357 Sig and .380 3AT indoors

[Callahan]

I took the P239 and the 3AT to an indoor range on a real cloudy day last week. The place was empty, just me and the counter guy, who was wearing a stainless Colt 1911.

I usually fire on bright dayss, either at an outdoor range or in the country, so I was a little surprised at how much muzzle blast I was getting from the little Kel-Tec.

It was nothing though, compared to the 357 when I touched it off. Talk about a ball of flame!

A lawman came in and got on the next lane while I was shooting. When I was through he says to me, "Lordy, lordy, what are you shooting?"

"357 Sig," I told him.

"Heck, I thought you had a .45" he said, "that thing was sending out a shock wave!"

Think he was glad I was wrapping things up.

I think I fire the 357 better than the .40 on follow-up shots.

[TMan]

Don't forget: most ranges consider the 357 Sig a magnum round. Where they ban magnums, they ban the 357 Sig's too.

The 460 XVR has quite a muzzle blast too, but nothing can compare to the Bushmaster Pistol shooting 223 rounds. It lights up the world.

I've shot 357 Magnums out of the Bond Arms Snake Slayer. It was an outdoor range, and everybody left until I finished shooting.

Funny, but I notice the shock wave at times when other people are shooting, but not when I'm shooting. Probably because I'm flinching. ;D

[Callahan]

The muzzle brake on the 300 Win Mag will blow my hair up if I'm standing to the side of my son when he's shooting.

I'm sure the guy in the next indoor shooting lane the other day was hearing the effects, rather than feeling them, though. May have been a bit of buffeting of the ceiling panels and against the lane divider, too!

A range that bans Magnums? How unTexan! ;D

["DoubleAction"]

Callahan; I have found from experience that the bottlenecked cases of the 357 sig feeds much better than the .40 S&W in the chambers of the Sig pistols, this is true with the 229 sport pistols, 229, 226. and the 239. This is more noticable with the the flat nose bullets in .40 S&W.

[Callahan]

admin said:

Callahan; I have found from experience that the bottlenecked cases of the 357 sig feeds much better than the .40 S&W in the chambers of the Sig pistols, this is true with the 229 sport pistols, 229, 226. and the 239. This is more noticable with the the flat nose bullets in .40 S&W.

Yeah, I have had no problems with the 357 feeding. I did have a few hiccups with the 239 when I used to use the .40 S&W barrel, but I think that was due to a friend of mine limp wristing it and the need for a good cleaning and lube.
I have not used the .40 barrel since just after I got the 357. I think my follow-up shots are better with .357. It does not recoil as far off the target as it does with the .40. I dunno, though. Maybe if I fired a light bullet out of the .40 I would get similar results. There is a differenet twist rate, though. Maybe that accounts for some of the perceived difference in recoil for me.

["DoubleAction"]

Callahan; I started out with the .40 S&W as the prime reason for getting into anything other than the .45 acp, but after shooting the .357 sig I converted all my .40 S&W pistols to 357 sig. I still use the .40 S&W but in a lighter, higher velosity hollow point for defensive purposes. For the shear pleasure of shooting, I love the 357 sig.

[Adam Dieffenbach]

you want muzzle blast? try a 357 mag with a 3 inch barrel. that sucker had a flame that was about 2 feet tall and a foot wide. incredible.

[TMan]

Actually, I've shot my Bond Arms Snake Slayer with the 357 barrel on it. It is loud, and there is quite a muzzle-blast. However, it doesn't come close to the blast that comes from the Bushmaster 97s, which fires the 223 round.

[ron]

thedeef said:

you want muzzle blast? try a 357 mag with a 3 inch barrel. that sucker had a flame that was about 2 feet tall and a foot wide. incredible.

Ron