Whats your opinion of the 357 Sig.

[NYH1]

I have two Glock pistol's a model 22 and a model 27. Both in 40 S&W. I'm a huge fan of Glock pistol's, especially in 40 S&W. Its my understanding that all you have to do is swap the barrel's on a "40 S&W and a 357 Sig." and everything else is the same on these pistol's.

I was thinking about getting a 357 Sig. barrel and trying it. Do any of you have any experience with the 357 Sig.? If so what do you think of it? How does it compare to the 40 S&W? What ammo do you use? I'll be carrying this pistol regularly. Thank's

[The deerslayer]

I think you should give it a try. If you don't like it you can always sell the barrel.

[New Hampshire]

I say giver a try too.  The .357 Sig is intended to give .357 Mag preformance (albeit with lite bullets only,) in medium and large frame autos.  Im surprised it has not caught on much more with the Government LEO agencies.  I think a sub gun in this chambering, along with sidearms to match, would be big time "bag guy killers."
Brian M.

[Mikey]

I think the 357 Sig cartridge is a great design and a very effective cartridge.  In standard sized semi-autos the 125 gn 9mm hollowpoint/softnose gets right out to 1400'/sec, which rivals the older 357 Magnum Police load that boasted of being a 1 shot fight stopper.  I am an advocate of bottlenecked cartridges and the Sig cartridge is properly designed to give the best pressure ranges and velocities for the bullets it shoots.  

That being said, if I owned a 40 S&W pistol I would get a 357 Sig barrel and probably carry that exclusively.  If I purchased a 357 Sig pistol I would not bother with the 40 S&W barrel.  But, this is simply my overly opinionated opinion.  

If you compare the design of the 357 Sig with the 400 Cor-Bon, you will see that the Sig cartridge is a better design.  It allows for more room in the case which I feel equates to more equitable pressure distribution, better accuracy and more consistent velocity ranges than the Cor-Bon cartridge.  I once asked the Sig people in Exeter, Vt., if they were going to upgrade their 357 cartridge to a 40 caliber (on a 45 acp case) and they said that althought they would like to, the design would have to be, of necessity, too similar to the Cor-Bon design for their liking.  And to be honest, I would put my trust in the Sig people first.  Just my opinion.  Mikey. though.  Mikey.

[Stan_TheGunNut]

I have a SigP229 in 357 sig and love it.  The pistol fits my hand perfectly, and the caliber is great.  I have never had any malfuncitons of any kind with it.  It does have a loud report, but the recoil, while snappy, is very controlable.  It does cost a little more to shoot than a 40S&W if you buy factory ammo, and is more difficult to reload (there are some posts on GBO somewhere that talk about this in more detail) if you do that than standard (non bottlenecked) pistol ammo.  

I have heard that while it's okay to go from 357 sig to 40 in a pistol, it may not be a good idea to go the other way.  If I recall correctly, glock and some of the other manufacturers have reinforced the frame of the 357 sig pistols.  I'm not sure of this, but if you plan on shooting a lot of 357 sig, you might be better off getting a pistol designed from the ground up for the cartridge.

You are correct in that it is a simple barrel change.  Magazines and all other things are directly interchangeable.  

Stan

[rockbilly]

I bought a used Sig model 229 in .40 S&W.  It shoots well and I was pleased with it.  At a gun show, I ran across an individual that had an aftermarket .357 barrel that would drop in my 229, it was $100, for the barrel and fifty rounds of factory .357 reloads.  This was one of the best buys I ever made.  I think it has enough power to satisfy my needs as a carry gun, and it's exceptionally accurate, I've put about 500 rounds through the gun and love it.  Try one, you'll like it!