Thoughts on the selection of a handgun for self defense

[BriarPatch99]

I hope everything is going well on your recovery.

Seems like the last few years I've been a repeat offender of those fun recoveries, too. Dang sure screwed up my hunting.

Get well and get after it.


I've always been curious about the .357Sig round.

Looks like it would be a great feeding round.

Do you find you have to trim the brass very often ?






G19 the last couple days here while working outside.

Dub ....
Yes I am doing well after my surgery ....I am back to doing what ever I feel like ....I'm not 100% after losing muscle mass before and during the eight week medical timeout .... Age is hitting me also!!!

I have never trimmed a 357 SIG brass ...it is kinda like the 9mm no need to ..... it has such a short neck ...you don't want to loose any of it ...

Yes it is powerful little cartridge .... it is possible to run a 124 grain bullet at 1500 fps out my 4.5" barrel . ... That is a full load and I mostly run the Hornady 124 grain XTP at about 1425 fps .... the Hornady 147 grain XTP can be pushed to 1300 + fps .... all using the right powder ..... and safely ....

With a extra magazine ... I can bring 31 rounds of .357 Magnum like rounds to the game !!!!

I can swap barrels(and magazines)shoot 9mm ....swap barrels and shoot .40 S&W .... I don't have either the extra barrels yet ...plan to get a 9mm since ammo is cheap ....

I have shot 3000+ rounds without a failure to feed ....the 9 mm bullet goes into the .40 caliber hole pretty easy ...it is basically a .40 S&W necked to 9mm ...

 

[rosewood]

I too load the 124 xtp in my P229 357 sig. I get 1430 FPS out of the 3.9" barrel. Really surprises you how fast it will go. I can easily see 1500 out of a 4.5" barrel. Seems like I loaded some 90 grains and was hitting near 1700 FPS out of that gun.

Rosewood

 

[Dub]

Dub ....
Yes I am doing well after my surgery ....I am back to doing what ever I feel like ....I'm not 100% after losing muscle mass before and during the eight week medical timeout .... Age is hitting me also!!!

I have never trimmed a 357 SIG brass ...it is kinda like the 9mm no need to ..... it has such a short neck ...you don't want to loose any of it ...

Yes it is powerful little cartridge .... it is possible to run a 124 grain bullet at 1500 fps out my 4.5" barrel . ... That is a full load and I mostly run the Hornady 124 grain XTP at about 1425 fps .... the Hornady 147 grain XTP can be pushed to 1300 + fps .... all using the right powder ..... and safely ....

With a extra magazine ... I can bring 31 rounds of .357 Magnum like rounds to the game !!!!

I can swap barrels(and magazines)shoot 9mm ....swap barrels and shoot .40 S&W .... I don't have either the extra barrels yet ...plan to get a 9mm since ammo is cheap ....

I have shot 3000+ rounds without a failure to feed ....the 9 mm bullet goes into the .40 caliber hole pretty easy ...it is basically a .40 S&W necked to 9mm ...

Glad you are well.

Thanks for the insight.

With it being a bottlenecked case I wasn't sure if there was any stretch to contend with reuse of the brass.

That sucker is potent, too.

Sounds like a fun round....and a great round for reloaders to enjoy, too.

One of those XTP's moving at that velocity makes for some bad medicine on the target end.

I too load the 124 xtp in my P229 357 sig. I get 1430 FPS out of the 3.9" barrel. Really surprises you how fast it will go. I can easily see 1500 out of a 4.5" barrel. Seems like I loaded some 90 grains and was hitting near 1700 FPS out of that gun.

Rosewood

That is some mighty impressive speed. That P229 is flinging them outa there.



I wish like heck I'd have hung onto my old G22 and done a barrel & spring swap and could convert it to .357Sig.

 

[BriarPatch99]

I too load the 124 xtp in my P229 357 sig. I get 1430 FPS out of the 3.9" barrel. Really surprises you how fast it will go. I can easily see 1500 out of a 4.5" barrel. Seems like I loaded some 90 grains and was hitting near 1700 FPS out of that gun.

Rosewood

I have chronographed some 90 grain XTP at 1700+ out my 4.5" barrel . ...accuracy was terrible through.... I didn't work to try to get it better ...if I could get my hands on some 80 grain Barnes that Corbin did load in the .380 ACP .... Those would be interesting....

 

[BriarPatch99]

I ordered a 1000 RMR 124 grain Jacketed Hollow Point (Multi Purpose Round) Bullets ...just before my surgery .... I shot five just to see if they would shoot ....

They appear to be a reasonable price practice round bullet ...

Will let you guys know how they work out .... don't think they will expand like the XTP for defense .... the Ogive is a little different shape and will take a little working with to get them where I want to be with them as a practice bullet...

 

[BriarPatch99]

Here is photo of some 800X in 357 SIG brass ....and you can see the XTP 147 grain ready to be seated ... this will push those at 1300+ fps out my Glock 31 ... bad part about 800X ...is each load has to be weighed .... it will not "throw" well enough not to ....the powder kernels look like corn flakes ....

 

[Dub]

Here is photo of some 800X in 357 SIG brass ....and you can see the XTP 147 grain ready to be seated ... this will push those at 1300+ fps out my Glock 31 ... bad part about 800X ...is each load has to be weighed .... it will not "throw" well enough not to ....the powder kernels look like corn flakes ....

Compressed loads for the win !!!


That's gotta be a nasty little round. I'm intrigued. Has me wondering about hunting potentials.




I hear what you are saying on the powder metering.

As I'm getting back into the swing of things I chose some initial powders that I hope will play nice and give me consistency with each dump using the Dillon powder measures on my target loads for 9mm, .45acp. 38spcl & .44spcl.

I decided, however, that my rifle & development loads will be done on another press entirely. I'll be weighing each charge. No worries over extruded powders and such....just take my time and trickle them up to spec for each case.



It's going to be fun in the years ahead getting into some cartridges that have interested me, but I held off due to either ammo cost or availability. A great example of that is 10mm.....had a G20 years ago....but grew frustrated with getting the ammo I wanted. I'd like to add a 10mm 1911 sometime down the road. I'm thinking 6" slide with good sights.

That .357Sig certainly has interest, too. It's got me thinking of talking to a buddy at work this coming weekend.....he was talking about selling a .40s&w pistol or two.....

 

[Jester896]

Sig Nightmare for the win!

 

[BriarPatch99]

Compressed powders help with bullet setback .... which can be a problem with this cartridge .... also the reason I don't flair or crimp it ... Chamfer the brass ....