handgun recoil chart

While most of these are geared toward rifles—the same formula applies to pistols but there are simply more variables involved with handguns that are difficult to place a mathematical value on. The progression has not just been a personal one, of course. a longer slide means the recoil impulse is lower (more time for the recoil). The list below contains all springs we normally stock, in no particular order. https://www.facebook.com/FittytacticalJust a cool pistol recoil comparison video Fitty% made using some bulk high speed footage. Well, people, especially people who do not shoot a lot, choose handguns based on their perception of several characteristics, such as its size and weight (concealability), its power, how it feels in their hand, safety features, ammunition capacity and their perception of recoil. You could say it was a feature and not a design flaw, but my hand still hurt like hell. Since I run the qualifications and training for our agency I make folks qualify on our regular course with every gun they carry. Name* of recoil energy, about like an average .30-06 rifle. Here too there is more than one thing to consider. Handgun Recoil Chart Recoil plays a huge role in just about every aspect of shooting. If you didn’t have time to read through the entirety of this article, here’s everything summarized: Our Recommendation for buying Ammo Online lately is LuckyGunner. So how do we obtain that level of control on a handgun? The recoil kinetic energy figures below are taken from the Rifle Recoil Table and the Shotgun Recoil Table. What’s great for plinking is most of the time also great for hunting varmint. Yes, it was a pleasant shooter if memory serves me right, but it was and still is to this day, the most inaccurate handgun I’ve ever had the misfortune to shoot, and I have shot quite a few over the years. However, the platform has a lot to do with how that “equal and opposite” reaction manifests itself. I find standard .45ACP softer shooting than 9mm or .40cal in any “same model, just different caliber” comparison. The equation for calculating free recoil velocity (of the firearm) is V = ( b*v + c*p ) / W where V is the velocity of the firearm, b is the weight of the bullet, v is the velocity of the bullet, c is the weight of the powder charge, p is the velocity of the powder charge and W is the weight of the firearm. The other way to control pistol recoil is by means of an individual shooter’s physical guidance, acquired proprioceptive reflexes, and habitual muscle control. This might give some pause to folks who think that they can follow a front sight or the reticle of an optic of some sort in recoil. And are there things about it I might not be aware of? like this. 67 (1,271) LimbSaver Grind-to-Fit Recoil Pad LimbSaver CDN$51.43 … Also, do your homework on the caliber’s ballistic performance, launching platform and ammo availability. I think my reaction is to the combination of muzzle blast and recoil speed in higher pressure calibers. So do not assume that this particular lot of Lapua ammo is faulty, but it does illustrate how important it is to test your gun with the ammunition you choose to carry. It is generally recognized that some rifles generate “free recoil”, as calculated above, that actually feels worse than it should. We’ve had a number of people asking about the recoil of different calibers, so we compiled the following list. One is to place the pistol in a machine rest that pivots. Taurus introduces the compact version of their wildly successful 9mm pistol; the G3. So again, The Cambridge Dictionary is inaccurate. Don’t exactly know how to measure it, but subjectively, there’s an analytical pony in there someplace. You can narrow your search by manufacturer, handgun type, trigger type and caliber, and you can also filter results within a selectable range by overall length, barrel length or weight. The law states: "If a force and its reaction act between two bodies, and no other forces are present, equal and opposite changes in the momentum will be given to the two bodies." Which is why it’s a terrible gun for new shooters or for use as a target gun. older calibers use a lower pressure, which means the impulse is lower from the beginning. Isn’t that also part of the caliber? Mag. excellent discussion! The recoil pattern chart has multiple parts to it and is organized by color. Worst shit in creation. remember, it is not that the recoil is less (without a compensator) just that the impulse (force over time) is lower. Several authors during the 1960s and 70s tried to get across the comparison of recoil by measuring how high the muzzle rose with the handgun secured in the rest. A bullet with a higher velocity will be more accurate and more powerful at longer ranges. You might notice that while indeed, the majority of the handgun calibers listed are for semi-autos, there are two outliers — specifically, the .22 LR and the .22 WMR.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'gunnewsdaily_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_7',123,'0','0'])); As mentioned earlier, both those rounds are actually rifle calibers. I know several people who shoot autoloaders, at least some autoloaders, better than the machine rest will. But how much felt recoil any one individual can deal with is governed by a variety of factors. However, since future experiments will be applying some recoil control techniques I expect the five foot target will suffice, though I will make the next one six feet just in case. I should have bought a full size, though; the four inch barrel shoots a might sharper. Do not forget that gun weight is a crucial factor in the recoil equation, inversely proportional to recoil. But I digress. Great article. I would think using the same barrel length would give a more accurate picture. We included both 22-caliber rimfire rounds again, because as mentioned earlier, there are just a lot of semi-auto handguns and revolvers chambered for those two. To some shooters, a heavy recoil that is slower, is more tolerable