Drop-In .357 SIG Conversion

Lonewolf 4-inch conversion barrel in .357 SIG dropped in a Glock 23. Temperature: 62 F, Humidity 54%, distance from chronograph...15'. Pepperoni pizza by 5-Star, pie with everything on it from Mellow Mushroom Pizza. Bandaids* by CVS Pharmacy. Rolaids care of Walgreens. Constant bitching about "snappyness" direct from Brent.

DT 115 grain Gold Dot: 1554 fps
Winchester 125 grain JHP: 1312 fps
Winchester Ranger-T 125 grain JHP: 1344 fps
Winchester 105 grain Super-Clean: 1362 fps
DT 125 grain Gold Dot: 1461 fps
Federal 125 grain Tactical Bonded JHP: 1327 fps

Velocity was determined from an average of 5 rounds. All of the tested munitions produced noticeable muzzle flash, with Winchesters generic 125 grain JHP generating the most, and DT's 115 grain the least. All of the tested rounds feed, fired, and flung without drama.

*"Ew, look it IS a blister, it IS..."

Whoops, almost forgot. As a point of reference, a .40 S&W DT 135 grain Nosler was chronographed from the stock G-23 barrel and yielded 1361 fps. With the exception of the light-weight bullets, the .40 can do anything the SIG can, and then some when you consider that it's possible to crank the 40 S&W up to 1000 fps using a 200 grainer. The SIG does shine with DT's 115 grain Gold Dot, though, and this would be pretty much the only reason to go with this particular caliber. We're toying with the idea of setting up some gelatin tests before it gets too warm, but virtually all of the offerings from the major manufacturers seem to do about the same, and that is intentional. What I would like to test is a .357 handload that Crazy Jay claims will zip a 115 grainer along at 1600+ fps and if he ever does remember to fed-ex me some we just might have a chrono-gello party sometime soon.

Whoops almost forgot Part Duxedo*

Sorry, the Super Bowl is distracting the shit out of me. Brent brought along some Winchester 175 grain 1omm Silvertips and we chronographed them at 1126 fps from his G-29's 3.78" barrel. Then we switched over to DT's 180 grain Gold Dots in .40 and measured them at 1113 fps from the same gun with a conversion barrel.

And that's the reason to go with a boutique manufacturer. The standard 10 mm loads are on par with specialty .40's so what's the point of going 10 at all if you don't use a DT version with some giddyup, or handload your own. And even if you do settle for a hotass 10 from Double Tap you're still limiting yourself to a scant few bullet configurations, and cannot avail yourself of the best Ranger or Federal rounds. If you happen to be in love with Gold Dots, then more power to you because that's about all you'll find, but until the majors crank the 10 up to where it belongs, I see no reason to join the 10-Ring.

Bottom Line: We still haven't found the magic bullet.

*French for 2