Pistol cartridges tend to find their popularity wedded to some particular application, i.e. hunting, competition or defensive use. Since the .357 SIG really doesn�t perform demonstrably better in any of those areas than the old standbys, it just hasn�t attracted a big following. If the SIG round had been developed before the .40 S&W, I suspect things might be different.
I think bottle-neck pistol cartridges got a bad rap back in the day when they were chambered in revolvers (think .22 Jet in S&W Mod 53�s) but I�ve heard of no reliability issues with the round when chambered in quality designs like SIG-Sauer and Glock. The bottle-neck pistol round was used a hundred years ago in Europe, but that paradigm was pretty foreign to American shooters.
While the SIG round operates at higher pressure than any other medium bore handgun cartridge, I've not personally heard of any wear and tear issues.
The selection, availability and price of duty and practice ammo for the .357 SIG hasn�t helped anything either.
Last edited by 41magfan; 01/11/13.
