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Is a 357 Sig bigger than a 9mm?

Author

Olivia Shea

Updated on March 09, 2026

Is a 357 Sig bigger than a 9mm?

The . 357 Sig uses the same . 355-in diameter projectile as 9mm. While there's no reason why it wouldn't seat the same range of bullet weights - 9mm is most commonly found in 115-, 124- and 147-grain bullet weights - .

Similarly one may ask, is 357 bigger than 9mm?

The . 357 Mag case is a little over half an inch longer than the 9mm and the overall length slightly less than half an inch. This increase in length allows the . 357 Mag to hold a greater amount of powder to launch a similar caliber bullet.

One may also ask, is 357 Sig a good round? 357 SIG is a perfectly viable cartridge. It was adopted by several law-enforcement agencies, with rather good results. The . 357 SIG has a good balance of velocity, bullet weight and terminal ballistics, however there are some who find the recoil level and muzzle blast of the SIG to be more than acceptable.

Also asked, can you shoot 357 SIG in a 9mm?

A pistol chambered in 357 Sig can likely be converted to fire 9mm by replacing the barrel, slide, recoil spring and possibly the magazine.

What size bullet does a 357 Sig take?

The . 357 Sig uses a . 355 inch diameter bullet like the 9mm, not a .

Will 357 stop a bear?

357 Magnum or other similar-caliber load, a well-placed shot with a good bullet will certainly kill a bear, but it's not recommended. Wayne Bosowicz carried a Colt Python . 357 Magnum revolver for years as his bear gun.

Can a 380 stop an attacker?

380 Auto Can't Stop An Attacker. 380 auto to stop an attacker. Hogwash. However, ammunition selection is important if carrying .

Is a 357 good for self defense?

357 Magnum as a carry load. For most situations, and especially in an urban setting, a solid . 38 Special +p would be a better choice for personal defense. 357 is a very flat-shooting cartridge that retains better terminal ballistics at 150 yards than most other personal defense handgun cartridges.

What has more power 357 or 45?

357 Magnum cartridge is individually more powerful than an individual . 45 ACP cartridge, all else being equal, a . 45 ACP pistol will be a (marginally) more powerful tool than a . 357 Magnum revolver in the vast majority of cases where the individual power of the cartridge is not an issue (vs.

What is the hottest 357 round?

Federal and Remington 125 gr. JHP's are probably the hottest run of the mill load (at least if you go by energy).

What has more power 9mm or 357?

The 9mm Luger case is 0.754 inches long. As such, 147 grains is the practical limit for 9mm defensive bullets. The maximum velocity with these bullets is generally regarded as about 1000 fps. The 357 Magnum offers superior energy and velocity with heavy bullets at the expense of greater recoil.

Is 38 snub enough for self defense?

38 Special is most commonly used in short-barreled 'snub nose' revolvers such as the Ruger LCR and Smith & Wesson J-Frame. These revolvers are purpose-made for concealed carry and have features that make them ideal for self-defense.

Why is a 357 magnum so powerful?

The short answer is that the cartridge case and pistols that use the . 357 S&W Magnum are designed to function at a higher pressure than the . 38 Special was. The higher pressure results in a higher velocity and, thus, higher momentum and kinetic energy.

Why is 357 Sig ammo so expensive?

357 Sig cartridge is a niche cartridge, with a special cache, because it delivers near . 357 cartridge case is harder (=more expensive) to make than a straight walled case. The . 357 Sig cartridge is a niche cartridge, with a special cache, because it delivers near .

What is the point of 357 sig?

357 Sig was developed as a law enforcement round in a joint effort between Sig Sauer and Federal. The idea was to recreate the ballistics of the 125-grain . 357 magnum in a semi-auto cartridge. They basically shortened a 10mm case and necked it down to take a 9mm diameter bullet.

Is a 40 cal stronger than 9mm?

Ballistic Penetration & Knock-Down Power
Everyone will agree that the . 40 S&W does trump the 9mm is in the power department. It's a bigger, heavier cartridge that punches a little bit harder than the 9mm. However, advancements in ammunition technology have helped the 9mm to become the cartridge that the .

Is 10mm more powerful than 357?

357 Magnum is a powerful cartridge, but in this case it takes a narrow 2nd place to the 10mm Auto. 10mm generally packs higher muzzle energies thanks in large part to the larger bullets. Even with similar bullets, however, it appears the 10mm does slightly better.

Who uses 357 sig?

357 SIG caliber. Both the New Mexico State Police and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol use SIG Sauer P229s chambered in . 357 SIG. The Herculaneum (Missouri) Police Department uses the P229 and P226 in .

Is 10mm good for self defense?

The 10mm is controversial in the self-defense role. The 10mm propels a 40 caliber bullet about 180 grains at between 1200-1400 feet per second, rivaling or surpassing the 357 Magnum revolver cartridge depending on your load. Thus, there is something of a bias against the 10mm as being too powerful for defensive use.

Is the 45 ACP obsolete?

45 ACP is outdated.” That's not to say it isn't effective, or that it isn't reliable; just that it's outdated. The . 45 ACP round was developed by John Browning in 1905 and was later adopted by the United States military because it was deemed more effective that the .

What guns are chambered in .357 SIG?