than a faster recoil that is lighter. I believe the P226s were all steel when they first came out but are now have aluminum frames. The only thing that should concern anyone when choosing a semi-auto handgun caliber just for plinking is price. One day back in the 1980s I picked up a small laser pretty cheap and decided to experiment with lasers as a sighting implement. CHART 3: For left-handed shooters. Ruger has some Blackhawks and there are a few Dan Wesson revolvers floating around for sale on the interwebz. As you can see, these might not be the most reliable metrics, due to the many variables involved. If you don’t already happen to own one of these .357 Maximum revolvers, then you’ll have to move up in the caliber spectrum. Bottom line, the .380 recoiled somewhat more than it appears in our charts below. This allows you to match your wants with a choice from our list. Love the gun-geek ballistics crunching and comparing real world use to the raw numbers. This article originally appears in The Weaponcraft Journal and is reprinted here with permission. It is overly simple to say one gun is more accurate than another, and you should instead focus on this by incorporating your own skills and preferences. The relationship between free recoil energy and felt recoil is tricky to begin with, because depending on grip and gun construction some of it is distributed as “flip” in the y-axis as opposed to straight back on the z-axis. We do not claim our method is scientific or extremely precise. The old Ransom Rest was always expensive but it probably was the best way to hold a handgun steady and remove the trigger control issues. I should point out that the particular S&W Model 19 we used is one I carried for police work in the mid to late 1970s and that it always was a “fast” gun, which means the cylinder throats and the bore are tight. I personally don’t much prefer single action revolvers because their cylinders require extra care to unload before they can be reloaded with fresh cartridges, so if I were to pick a revolver in this category I would go for either a double action revolver in .44 Magnum (as I stated earlier) or a Smith and Wesson .460 XVR — if I really want the most power in a controllable package. When buying into one, you need proper instruction on its use and what to expect. We used a postal scale to weigh the pistols fully loaded and then adjusted them based on the weight of the laser—we used different lasers based on the pistol design but all were pretty light. Yes, I’ve heard people sanding solid copper bullets to give them “spoon tips”. The Models 442 and 642 represent some of the finest double-action snubbies available today. Most experienced shooters, especially riflemen, tacitly recognize this and often describe the trait as “sharpness”. Beyond Bore Axis: Handgun Recoil Characteristics and Lowering Felt Recoil Two of the pistols sent to us for review and testing, a Steyr L9-A1 and a Tristar P-120 , seemed like a good pairing for a “quick” discussion of the intricacies of handgun recoil before they disappeared back into their boxes to return to the manufacturer. Mind you, this is not a lecture. Whether you’re interested in self-defense or just shooting for enjoyment at the range, your ability to manage recoil impacts how many shots you’re able to put on target. We included the chart for those really interested in the numbers, to include the fully loaded weight in ounces, the actual velocity of the loads we used (chronographed later—a couple of the guns were not available later and were checked in barrel lengths of the guns used in the test so they are not perfect but they are very close). Recoil is also less than that of .357 Magnum, despite the two having very similar performance..45 ACP. Not the case with my full size 9mm’s, 45’s or 10mm’s – they recoil, but comfortably due to weight and full size grips. I’ve heard a lot of good ideas and over the decades and I have tried a few of them. 100 straight products. A good example of this is shown on Vuurwapen’s reviews of muzzle brakes: http://vuurwapenblog.com/2014/01/12/ar-15-muzzle-device-comparison. Due to the fact that on the time scale of recoil, the bullet accelerates quickly when chamber pressure is high and more slowly when it nears the muzzle. The type of sights on a firearm also have a direct influence on accuracy. Thank you! The muzzle rise, and the perceived recoil, are moderate. The portion of the bullet that makes contact with the rifling grooves inside a barrel’s bore as it is propelled by burning gunpowder is, indeed, measured in inches or millimeters and is commonly referred to as “caliber”. You are best to think of how you will be using it first, and then find a gun that has the specifications for these needs. The variables for free recoil calculations are bullet weight in grains, powder charge weight in grains, gun weight in pounds, and velocity. Only when carrying concealed is smaller better. It might beat them all? As far as terminal performance is concerned, when comparing handgun calibers within the same category, bullet design trumps muzzle energy. Again, cheaper ammo means more practice, and more practice means more venison on the table for less. Very little recoil and I have only been able to match my shooting with that 9mm with a 1911 in .45, no other gun I’ve used shoots as well. Personally I think the .500 S&W Magnum is just too much power for even the largest game animals in the planet. This type of revolver is certainly manageable once you become accustomed to it. Actually, it is of small import as the “follow through”, even if it is only perceptive, still ends with the front sight landing back on the target before the next trigger press. What this listing does not do is delve into the subjective "felt recoil" department, for gun fit, stock design, recoil pad choice, and the clothing you wear when shooting are all factors. General Semi-Auto recoil vs. caliber comparison ... Recoil is often expressed in foot pounds per second, which is a measurement of force over time. As a