Murphy's Law - 357sig into a 40s&w?

[Mark Mullineaux]

I know that a 40s&w will not load into a 357sig.

I am wondering what would happen if a 357sig were fired in a 40s&w. I am assuming that it would go out untouched by the barrel with no damage to the gun, but that is why I am throwing this out to the group.

[Hackit25]

And let us know how it works out
wink wink nudge nudge say no more.:)

[Ookster]

I've wondered the same thing ever since I bought a 357sig barrel for my G22. I'm always very careful to keep my ammo separate at the range to avoid the possibility of chambering the wrong caliber round. I doubt if it would damage your 40 barrel, but that's just speculation. Seems to me that the powder burn would be enough to "shoot" the bullet out of the barrel. But there would be no pressure buildup, so it would probably sound and feel like a squib round. Anybody ever tried it?

Ookster

[ryucasta]

It's not pretty, I saw a person at a now defunct local range fire a 357 SIG cartridge from a 40S&W barrel the bullet end up lodged in the barrel without any noticeable effect then the 40 S&W was fired immediately after. The 40 caliber bullet cleared the obstruction out, but it blistered the barrel causing the slide to lock up. Fortunately no one was hurt.

BTW, this range was used for the Lethal Weapon movies it was supposed to be the LAPD firing range.

[TheSniper]

Originally posted by Mark Mullineaux
I know that a 40s&w will not load into a 357sig.

I am wondering what would happen if a 357sig were fired in a 40s&w. I am assuming that it would go out untouched by the barrel with no damage to the gun, but that is why I am throwing this out to the group.

Probably wouldn't hurt anything but I sure wouldn't wanna try it with a $500 gun just to see!;f ;c

[EOD3]

I don't see how you'd ever get it to fire unless maybe you were pointing it straight up. Both rounds head space on the case mouth which means the .357 will be WAY to short for the .40 chamber.

[Neal]

Originally posted by EOD3
I don't see how you'd ever get it to fire unless maybe you were pointing it straight up. Both rounds head space on the case mouth which means the .357 will be WAY to short for the .40 chamber.

The extractor might hold the case back enough for the striker to pop it.

Neal

[EOD3]

Maybe, one thing is for sure and for certain, I wouldn't want to be holding it when it went off.

[FmETTLER]

My son did thios inadvertently. The 357b went out of the barrel with a lot of flash but it did not damage the gun.

[armed&well]

Get rid of your .40S&W guns and just keep the .357's.

[G33]

Both .40 in .45 Glocks
and .357 in .40 Glocks has been done at the range.
No big problems; the bullets go down range; often miss the target.
Slides do not cycle fully and some of the cases split.

We have to watch ammo sales more closely.
But people buy what they want, or think they want...;b

[sigpro357]

I came close to having this problem. I have a friend who owns a Sig Pro 2340 in 40 smith and wesson. I own the 2340 in 357 sig. He put my magazine loaded with .357 sigs into his gun. I realized it before he pulled back the slide. NOOOOOOOOOO. Close call needless to say. It can happen. you just have to be physical careful. Now when I shoot with him I keep everything seperate, and I constantly look at the bullet on the top of the mag, and then the barrell indicating the caliber to double check. Can never be too sure.

[scorn]

I did it once. It was no big deal. It felt like I fired a reduced load (likely because the gasses escaped around the bullet). No damage occured.

[Rodman]

when i was in the police academy we shot .357 sig rounds and 9mm rounds out of our 40 caliber glock and H&ks, it didnt do anything out of the ordinary. it functioned properly, after the .357 was fired it split the brass alittle from expansion, and when the bullet hit the target it made a key hole type shape. the 9mm sometimes did fine also. we had to do that as an exercise to show us that even if we dont have the right ammo for a gun and we are in a firefight then we could use other ammo and the gun would function properly. hope that helps you all.

[Ookster]

Interesting story, Rodman. Did the bullet seem to have much impact on the target? You would think that with hardly any pressure buildup, the velocity would be too low to do much damage. Just curious.

Ookster

[deputydawg558]

Originally posted by Mark Mullineaux
I know that a 40s&w will not load into a 357sig.

I am wondering what would happen if a 357sig were fired in a 40s&w. I am assuming that it would go out untouched by the barrel with no damage to the gun, but that is why I am throwing this out to the group.

I actually had this situation happen at the range. I was handed a box of .40 practice ammo and told to load my magazines. I was dark and I did not inspect every round (hindsite is 20/20). It turns out that there were 6 rounds of .357sig mixed in with the .40. When I went through a live fire exercise I got a stovepipe when I got to the .357sig. I did the standard tap, rack etc. and got another stovepipe. So after the 3rd stovepipe in a row I Had the Rangemaster check my weapon. It was fine and functioned when he fired it. It wasn't until I picked up the ejected 6 rounds that I noticed the .357sig rounds.

This was in a second generation Glock 22. I would strongly advise everyone to visually inspect each round. I know I have ever since.

[Rodman]

Ookster, the bullet had plenty of power, oh course it had less than normal because the barrel was larger and gases escaped but it would still be effective to shoot someone with. we had steel targets up behind the paper targets and the still made quite a "ding" when hit. it was definitly an interesting exercise. also our range intstructors informed us that it would not cause any harm to our weapons. hope that explains your question.

[Mark Mullineaux]

Originally posted by Rodman
when i was in the police academy ... the 9mm sometimes did fine also. we had to do that as an exercise to show us that even if we dont have the right ammo for a gun and we are in a firefight then we could use other ammo and the gun would function properly. hope that helps you all.

I would have thought you would have gun guts all over the place after the 9mm ruptured its unsupported case in the chamber. I had a Foccui manufacturing defect that spilled gasses and sent parts flying.

[TXLAWDOGG357]

Do yourself and your insurance a favor and just spend the money on a 40S&w barrel. Leave the guessing up to the good people at Glock. The chamber of the 357sig is not designed for the 40S&W. In a smaller "necked down" case it still has more pressure tollerance than the 40S&W, but just drop in the right barrel. You will be glad you spent the extra cash in the long run. Besides, you can still use the same mags.

[smoney]

have done it in a Glock 24 didn't work the slide, just popped the bullet out, very inaccurate too! no ill effects on the gun, just split case mouths.

the extractor holds it enough to fire it, just like 40 S&W in a 10mm