If anyone is worried about having enough power with the .357 Sig.

[Gunfandec154]

I am NOT advertising for a certain company, I simply wanted to bring this to the resident .357 Sig shooter's attention. This load is for those that wanted .357 S&W Magnum power when they purchased their .357 Sig. pistol.


.357 Sig 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

For those that love the .357 Sig, we have the perfect loading for you! The .357 Sig was developed to match the .357 Magnum in speed and power using a 125gr. bullet (1450fps). Recently there have been no options for the serious .357 Sig shooter to get this velocity. At DoubleTap we have developed a loading that combines speed, power, and match grade accuracy! All of this and we use a flash supressed powder for virtually no muzzle flash.


Caliber : .357 Sig

Bullet : 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

Ballistics : 1450fps / 584 ft. lbs. 4"bbl

Box of 50rds.

[Gabby Hayes]

I'd like to know more about the Gold Dot bullet they used in this load. The specs on Speer's site show its .357 SIG 125gr GD at 1375 fps, the speed the company would have used in testing penetration and expansion through the FBI protocol. If this new outfit is going to push the same bullet another 75 fps, what's the chance it might expand too quickly, or overexpand, or fragment, or any of several other not-so-good things. I'd want to know more about this new company's testing procedures. Or maybe they used the bullet from Speer's .357 Mag GD load instead, and somehow made sure it will feed properly in autoloaders.

[Tac Four]

Gold Dots are engineered for specific velocities. I know that using a .38 Special bullet at .357 Magnum velocities leads to poor performance since the petals peel back too far. I'm also curious if this loading will actually perform as desired.

[JerryM]

When Ammolab was up, David ran tests on the .357 Sig. In examining it and the 9mm with the best loads I concluded that there wasn't a nickel's worth of difference.

Here is a thread that shows some good data. Make your own conclusions.
http://www.warriortalk.com/showthrea...2&page=2&pp=10

Jerry

[Scunyon]

Originally Posted by Gunfandec154

I am NOT advertising for a certain company, I simply wanted to bring this to the resident .357 Sig shooter's attention. This load is for those that wanted .357 S&W Magnum power when they purchased their .357 Sig. pistol.


.357 Sig 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

For those that love the .357 Sig, we have the perfect loading for you! The .357 Sig was developed to match the .357 Magnum in speed and power using a 125gr. bullet (1450fps). Recently there have been no options for the serious .357 Sig shooter to get this velocity. At DoubleTap we have developed a loading that combines speed, power, and match grade accuracy! All of this and we use a flash supressed powder for virtually no muzzle flash.


Caliber : .357 Sig

Bullet : 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

Ballistics : 1450fps / 584 ft. lbs. 4"bbl

Box of 50rds.

You also forgot to add the in gell-o tests, it went 14.5" and expanded .71

[mikebrng]

Originally Posted by Gunfandec154

I am NOT advertising for a certain company, I simply wanted to bring this to the resident .357 Sig shooter's attention. This load is for those that wanted .357 S&W Magnum power when they purchased their .357 Sig. pistol.


.357 Sig 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

For those that love the .357 Sig, we have the perfect loading for you! The .357 Sig was developed to match the .357 Magnum in speed and power using a 125gr. bullet (1450fps). Recently there have been no options for the serious .357 Sig shooter to get this velocity. At DoubleTap we have developed a loading that combines speed, power, and match grade accuracy! All of this and we use a flash supressed powder for virtually no muzzle flash.


Caliber : .357 Sig

Bullet : 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

Ballistics : 1450fps / 584 ft. lbs. 4"bbl

Box of 50rds.

At the higher bullet weights it dosnt stand up to 357 magnum

[waktasz]

Any my 357Magnum doesn't have a 15 round capacity.

[SuperMan]

Originally Posted by mikebrng

At the higher bullet weights it dosnt stand up to 357 magnum

You are correct, but at "higher bullet weights" the .357 Magnum doesn't do as well as a personal defense round as the 125 grain load which is the standard loading for the .357 SIG.

In May of 1997 I was lucky enough to be the invited guest of Bank Miller, who was at the time the head of the SIG Academy, to their ammunition seminar. The .357 SIG had just been released and law enforcement agencies from all over the country were there.

Part of the program involved shooting different loads from several manufacturers through various barriers (cloth, windshield glass, plywood, 2x4, sheetrock) into balistic gelatin. Calibers were 9mm, .45 ACP, .357 SIG and .40 S&W. Again I was lucky in bing chosen to do the shooting of the .357 SIG.

Of all the loads tested the .357 SIG using the 125 grain Gold Dot HP far outshined all the others. Pentetration and expansion was always better no matter what the barrier. Shooting through angled windshield glass (like it would be on a car) especially showed the difference. ANY jacketed bullet regardless of caliber shed its jacket 99% of the time before making the gelatin block no matter what caliber. Because the Gold Dot bullets are plated they can not shed the jacket. Jackets would be found on the floor between the windshild and the block or the jacket would be stuck on the clothing on the face of the block.

