Secret Service Dropping the .357 Sig in Favor of the 9 mm

        It's been all over the news that the Secret Service, which, in 2003, adopted the the Sig Sauer P229R (a version of the P229 with a rail) chambered in .357 Sig, will be switching to the 9mm Glock 19 MOS Gen 5.  (Tactical teams will use the 9mm G47 MOS Gen 5 and G26 Gen 5). (See, e.g., ABC News, Guns.com, The Firearm Blog).

       I suspect that the caliber is driving this change as much or more than anything. A year ago, Lucky Gunner did a great video and article about .357 Sig versus 9 mm entitled, ".357 Sig: What’s the Point of this Cartridge?" The key point:

Any time we test a new caliber, I like to do some background research on it. So a couple of weeks ago, I was reading an article published back in the Fall of 2000 by Dr. Gary Roberts, who is probably the most well-known wound ballistics researcher active today. He was sharing the results of a .357 Sig gelatin test he performed at the California Highway Patrol Academy range. This was printed in the Wound Ballistics Review, which was a scientific journal intended for hardcore ballistics nerds, so it tends to be pretty dry and technical most of the time. But at the end of this one article, Dr. Roberts breaks into editorial mode and he says,

“Compared to a 9mm, the .357 Sig has a decreased magazine capacity, more recoil, as well as greater muzzle blast and flash, yet at best it offers no gain in bullet penetration and expansion characteristics. What is the point of this cartridge?”

The article goes on to describe the cartridge (basically a 10 mm shortened and necked down to take the smaller diameter bullet), and notes that the agencies that had adopted the cartridge were basically happy with it's performance. But:

What they have typically not been as happy about is the toll this cartridge takes on their firearms. It’s a very high pressure round, even compared to .40 S&W. It’s hard on guns and it makes them wear out quicker. But it does tend to have slightly less recoil than a .40 and a lot less recoil than a 4-inch .357 magnum revolver. On the other hand, like Dr. Roberts mentioned, it’s got far more recoil than a 9mm along with a lot of muzzle blast and muzzle flash.

And then there is the cost of the .357 Sig. So, in short, it brings a lot of downsides with no appreciable benefits.

     As for the choice of Glock, there are probably several factors at work here. The Glock 19 is a proven platform. Gen 5 MOS models not only have rails for lights or lasers, but can also mount a red dot sight, which seems to be the future of combat pistols. Sure, the Secret Service could have upgraded to the Sig P229RX which allows for the mounting of optics, but the P229RX is 34.4 ounces (I assume this is the unloaded weight), while the Glock is 21.2 ounces unloaded. Plus, I'm sure that the Glock is much less expensive than the Sig P229.