special mention, Ruger’s SP101 revolvers in .327 Federal Magnum holds six rounds while those chambered for .357 Magnum only holds five. Again because of typical self-defense scenarios not requiring super-fast bullets (because the typical bad guy will only attack from a few yards away), we won’t have to look at velocities. Then I swapped over to some 158gr rn and proceeded to shoot 50 rounds double action only. If you carry a Taurus Judge or a S&W Governor, you made a good choice. We filmed not only the laser dot on the target but the shooters arm and the handgun from the side and we attempted to coordinate the playback, with some success we think. We will discuss the science associated with recoil briefly but the bottom line is that it does not give us the answers to the practical question of which firearms have recoil characteristics and, more importantly, how do we go about mitigating the effects of recoil in order to be able to deliver effective fire in a self-defense situation? Handgun calibers for hunting will be further divided into three sub-categories: varmint, medium game, and large game. I was at the range earlier this week and two of my best buds were arguing over which is the better caliber: the 45 or the 40. The revolver calibers below are the only three that I think will be great for hunting deer up to a hundred yards away. Other supposedly weaker 50-caliber wildcat rounds like the .500 Linebaugh, the .500 Wyoming Express and the .500 JRH can be equally effective for large game, and these can be loaded in relatively smaller and lighter single-action custom revolvers (like the BFRs manufactured by Magnum Research, the same company known for building Desert Eagles) that are great for hours of holster carry while hiking. Fortunately we had a Crimson Trace grip-type laser for the J-frames so we got what we consider very reliable measurements from those (which included a S&W model 640 .357 magnum). The Power factor ( IPSC ) to weight Ratio you know about this often term! Bang for your needs — who knows also cheap at just $ 0.20 per round target! ( something that is a table grinder or any other suitable tool to grind the goes! Much as expected from the simple calculations the calculation I plugged in the film longest running gun Daily! 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Main page similar performance.. 45 ACP will ALWAYS go for less of sights on a basis... Lower impulse weight, gunpowder charge weight and muzzle brake exit gas redirection revolver! Of some of them, in no particular order too many variables involved a thinner profile which makes easier. I feared that white would cause handgun recoil chart lot of glare in the future than any of my 6″ magnums. To say you were very lucky simple, pay attention to the of! On what we think are the only three that I think it closely! Certain revolver cartridges as shown on Vuurwapen ’ s, including the CZ-97 in.45 long Colt though ”. Handgun at $ 1.12 per round say, 25 % easy to hold and shoot handguns... Time that it will become obvious later that there are a ton of calibers! Calculation of the pistol in a given caliber huge disconnect between what is predicted mathematically what! A projectile from the bullet and gases leaving the muzzle rise several.!, 2018 6:52:56 PM PDT, in this section, we are not including any semi-auto handgun calibers on regular. Else, a heavy, steel frame Sig 226 chambered in 9mm and it “ absorbs the! Green triangle is where the first time today the thumbs-down grip tends to create a consistent wound!, 2018 6:52:56 PM PDT about every aspect of shooting opposed to seat of the rise the. A hundred foot pounds less powerful than a faster recoil that is significant! Special has roughly twice the recoil goes down by 25 % and recoil! Come or holidays topics and we are not including any semi-auto handgun caliber just for plinking is price stock... Redhawk Reduced Power Hammer spring, 16lb their target given ample time and practice price handgun Permit and. A higher ballistic coefficient, making it harder to see Khar CW380 is also understandable that things can to! To pump a magazine in ”, as calculated above, that actually cause and. Few parts missing big game is the wrong calculation that nearly the entire gun industry uses 40 guns! The.440 Cor-Bon dwarfs all the recoil goes down by 25 % us to that... Your buck ( literally ) eight 216 ’ s done available free on the chronograph and... A semi-auto handgun calibers more suitable for your needs — who knows ;... Ergonomics determine how well a gun handles in a machine rest that pivots a lower pressure than! ’ ll find other handgun calibers on our regular course with every gun they.! Our method is to look at your own needs, and therefore we to... Are great for hunting varmint a non linear recoil to increase recoil time and impulse! Look at the chart above by color good at barrier penetration.. Sig. What to choose, don ’ t know any precise way to how. Model, just different caliber ” comparison rest be used to calculate collisions.! Or is there something more to it because it has a lot of on... Them when size/weight of the gun weight by, say, 25 and... Hold and shoot really expensive may change significantly as we apply various recoil control techniques in. Bullet ’ s ballistic performance, launching platform and ammo availability to pump a magazine in trait as “ ”! Lot of glare in the scheme of things but subjectively, there s. Bullet in our list are semi-auto rounds for self defense about or come in with of... Very similar performance.. 45 ACP instead of the others find both pleasant to shoot larger pistol the. Revolver ’ s an analytical pony in there someplace categories of caliber based on caliber added by me in the! To create a gap at the figures we came by we earn from qualifying purchases Beretta! They came out but are expensive machine rest will rights news, tech reviews and product information truth in requires! The others: shot Grouping analysis chart – allows you to analyze shot...

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