything more than the 38 Super.  Neither does the 40 s&w for that matter and I would prefer the 38 Super over the 40.  

You could easily get a 38 Super and a 9mm interchangeable barrel and then swap them around whenever you want to shoot surplus ammo.  For personal defense and even light field work, the 38 Super with factory loads is a great caliber.  If you ever take to reloading, as I hope you do, the real potential of both the 41 magnum and the 38 Super is easily realized.  HTH.  Mikey.

[poncaguy]

My Glock 22 40 is a great pistol, can add a 357 Sig barrel if needed.

[soggybottomboys20]

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far. I will look into the 38 super. Yes MIKEY I have actually started reloads for the 7mm-08 rifle I had purchased and am in the process of getting ready to go to the range with them and find out what happens. <Think positive> So yes I would consider reloading for the auto. I'm not positive but I don't think Glock makes a 38 super. Could you give me some manufacturers that you may be interested in that produces this caliber.  Thanks again.

[williamlayton]

Colt and SA both have .38 Supers as does STI and SV.
Blessings

[southern utah]

all the law enforcement in my area use either the 40s&w or the 45acp. They claim there are better wound channels with the 40 than the 9mm. All the  serious officers use the colt or glock in 45acp. It is as cheap to reload as the 9 and 40 for practice rounds. 230 gr bullets are hard to beat . I prefer my 1911 and son who is LEO uses a Sig in 45acp.

[Old Griz]

:cb2: True, 9mm ammo is the cheapest, however, .40 isn't very far behind. It's not gonna break the bank, so it will be a very affordable round to take to the range. You also said you wanted something that will do the job if your rear end is on the line. Again, I'd take the .40 over the 9mm. So has almost every law enforcement agency in America. It's a more effective round. I know 9mm fans are gonna jump all over me, but that's just the way it is.

I think you were on the right track to begin with. The Glock 22 and 23 are excellent guns. I'm a .45 guy (G21), and my next Glock will be the G36. Small, compact and, of course, .45 ACP.

As far as the .38 Super goes, good luck finding ammo. And it's not gonna be cheap. You'd have more luck getting the .357 Sig. If you got the .40 you can always get a .357 Sig barrel for it later, as mentioned above, if you just gotta have one.

So a good round for practicing and saving your hide, I'd go with the .40 or .45. The ammo is inexpensive and easy to find, and Glock makes fine guns in these calibers. I've been burned by some others, and Glock is the only semi-automatic pistol I'll buy. I like Sigs, but why pay that much more?

Oh well. Good luck.

[Mikey]

In addition to Colt, Springfield and STI, I believe Sig makes a 38 Super but I'm not sure Glock does, although they may have/do.

Yes, the 40 S&W makes a bigger wound channel than the 9mm, most 9mms that is, but we ain't talkin' 9mms, we're talking 38 Supers and there is a noticeable difference betwixt the two.  The 38 Super is a handloaders dream, not so with the 40 S&W.  The comparison is similar to the 38 Spl/357, the 40 S&W/10mm, the 308/30-06 or chevies and fords, but ammunition is plentiful - just order it the same way you would order 9mm.  Someone is always gonna tellya that such and such is better or that you can do just as well with one and there is no need for the other, heavier caliber.  I regularly handload my 38 Supers to 357 Sig velocities with 125 gn bullets and can get almost 357 factory velocities with 158-160 gn cast slugs (i.e., most factory 357s used to send a 158 gn slug out a 4" bbl at 1250'/sec - the 38 Super can send it out at almost 1200'/sec and you usually have at least 3 if not 4 more rounds to do the job with).  

The one 9mm load police agencies stay with is the Remington +P+ - it takes a 115 gn hp at nearly 1220'/sec and it rarely takes two shots to stop someone.  The 38 Super drops a 125 gn hp out the barrel at a bit better than that.   The Illinois State Police were going to adopt the 38 Super to replace their 357 magnums but found that round to still be too powerful for regular police work (over penetration, etc).

Does the 38 Super work - oh yeah, it works.  It worked on jaguar for me in South America and evn brought down a few small deer with chest shots.  It is more than adequate for small game.  It is absolutely more than adequate for personal protection.  You can even get the 38 Super in Commander sized packages.

However, you can get nearly as much variability with the 357 sig, almost - I say that because I don't yet know if anyone is reloading that cailber with the same heavier slugs you can push from a 38 Super.  The 40 S&W is still a 40 short and weak - it needs fairly high pressures to get that short fat slug to move at any decent velocity.  

40 S&W reloads can be tricky - as I've mentioned, they are high pressure rounds and there are more than a few stories out there about 40s that go kaboom with reloads.

With a 1911 in 10mm/40 S&W, you can rebarrel quickly to 357 Sig or slip on a different top-end for 38 Super/9mm.  I think STI makes a 1911 with a slide that is set up to take a number of different calibers.  

I would opt for the greatest variability I could find.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Mikey]

In addition to Colt, Springfield and STI, I believe Sig makes a 38 Super but I'm not sure Glock does, although they may have/do.

Yes, the 40 S&W makes a bigger wound channel than the 9mm, most 9mms that is, but we ain't talkin' 9mms, we're talking 38 Supers and there is a noticeable difference betwixt the two.  The 38 Super is a handloaders dream, not so with the 40 S&W.  The comparison is similar to the 38 Spl/357, the 40 S&W/10mm, the 308/30-06 or chevies and fords, but ammunition is plentiful - just order it the same way you would order 9mm.  Someone is always gonna tellya that such and such is better or that you can do just as well with one and there is no need for the other, heavier caliber.  I regularly handload my 38 Supers to 357 Sig velocities with 125 gn bullets and can get almost 357 factory velocities with 158-160 gn cast slugs (i.e., most factory 357s used to send a 158 gn slug out a 4" bbl at 1250'/sec - the 38 Super can send it out at almost 1200'/sec and you usually have at least 3 if not 4 more rounds to do the job with).  

