Lowest recoil 9mm?

I don’t know i think my glock 43 is very tame with all flavors of 9 mm my mrs shoots it and she is a newbie who fired maybe one other gun in her life. At the range she said i like this
 
Bart Noir said:
One answer may be to use a pistol which recoils less, for a given load of 9mm.
See posts #1 and #9.

After doing a bunch of research on-line, I've collected enough information and run enough numbers to document what I already (sort of) knew, which is that muzzle energy doesn't track directly with IPSC/IDPA power factor. There are also formulas out there for calculating recoil energy but, since those require entering both the weight of the firearm and the weight of the powder charge, that's beyond the scope of this inquiry. So I'm basically looking for ammo with lower muzzle velocity and a low power factor.

The ones with the lowest muzzle energy are PPU 147-gr, Speer Lawman 147-gr,
Remington UMC 147-gr, and Winchester Super Suppressed 147-gr. Lowest power factor includes Federal American Eagle 115-gr, Remington UMC 115-gr, Hornady American Gunner 115-gr, CCI Blazer 115-gr, and Speer Lawman 124-gr.

That's a starting point for a class shopping list.
 
I've got a lot of different fullsize 9mm's. I've shot all sorts of ammo, from really hot (Yavex Turkish in 124gr), to really mild.

Blazer Brass seems to me, to be the best mild load. It's soft, and consistent. If it's a gun I don't want to beat up and stress, I use that.
 
I would probably look at some subsonic ammo.

I admittedly have no experience with this ammo, but my physics classes many years ago would lead me in this direction.
 
I want my semiautos to cycle properly so I save the “wimpy” Fed Champion brass & aluminum case ammo from Wally’s for my Glocks, these eat everything. My go to ammo for everything else would be Fiocchi, Fed American Eagle and Blazer Brass.
 
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Recoil has more to do with the weight of the pistol. Felt recoil is subjective, but heavy bullets doesn't equal less recoil out of like weight pistols. Physics doesn't allow it.
Closest comparison on Chuck Hawk's Recoil Page is a 115 at 1155 FPS and 147 at 1000 FPS. out of a 2.0 pound pistol. The 115 comes back with 3.8 ft-lbs. The 147 with 4.6 ft-lbs.
Anyway, the lowest recoil is from a cast bullet going slow. Weight of the pistol still matters though.
Blank firing replicas can be as dangerous as a real pistol. Blanks can kill just as quick as a bullet. Using blanks with untrained people is really unsafe.
"...bullets intended for .380 ACP..." 95 grainers are still starting at close to 1200 FPS. Max loads run at or over 1300 FPS.
Factory 9mm isn't loaded light. No such thing as "Target load" 9mm.
 
I've found that my Ruger 357 revolver shoots 38's with little or no noticeable recoil. So, if I were to transition a person from a rim fire to center fire that's how I would I go. Then you can take the next step to a compact 9mm semi auto. The only no recoil I've experienced was using 44 special in a SBH after using mag loads. After the first shot I inspected the barrel because I thought I had a squib load. LOL
 
Closest comparison on Chuck Hawk's Recoil Page is a 115 at 1155 FPS and 147 at 1000 FPS. out of a 2.0 pound pistol. The 115 comes back with 3.8 ft-lbs. The 147 with 4.6 ft-lbs.

A 147 at 1000 is pretty stout, a "manstopper" load. For target and practice:
Recoil of Federal Syntech Target, a coated 150 at 870 fps is 3.4 ft lbs.
My 147 gr handload for IDPA, a 147 at 880 is 3.28 ft lbs.
 
I think this may be exactly what you are looking for: https://atlantaarms.com/products/9mm-100gr-fmj-steel-challenge.html Stand1Armory (unfortunately out of business now) used to make a 9mm -p "Chubbie" round which was an excellent low-recoil round I used for training new shooters and this is the closest approximation to those I have found.

I've tested about 100 of them and they will lock back the slide on a Glock 17 and a CZ P09. No idea on smaller pistols. Hope this helps.
 
I’m sure we have different ammunition budgets, $23.99 a box of 50 for that Atlanta Arms steel challenge reduced recoil ammo is way out of my price range. They say that pressures remain sufficient to produce standard operation G17 testing (well everything runs in all my Glock nines) but MAY require alternative recoil springs in larger/heavier firearms. With the exception of my STI Trojan 9mm 1911, which has a Wilson flatwire recoil spring kit in it, I’m not going to change springs to accomodate ammo variations in any of my other service & carry pistols.
 
Me, either, largely because I am a reloader and handloader.
But the OP was about mild ammo for a novice class. Those seldom do much actual shooting and the price of one box of ammo is not likely to be a big factor.
 
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