Poll: perceived recoil of .40 S&W versus 357 SIG

[Hambo]

You gotta do it yourself, you can't pass it off to a machine. That's like having a trainer teach your pup you're the alpha. That dog is going to know you're a bitch, it'll listen to you but only because the one it recognizes as alpha told it to. This is a test of wills, you have to dominate this thing. I would recommend loading 10-15 mags with the hottest ammo you have, head to the range and run all those mags through the pistol non-stop. Do our best to melt that puppy. The only pause in rate of fire should as you reload while screaming DOMINATE at the pistol.

Do that every day for a week. That pistol will know what's up, it'll be scared to let that front sight lift. It'll behave like a 22 until the day it dies... and it'll only die after you give it permission.

That may work for fluffy little pistol calibers, but .44 magnum will fight you forever.

[Tamara]

Not to drift the thread too bad, but did it ever get any easier to reload 357SIG? I recall tales of woe.

FWIW, I've yet to find even a commercial reloading operation who can do it right.

[Patrick Taylor]

I use once fired brass from Southern Belle and plated bullets for the 357sig round. The 357 round has been less trouble than dealing with bulged .40 brass.

[SigShooter]

I have heard divergent opinions regarding the perceived recoil of .40 S&W versus 357 SIG. Some seem to think 357 SIG has less perceived recoil and others feel the opposite. For those who have had the opportunity to shoot both calibers from the same pistol with a barrel change, or from two pistols of the same design and size, which caliber to you perceive to be more challenging to control? Lets assume commercial ammunition loads, standard pressure 180 grain .40 S&W and standard pressuer 125 grain 357 SIG. I think it is generally accepted that 357 SIG is louder and has more muzzle blast, but I am referring to perceived recoil.

There are too many variables to facilitate a definitive answer.

I own 2 Sigs, a P229 and a P239, both in .40 S&W. Both are extremely accurate. Both have very manageable recoil. At firing, neither will wander off target by appreciable degree. I use only 180 grain factory ammo in my Sigs.

Fire a 180 grain .40 S&W in a lightweight handgun, and I'm sure the outcome would be a lot different.

BTW, a P239 in .45 ACP would be just about a perfect off-duty handgun.

[pblanc]

Thanks to all who have responded thus far. It seems that opinions are more or less evenly divided.

I have a SIG P229 DA/SA in .40 S&W and a 357 SIG barrel for it. I have shot .40 S&W for some years, nearly always 180 grain, not only from the SIG but from a Beretta Cougar 8040F. My first experiences with .40 S&W years ago were not great. I was unaccustomed to the recoil characteristics and had poor accuracy with it. I stuck with it and found that with an improved grip and more familiarity with the cartridge my performance greatly improved. Now when I shoot .40 S&W from either the Beretta or the SIG P229, it really doesn't seem much different from shooting 9mm 124 grain NATO.

When I first tried 357 SIG I perceived it to have somewhat greater recoil but this might have been partially due to the influence of the louder report and greater muzzle flash. As I become more accustomed to it, it really doesn't seem that much different than .40 S&W.

[Flintsky]

Now when I shoot .40 S&W from either the Beretta or the SIG P229, it really doesn't seem much different from shooting 9mm 124 grain NATO.

Most people don't notice much of a recoil difference between the calibers as they are basing the recoil impulse on "pain/discomfort" in relative slow courses of fire. That can make a difference in extended range sessions, but in practical durations it doesn't really matter.

Now what does matter is not the pain/discomfort of the impulse, but how long it keeps you off target. I have carried 9mm, .40, and .45 Sigs for years and am a very accomplished shooter in their perspective platforms. There are many tests to demonstrate this, but a common test is to use a shot timer and fire 6 rounds in 3 seconds at a 10yrd paper target. This is representative of the most common gun fight range and likely duration of a multi shot engagement. For 99.9% of shooters, the 9mm will always outshoot the scores of the .40 or .45 given similar shooting platforms. Even in 3-round strings, the scores aren't even close in speed and accuracy between 9mm and .40 Sigs(P228/P229).

Pretty much .40, .357, and .45 Sigs have two factors that fight against you when shooting......the stiff recoil spring, and the heavy slide. Those two components do help soften the recoil impulse as the slide moves rearward, but it multiplies the forward force causing the muzzle to nose dive much more forcefully than the lighter closing 9mm Sigs. So not only do the .40, .357, and .45 Sigs have more recoil overall(versus 9mm), but they have considerably more closing force and a more pronounced muzzle dive. Both factors that prevent accurate, rapid fire in the Sig lineup. As Dr. Roberts and all the expert opinions he has collected over the years have stated, Sigs work best in 9mm.