The Texas Department of Public Safety Chief Range Officer was also there. DPS had just adopted the .357 SIG and ended up choosing the GDHP for their issue round. Last time I spoke with Bank of the first 8 shooting DPS had all the suspects died. 6 were one shot stops, 7 died at the scene of the shooting. I believe in one case the Trooper had to fire into a car to stop the suspect.

I spent 24.5 years in LE work. If back in today I would beg to be issued a .357 SIG....why. Because unlike .40 S&W, .357 Magnum, .38 Special, .45 ACP, .38 Super or 9mm THERE ARE NO BAD ROUNDS. There are no under penetrating, underexpanding subsonic POS rouunds that some no mind administrator can have issued because they are "low bid". Recoil is very controlable and muzzleblast is no worse than any other +P round.

The only piece of BS that SIG throws out is the increased feeding reliability of the bottle necked case..... I had a P229 and a P239 jam on me while at SIG. I also teach and several of my students have had their .357 SIGs jam on them. So they do jam but not any more or less than any other caliber I have seen.

I don't own one for two reasons....why should I...I shoot .38 Super that throws the exact same bullet at the exact same speed. Second...a pain to reload. But if I had to be somewhere that I could not reload and the gun was for personal defense...I'll gladly take a .357 SIG..

Bob

ps... The bullet that is used for the .357 SIG is more of a cup point like the one used in the .357 Magnum. The 9mm GDHP has a much deeper HP. Coming out of something like a 5" GM the .357 SIG gains 75-100 fps. I don't think that since this is a bonded bullet 1450 will do anything but enhance the performance.

[RogoMay]

Very good post SuperMan. I have a Sig 239 357 and I have not had one jam yet. I also have an XD 357 that has not had a jam. Although neither has over 500 rounds through it, I will sure put more Gold Dots through them just to satisfy myself. Thanks for the info.

[SuperMan]

....my students guns failed to cycle but I am pretty sure that the reason the gun at SIG failed to chamber was lack of lubrication. The guns that jammed had been shot a lot and quiet possibly had not been cleaned before the session started.

If you look in the January 05 Soldier of Fortune magazine, in John Farnum's column he talks about some recent testing much like was done at SIG and the results sounded about the same. Plated bullets don't loose their jackets when they have to get through stuff before they hit their target.


Bob

[MCNETT]

Scunyon is right it went 14.5" and expanded .71" in 10% ordinance gelatin covered in 4 layers of denim and 2 layers of light cotton. The .357Sig 125gr uses a harder lead core and has a different shape to the bullet and HP cavity than does the 124gr. 9mm GD offered by Speer. This increases the velocity threshold to about 1700fps. We use this same bullet in the 9X25 125gr @ 1725. It stays together at that velocity.
-Mike

[Brooklyn South]

Their 115 grain 357SIG shoots 1,500fps with 575ftlbs of energy. The 100 grain PowerBall is 1,600fps with 568ftlbs.

http://mysite.elixirlabs.com/index.p...2665&page=1609

Good shooting!

[mejetski2000]

On what I think was Pete357sig website he described how the 357Sig round BROKE the frame retaining the gelatin which he stated he'd only seen happen with one other round in a different chambering.(wish I could remember what round)My Warden's Service here in Maine chose it for their replacement service weapon and have had good results.Obviously, a true police department would have a greater # of incidents than we here in Maine do.From all accounts,it is an extremely effective round indeed,and the DT loading should be something to experience.There's a slew of folks using it for a reason.Just my .02....

[Paraordp13]

The load that will most duplicate the original 125 grain 357 mag will be the Corbon 125 grain 357 SIG. The mag load is a semi-jacketed hollow point. During penetration it lose the jacket, which would creat 2 large projectiles that were going in seperate directions; the lead core one way and the jacket another. After this they would continue to fragment. This kept the bullet inside the target, caused multiple wound channels, and made sure that the energy was used were it was needed. The corbon load for the sig, while not a semi jacketed type is not bonded, so it should lose the jacket during penetration. While this may limit its penetration through hard barriers, it will be devestating on the target. For police work shooting through barriers is a concern, but I don't beleive it is for civilian ccw users. If I carried a 357 sig it would be with that load.

[Gabby Hayes]

Everything I've ever read about jacket separation is that it's a bad thing. The jacket by itself has insufficient mass to carry on, so it stops fairly quickly. The remaining core will hopefully continue to penetrate as a single piece, but only as long as it holds together. Bullets that fragment tend to have nasty-looking, but shallow, wounds. Law enforcement agencies carry bonded loads for a reason.

