I voted for the 357 Sig, but to be honest it was a really hard vote for me, as I love both calibers.
As a homicide detective I carried a personally owned S&W model 57, until my last Chief walked through the door and had a heart attack over what he termed an "excessive force issue waiting to happen". So of course, no more .41 magnum. Oddly even though our issued weapon was a .357 revolver which could only be loaded with .38 special loads, he did not object when I put a .45 acp on my belt, that was fine with him - so go figure.
When the 10mm appeared I jumped on the bandwagon quickly, with a Smith 1006. That quickly became my carry weapon with a federal agency that allowed personally owned weapons with some brand and caliber limitations. They controlled personally owned weapons by issuing the carry round. Our issued pistol at the time was a Smith 9mm.
I attended the S&W auto armorer school and we had a candid dicussion with the instructor on the 10mm round. Bottom line according to him - the FBI killed it with their typical "we know it all, no one else does" attitude. When they had problems with their issued 10mm it was strictly an ammo problem. Both Smith and ammo reps from the two companies they were buying ammo from told the FBI that they specified loads which were too weak to reliably function the pistols. Everyone suggested if they would allow the rounds to be increased about 40 fps in power, their functioning issues would be solved. But the FBI said no, we want the rounds we want at the level we specify, and promptly began to trash the Smith 10mm as unreliable.
Smith developed the 40 S&W as a professional way to thumb their nose at the FBI, as they said they loaded the round to the level the FBI wanted the 10 loaded to, and were able to drop it down to a 9mm frame platform. All of this is from the instructor, but I have read articles in various publications which tend to agree to one extent or another. So if you love the 40, I guess you should thank the FBI for its introduction.
Unfortunately as have been noted already, far too many police agencies tend to take the word of the FBI as gospel, without really doing their own research...so the 10 basically began to die at that point in law enforcement circles, for no valid reason. It is an inherently accurate round in my opinion, which gives the reloader a ton of choices for various weights and power levels. But I eventually sold mine because the instructor admitted S&W had stopped making parts for the pistol. While many of its parts were generic, there were a handful that were specifically made for the platform. His best advice was if you want to keep them, stock up on those parts while they still exist.
When the 357 Sig appeared, I really liked the idea of a round that basically provided 125 JHP .357 magnum performance in a 9mm platform pistol. Eventually once I was satisfied the bugs had been worked out for the most part with a new caliber weapon, I got my first pistol in 357 Sig, a Sig P229. It would have not been my first choice, as I prefer the P226, but I was buying it to carry on duty as a newly authorized weapon model which could be used to replace our issued Glock 19 in 9mm. I could only carry the P229 in 40, so I bought the 40 barrel when I got my pistol.
I like the 40 okay, but don't love it like I did my 10mm. Maybe I just see it as a little brother to the 10. But we were having functioning issues with our 19s, so anything that would let me stop carrying that one was a plus to me, and it was a large chunk of lead going downrange, which never bothers me at all.
Like most reloaders, we tend to change powder choices over time and as new calibers appear. For the most part, now all of my handgun rounds are being loaded with one of the Accurate Arms (Western) powders. In 357 Sig I use no 9 and am amazed at how accurate and consistent my results are. I have yet to find a bullet-powder charge this round does not seem to love.
I am not a big fan of alloy framed weapons, regardless of the brand, including Sigs. When they offered the P226 in stainless with a steel frame I jumped at it. I got it in 357 with 40 and 9mm down barrels, so all 3 calibers in one package. Another big advantage of the Sig is one mag will actually function pefectly in all calibers, which is not always true for some brands. At least I have yet to have the first FTF in any of these calibers.
I then added a BHP in 40 and more recently a CZ75B in 40. I love BHPs but after attending a gun school, I was taught a grip that now causes me to inadvertently cause the slide release latch to lock while shooting. So it is a fun gun for me, but can not be a carry because of that problem. I have not had that problem with any Sigs and do not have it with the CZ75B.
The more I shoot the CZ the more impressed I am with it. I specifically got the CZ in 40 as it gives me the option of getting a 357 Sig barrel for it, and a 9mm down barrel, so again all 3 calibers in one pistol. I guess that to me is the true advantage of the 40 caliber - it offers that option for all 3 calibers. Something I really appreciate with the CZ is also having the option of carrying the weapon hammer down (double action first shot) or cocked and locked (single action). Any of you who have not had the chance to shoot a CZ75B, I suggest you try to find a friend who owns one or a gun store with one as a range gun, and try them out. I will warn you, I can already tell they are very addictive.
The more I shoot the 357 Sig the more I want to shoot it. With the weight of the steel framed P226, even with factory Gold Dots, the felt recoil to me is less perceived than is a 40 subsonic. Two other friends who have fired my pistols (both 226 and 229) had the same perception, that the 357 produced less felt recoil than did the mild 40. I have read the "experts" feel it is due to the fact the slide functions more quickly with the 357. Not sure, but I do enjoy feeling less recoil with a hotter load in 357 Sig.
So a tough vote for me really. I love the 10mm and still have a ton of projectiles for it, even though I no longer own a pistol for it. But at least I can load 40s with them, so they will not go to waste.
If the vote had been 40 v 357, I would have immediately said 357 Sig without question. But these are just my opinions, and I am sure others would vote differently on either the 10 or 40. Why I am glad that some many different pistols and caliber choices still exist - you will be hard pressed not to find something that you like and shoot well.
That to me is the real key. Finding a pistol that fits your hand, regardless of caliber, and practicing until you can fire it well. I think caliber certainly has a bearing downrange, but it will never replace shot placement. No round will do much good unless it hits an area where it can produce realistic damage. Again, just my thoughts, I am sure others will disagree.
two guns
