A revolver would do then,now your pivot point diagram applies this is because most of the the recoil force is transferred directly to the shooter.A slide's mass and other relevant factors like friction and springs contribute to dissipate the energy generated at ignition,the remaining slide momentum causes the muzzle flip at the end of the rearward travel.
If I am understanding you correctly, you are stating that the energy of recoil is "dissipated" (completely used up and gone) before the slide reaches the end of its travel and therefore recoil is not a factor in muzzle flip.
I do not believe this to be the case. I am not disputing the mass of the slide moving and stopping contributes, I am disputing that it is the cause.
And, here's why,
Momentum
JohnKSa hit on this, let me try and explain it a different way.
Recoil starts when the bullet starts moving. The "push" continues until the bullet leaves the barrel and the pressure drops.
Between the time the bullet starts moving and the time the pressure drops, parts of the gun move. The locked together barrel and slide move back from the recoil, relative to the frame.
When the barrel stops, transferring the force of its movement to the frame, that force rotates the pistol in your grip. Not a lot, but some, and very shortly after that, the slide stops, transferring that energy to the frame in your hands, ADDING to the rotational movement and further raising the muzzles, but the bullet is by now long gone.
The effect of recoil energy transmitted to the frame is greater in "standing breech" guns but it is there in Browning tilt barrel guns as well, it just isn't spread out over time.
And we are talking about very, very small increments of time. Much too small to be discernable to human senses. And I think time here, is the key, we are talking about why heavier bullets strike higher on the target (from a pistol at 25yds) At that distance you would think that the faster bullet (the lighter one) should hit HIGHER on the target, because since it gets to the target sooner, it has less time for gravity to pull it down.
But that isn't what happens. Even at short pistol ranges, there is an arc to the bullet flight, one well known and guns are designed to allow for this. The barrel is actually pointed very slightly "up" in relation to the line of sight. This is because gravity starts pulling down the instant the bullet leaves the barrel, so, in effect we "lob" bullets at our targets. Every one, no matter what it is or what its fired from, the ballistic arc is a constant factor.
Now, given this, why does the faster lighter bullet still strike lower on the target is this instance? Because the barrel also moving "up" due to recoil, and the lighter bullet begins its ballistic arc at a different point of barrel rise than the heavier bullet. If you have a different idea to explain why lighter bullets hit lower, I'm listening...
Recoil keeps "pushing" after the bullet is gone, due to momentum. To illustrate, find a heavy door. A safe door is a good example. SLAP the door, it barely moves. Inertia. PUSH the door with force equal to the slap, and the door moves as the inertia is overcome, and will keep moving (again, inertia) after you stop pushing.
Recoil pushes long enough (the time the bullet is in the barrel) to get the whole gun moving, and the inertia of the gun's mass keeps it moving after the bullet is gone. So, through inertia, the momentum of the moving mass of the firearm, recoil is still "pushing" though no additional force is applied after the bullet is gone.