[walter]

i just recently purchased a sig pro 2022 i n 357 sig, my question, being rather small framed and not able to use the range like i'd like to due to distance and the cost of rounds along with range fees, how would the felt recoil be to a person like me who mostly shoots 9mm and 38 and of course my sweet 45? thanks, reply please to : manofleasure2000@yahoo.com

[JimH]

Originally Posted by Tac Four

Gold Dots are engineered for specific velocities. I know that using a .38 Special bullet at .357 Magnum velocities leads to poor performance since the petals peel back too far. I'm also curious if this loading will actually perform as desired.

I have some limited experience with the bullet loaded to 1550 fps in a 9X23. Very limited, like one instance on a small pig, so take it for what it is worth.

However the bullet did not come unglued...it barely expanded in fact. It was somewhat mangled and certainly not a classic mushroom but it lost little weight and did not slip the plated jacket. It penetrated approximately 9.5" (stopped against a bone which it did not damage).

Not much help but that's all I got.

Jim

[poppopbang]

I just got my Glock 32 last night and don't feel naked at all. I plan on placing an order with DoubleTap for some of there little smokers. I have heard pretty good things about Ranger's SIG ammo too. The numbers on their standerd .357 Mag ammo look pretty darn good too so I will be picking up some of that too. I am looking forward to trying it out. I do think that the .357 mag is a bit more versitile though. It looks like it can still pack quite a punch with a 158grn while the .357 SIG has most of it's power in the 124grn. That is why my SP101 is my favorite mountain gun. The SIG, I think that it will get the job done and then some for 95% of my needs.

[Metaloy Ind.]

Originally Posted by Gunfandec154

I am NOT advertising for a certain company, I simply wanted to bring this to the resident .357 Sig shooter's attention. This load is for those that wanted .357 S&W Magnum power when they purchased their .357 Sig. pistol.


.357 Sig 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

For those that love the .357 Sig, we have the perfect loading for you! The .357 Sig was developed to match the .357 Magnum in speed and power using a 125gr. bullet (1450fps). Recently there have been no options for the serious .357 Sig shooter to get this velocity. At DoubleTap we have developed a loading that combines speed, power, and match grade accuracy! All of this and we use a flash supressed powder for virtually no muzzle flash.


Caliber : .357 Sig

Bullet : 125gr. Gold Dot JHP

Ballistics : 1450fps / 584 ft. lbs. 4"bbl

Box of 50rds.

I believe the factory Gold Dot 124gr. loads are supposed to exceed that velocity out of a 4" or 6" barrel.

Never mind... I stand corrected! Gold Dot 125 gr. is rated at 1337FPS. I don't worry about under power with that.

[sneakyman]

The 357 sig is designed for the avergae 4" pistol barrels. Obviously a pistol with that barrel length is more compact than a revolver with a 4" barrel and closer to a 2-1/2"~3" barreled revolver. Look at most 357 magnum loads out of those shorter barrels and they have similar FPE or even less than 357 sig out of astandard 4" pistol barrel. That has to be taken into consideration. Either way the differences are pretty small

[pinot_guy]

I'd never feel underpowered with .357 SIG. The hottest SIG round I ever saw was Power Strike's 125-gr. Gold Dot - 1525 FPS/645 ft. lbs. It's too bad they went out of business. Anyway, the thing I'd worry about most with the round is reliable, consistent cycling and functioning, at least in a 1911. At the risk of wandering off this post's reservation too far, it's been well documented about the sporadic performance of .357 SIG in 1911's. Apparently, according to folks in the know, it's jammed in other platforms as well. I can't help but think that short, bottle-necked cartridges, with relatively high pressure, just don't do well in semi-auto pistols, especially 1911's. That's why I'll stick to 9x23 Win. which is a better performing round because of its shape and OAL.

[HiVelSword]

Originally Posted by Metaloy Ind.

I believe the factory Gold Dot 124gr. loads are supposed to exceed that velocity out of a 4" or 6" barrel.

Never mind... I stand corrected! Gold Dot 125 gr. is rated at 1337FPS. I don't worry about under power with that.

Dick Metcalf chronoed factory Gold Dot at 1,518 fps out of his 229 Sport. Sure it's a 4.9 inch barrel but that's a big velocity difference.

[Peter M. Eick]

That is about what my 229 sport will do. I have pushed some reloads up into the 1700 fps range with lighter bullets, but you can easily get into the high 14's to low 15's with 124's and no signs of pressure. I like 115 grn loads myself as the comp on the 229 sport will cause these to recoil down with the right powders.

My opinion is that the 357 sig is a lot more powerful then most give it credit for.

[kidcoltoutlaw]

My 4.4 inch P226 hits 1555 with a GD 125 and the P239 4.7 inch hits 1570 . I can't remember what the 5 inch does but it is slower than the 4.7 inch. All of my Bar-Sto barrels are faster than my SIG barrels. I use them because my Power Pistol load is hot and the tight chamber is worth the extra money to me. My load is a case full of Power Pistol,

Thanks,Keith