.357 Sig Pistols for sale
  • Sig Sauer P320 - 357 Sig. GI#: 101386039.
  • Sig Sauer P320.
  • GLOCK 32 GEN 4 357 SIG USED GUN INV 224680.
  • S&W M&P MISSISSIPPI HIWAY PATROL 75TH ANNIVERSARY IN .357 SIG CAL.IN BOX.
  • Springfield XD .357 Sig (PR46820)
  • SIG Sauer ~ P226 ~ .357 SIG.
  • Glock G32 Gen 4 .357 SIG 4.01" 13 Rounds PG3250203.
  • Sig Sauer ~ P229 ~ .357 SIG.

Which is bigger 40 cal or 357?

357 Magnum bullets travel 1.5 times the speed of a 737 airplane at cruising speed, while . 40 S&W bullets travel 1.2 times that same speed.

Will 357 Sig kill a bear?

357 Sig will work just fine on black bear, provided you can hold that bear down on the ground and shoot him through the eye! Seriously, any good personal defense handgun caliber will kill a Black Bear, . 357 Sig, . 40 S&W, 10MM, .

Is the 357 Sig obsolete?

357 SIG as being obsolete but the fact that it is still used by so many law enforcement agencies shows that it has its place in the market.

What pistol does Secret Service use?

The Secret Service's current sidearm, the SIG Sauer P229 chambered in .357 SIG (which entered service in 1999) will be replaced with Glock handguns.

Is a 357 Sig more powerful than a 45?

45 ACP in higher percentage success rates in one-shot stops, fatal shots, accuracy, and less number of rounds used to stop an assailant. Loaded to the same pressure as a . 357 Magnum, but 14 percent higher than a . 40 S&W or a 9mm, the .

What is the difference between 357 Sig and 357 mag?

357 Magnum and 125-grain . 357 SIG. The larger Magnum cartridge has lower speeds but a muzzle energy of 539 foot-pounds, while the . 357 SIG, a faster cartridge, has only 506 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.

Can you convert a Glock .40 to 9mm?

40 sized breechface wont let the extractor get as strong of a grip on the cartridge rim of a 9mm casing. While you can get by with going from . 40 to 9mm with just a barrel change sans a little reliability issues, you can't convert a 9mm gun to shoot . 40 without changing the slide, too.

Can a 40 cal shoot 357 sig?

Yes,you can buy either a . 40 caliber Glock or a . 357 caliber and you can convert to the other caliber by just swapping out barrell. 40s&w casing bottle necked down to accept a 9mm bullet,dimensions between both calibers are the same except for the bullet diameter.

Who makes a 357 Sig?

Glock makes a line of . 357 Sig pistols too, including full-size, compact and subcompact models. Smith and Wesson used to make the M&P and M&P Compact in . 357 Sig, and reportedly still will do so on request.

Is 38 Super a good round?

The . 38 Super is a niche round, having a certain following but not being as popular as it arguably ought to be. On paper, it's a hotter 9mm, flying faster, flatter and carrying more "oomph!" than dreary ol' 9x19mm and without being too much more unpleasant to shoot.

Will a .40 mag fit in a 9mm?

40 and 9mm mags are interchangeable! Yeah, but we're talking about real guns here. You can put 9mm into 40 mags up to about 7-8 rounds and then the spring will pop them out. I tried it when I first got my conversion barrel and ended up buying real 9mm mags.

Whats bigger 38 or 9mm?

Both bullets are equal in bullet diameter, the 9mm case is about 3/8 of an inch shorter than the . 38 Special but boasts double the pressure. Lets apply some common sense to simple physics and see what the ballistic charts look like.

Can a 10mm shoot 40 Cal?

No. The parent case for the . 40 S&W was the 10mm; the bullets are identical. Both are rimless cartridges, designed to headspace [seat] on the case rim, but the case length for the 40 is .

What is the best 357 Sig ammo?

. 357 Sig Ballistic Test Results
AmmoExpansion
Winchester 125 gr PDX-1 Defender15.380.692
Hornady 147 gr Custom XTP23.90.484
Hornady 135 gr Critical Duty18.860.468
Remington 125 gr UMC JHP18.240.586

Is 40 S&W going away?

40 S&W are going to fade away? Not likely. Many gun manufacturers such as CZ-USA, Glock, Ruger, and others continue to develop . 40 S&W handguns alongside their already popular 9mm varieties.

What is a Glock 357 sig?

357 Sig, is the caliber of choice for the Glock 31 pistol. The Glock 31 is the company's offering for those into high velocity or long distance handgun shooting. The G31 also comes with a large magazine capacity, making it an excellent self-defense or duty sidearm.

Can a Desert Eagle 357 shoot 38?

Originally Posted By txgp17: Because the 38 & 357 are rimmed cartridges that headspace off the case's rim, it is completely safe to fire. Whether or not it functions reliably is a whole different matter. The 38 load might not have enough gas pressure to cycle the pistol, since it is a gas operated design.

Can a Glock 23 shoot 357 sig?

You can use your 23 mags with the 357 sig cartridge. That being said I would not trust a conversion as my carry gun. It is not 100 vper cent reliable. I say this from experince with my G23 and my Lone Wolf 357 Sig barrell.

What's the biggest handgun caliber?

8 Largest Caliber Handguns in the World
  • Cartridge: .454 Casull. Bullet Diameter: .452 in (11.5 mm)
  • Cartridge: .460 S&W Magnum. Bullet Diameter: .452 in (11.5 mm)
  • Cartridge: .450 Marlin. Bullet Diameter: .458 in (11.6 mm)
  • Cartridge: .45-70 Government.
  • Cartridge: .480 Ruger.
  • Cartridge: .50 Action Express.
  • Cartridge: .500 S&W Magnum.
  • Cartridge: .600 Nitro Express.