The one 9mm load police agencies stay with is the Remington +P+ - it takes a 115 gn hp at nearly 1220'/sec and it rarely takes two shots to stop someone.  The 38 Super drops a 125 gn hp out the barrel at a bit better than that.   The Illinois State Police were going to adopt the 38 Super to replace their 357 magnums but found that round to still be too powerful for regular police work (over penetration, etc).

Does the 38 Super work - oh yeah, it works.  It worked on jaguar for me in South America and evn brought down a few small deer with chest shots.  It is more than adequate for small game.  It is absolutely more than adequate for personal protection.  You can even get the 38 Super in Commander sized packages.

However, you can get nearly as much variability with the 357 sig, almost - I say that because I don't yet know if anyone is reloading that cailber with the same heavier slugs you can push from a 38 Super.  The 40 S&W is still a 40 short and weak - it needs fairly high pressures to get that short fat slug to move at any decent velocity.  

40 S&W reloads can be tricky - as I've mentioned, they are high pressure rounds and there are more than a few stories out there about 40s that go kaboom with reloads.

With a 1911 in 10mm/40 S&W, you can rebarrel quickly to 357 Sig or slip on a different top-end for 38 Super/9mm.  I think STI makes a 1911 with a slide that is set up to take a number of different calibers.  

I would opt for the greatest variability I could find.  HTH.  Mikey.

[WNY_Whitetailer]

I have both a 40 and a 9mm...I prefer to shoot the 40 cal Glock 23 over my S&W 6904 in 9mm...I feel more accurate with the 40...I know that the 9mm is marginally cheaper to shoot in fmj rounds so price is not an issue with me.  Remember that if you purchase as Glock that you cannot feed reloads through the stock barrel.  You will have to purchase an aftermarket barrel to do that.  I have no experience with the 357 sig but I would like to shoot one to see what all the hullabaloo is about.

[ButlerFord45]

.....if you purchase as Glock that you cannot feed reloads through the stock barrel.  You will have to purchase an aftermarket barrel to do that.

I've never heard this before, would you explain a bit further?

[myronman3]

10mm.    either a glock 20, or a kimber 1911.    you will have the best of power and capacity.

[oso45-70]

Soggybottomboy

Me thinks you would do well to try the 40 cal Glock 22 or 23. I load for my 22 glock and have had great luck. For power the 38 super is hard to beat.
The big problem is there are too many great  guns and rounds to choose from. Only thing to do is buy as many as you can, You are bound to find the one that suits you,,,,, Good luck on your search.......Joe......

[rockbilly]

:roll: Go to the Sig 229 and shoot the 9mm, .357 and .40 all through one gun.  If you buy either the .357 orr the .40 you can purchase the other barrel, switch them out at will and shoot either caliber.  To shoot the 9mm you will have to purchase both the barrel and magazines for that caliber.

I have one set up with Crimson Trace grips and all three barrels.  There is not a lot of difference in the accuracy of either caliber out to about 45-50 yards with the laser sights.  

Sig may cost a few dollars more going in, but in my opinion there is none more reliable.  If it is used for CCW, the peace of mind in knowing your hardware is the best makes you more confident if it has to be used. :wink:  :wink:  :wink:

[papajohn428]

My choice is the 40, I think it's a good compromise between bullet size and capacity.  The 38 Super is a viable round but has to operate at magnum pressures to get good results, there is no free lunch in ballistics.  The 9mm and the 40 operate at similar pressures and give similar results, with the advantage going to the bigger bullet.  Advances in bullet design have made the 9mm more viable, but it's still only .355 diameter.  My only caution with the Glock is the unsupported chamber, they have been known to let go with hot loads, and they don't want you shooting lead bullets out of them.  I like my 40 Witness, in 15 years it has never jammed, even when I tried to make it choke.  They are offered in all the calibers mentioned, even 38 Super.  It's a lot cheaper than the Glock, it's all-steel, and the chamber is fully supported.  That's why I picked it.  I may wind up getting another one, in 45ACP.  But not to replace the 40, merely to complement it.  Just my dos centavos.

Papajohn

[Siskiyou]

I look at pistol rounds for play and for business as an old retired LEO.  While I have always liked the .38 Super, it takes last place because it has never had a true following in the law enforcement community.  A nice but rare bird.

I tried a large capacity 9mm for part of a year.  I quickly moved to a .45 ACP.  There were times I would carry a small 9mm when cover was important, but when it came to full size autoloaders the 45 was my choice.  Even the female officers preferred the 45 over the 9mm.  When I recovered 9mm hollow point bullets from backstops I found that many times they had not expanded.  The exception was the 115 grain Silvertips which always opened up.  If I wanted a large hole it was better to stick with the .45.

I never carried or owned a .40 but the numbers tell me it is a better choice then a 9mm.

Before I was a LEO I became a reloader.  So the cost difference was never a big issue.  I was recently at a gun show and the prior writers are correct.  9mm ammunition is cheap, even the good stuff.

A .22 can provide a lot of cheap shooting, and training arm for family members.  Try a .22 and a larger bore handgun.

[3fifty8]

40 S&W covers your stated needs for a semi auto pistol.  As others have said Glock has many fine offering chambered for this cartridge.
If it was me, I would opt for the venerable 45 ACP.  A provern performer which is accurate, powerful and readily available in a Glock as well.

[williamlayton]

I think one of the key factors here is to learn to reload, it's fun, it's fairly easy,and it is less expensive except for 9mm. THEN start gettin one of each--probably will anyway.
Blessings