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Browning High Power (FN) MkIII - Sig 357

dfletcherdfletcher Member Posts: 8,162 ✭✭✭
edited January 2017 in Ask the Experts
I have a BHP MkIII in 40 S & W and see that Olympcic Arms makes 357 Sig barrel for it. Has anyone done the conversion and if so, how'd it go, how's reliability and accuracy? Any safety issues? I reload and any bullet/powder combinations would be helpful.

Comments

  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,649 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've had mixed experiences, with 357 Sig conversion barrels in Glocks. Don't know if the Olympic barrel in the Browning, would work out? If you get one, be sure it's returnable, if you have headspace problems.

    My first 2 were first generation Lone Wolf barrels for the G 20. Both showed incipient failure rings in fired brass. The 3rd one I got was for a G 27, it worked fine no function problems at all.

    I quit using it pretty quick though. Factory ammo was expensive. Reloads were only 200 FPS faster than standard 9mm. Got a 9mm Lone Wolf barrel for the G 27. It works fine for everything, except JHP's with flat blunt noses.
  • 62fuelie62fuelie Member Posts: 1,069 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have had .357 Sig barrels made for all three of my .40 S&W Sigs (226, 229 & 239) I have had all of them made by BarSto Precision in Sturgis, SD. I have never had a problem with feeding or function using the same recoil spring as used with the .40. On the 226 I had to stone the hood of the barrel where it locks against the breech face, but the guys at BarSto walked me through it and it was a quick minor job. When Irv Stone established the specs for his .357 Sig chamber he did it right and set the headspace on the datum ring of the shoulder rather than the case mouth and I get excellent case life out of my reloads. I must disagree, respectfully of course, with rufe. I carried the .357 for a duty pistol from 1996 until my retirement in 2007 and continue to carry the P-239 as my CCW today. That mere 200 fps he refers to is a 16+% velocity increase over the +p 9mm load which works out to a significant increase in delivered energy. Using the standard energy formula - Muzzle Velocity squared X bullet weight in grains divided by 450,240 - gives the energy for a 124 grain 9mm bullet at 1200 fps as 396 Ft/Lbs and the .357 Sig 124 grain at 1400 fps (which it doesn't quite make) as 540 Ft/Lbs. The bottle-neck shape on the cartridge allows for the use of flatter nosed bullets like the Gold Dot or the new Sig V-Crown. The P-35 is a good strong pistol and should be a good combination with the .357 Sig
  • dfletcherdfletcher Member Posts: 8,162 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by 62fuelie
    I have had .357 Sig barrels made for all three of my .40 S&W Sigs (226, 229 & 239) I have had all of them made by BarSto Precision in Sturgis, SD. I have never had a problem with feeding or function using the same recoil spring as used with the .40. On the 226 I had to stone the hood of the barrel where it locks against the breech face, but the guys at BarSto walked me through it and it was a quick minor job. When Irv Stone established the specs for his .357 Sig chamber he did it right and set the headspace on the datum ring of the shoulder rather than the case mouth and I get excellent case life out of my reloads. I must disagree, respectfully of course, with rufe. I carried the .357 for a duty pistol from 1996 until my retirement in 2007 and continue to carry the P-239 as my CCW today. That mere 200 fps he refers to is a 16+% velocity increase over the +p 9mm load which works out to a significant increase in delivered energy. Using the standard energy formula - Muzzle Velocity squared X bullet weight in grains divided by 450,240 - gives the energy for a 124 grain 9mm bullet at 1200 fps as 396 Ft/Lbs and the .357 Sig 124 grain at 1400 fps (which it doesn't quite make) as 540 Ft/Lbs. The bottle-neck shape on the cartridge allows for the use of flatter nosed bullets like the Gold Dot or the new Sig V-Crown. The P-35 is a good strong pistol and should be a good combination with the .357 Sig


    For whatever reason BarSto doesn't offer a 357 Sig for the MkIII. They'd be my choice too.
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