Most felt recoil

J

jaytothekizzay

New member
I recently had a chance to fire off some big bore revolvers, and all I can say is wow...the two hottest round I fired were a .454 casull from a short barrel, almost snubby revolver. My buddy carries it when in Grizzly territory. That was not a very pleasant round to shoot. But could tell by the blast and recoil that it will pack a punch. The other being a S&W model 500. Again ... WOW.
It was quite an eye opener. So im wondering what caliber or gun was your biggest felt recoil from?
 
If your including rifles, Weatherby 7mm Ultra High Velocity, and a .50 BMG LAR w/o muzzle brake.
 
Handguns- T/C Contender 10" 45-70
Gets your attention even more than the 500 S&W I have shot.
Long gun- Steyr M95 8X56R Hungarian.
The little Steyr carbine has a much more sharp, and "stinging" recoil than a friend's CZ in 458 Lott, or Ruger in 416 Ruger even before he had brakes pot on both.
Also close is my NEF Handi in 500 S&W.
 
A number of years ago I shot a Thompson Contender in .45-70, and using a handload built around a 500 gr. cast bullet.

That gun KICKED!

Bob Wright

P.S. I have never heard any more about this experiment. These 500 gr. cast bullets were wrapped in Teflon tape around the bearing surface then run through a sizing die, no bullet lube being used.
 
My NEF pardner single shot 12 gauge that I cut down to 18.5" and weighs 5 lbs, with hard plastic butt plate.

3" magnum Black Magic anti-grizzly bear Brenneke slugs hurt.
 
454 RUGER SUPER REDHAWK 7.5 FULL POWER hand loads.wont name the load,But Damn what a hand full of power.:D
 
gun ... caliber ... ammunition

It is all a variable. Desert Eagle with full house .357 magnum is a pussycat. Same ammo in a S&W M&P 340 J-Frame and I think I'm gooing break my shoulder, or wrist.

The J-Frame with .38 Spl is soft and sweet, with .357 magnums I want to quit playing the game.

The Desert Eagle in .357 magnum is a pussycat. Change to the .44 magnum kit and I know I have shot a gun, about like a .357 magnum L-Frame s&W, 4" barrel.

Caliber ? Gun ? It is a variable that is fun to fool around with.
 
I like shooting guns with recoil and lots of thump coming out of them, especially .357 mags, .41 mags and .44 mags. But honestly the worse gun I ever shot that just plain hurt was a friends Polish P64. I replaced the springs in that thing and test fired it. Two magazines were enough for me and they were not hot loads. For whatever reason that gun was not conducive to me at all.
 
I actually felt pain shooting an 11oz S&W 340MP .357 Mag, shot about 3-4 cylinders full and my hand ached for two days straight, however recoil wasn't really "big" more like sharp (mostly I think because that platform design/size isn't good for such loads recoil wise)

My 36oz 4 5/8" .45 Colt Blackhawk shooting a 330gr hardcast to an average of just over 1300 fps does definitely roll back, it's got big recoil and gets your attention but it's not painful.

I've got a BFR in 454 Casull but the weight of the gun really does make shooting it no so bad, but a few weeks back I was clocking 300gr XTP Mags doing right around 1800 fps (Mag Research shows the 450 Marlin BFR shooting a 350gr to around 1800 fps) from the 7.5" barrel. It wasn't terrible, but you could feel it in the wrists afterwards!

Although I've not shot a BFR in .45/70 or 450 Marlin I've heard the Casull recoils worse than the 45-70 does, but then again I guess it depends on the load. A 500gr .45/70 loaded full tilt couldn't exactly be mild either! I've seen a few guys that have revolvers chambered in 50 Alaskan!!
 
I have fired a J-frame 357 and "sharp" is a very accurate description of the recoil. It was not pleasant to shoot.

Heaviest recoil I have ever experienced in a handgun is my brother's 8-3/8" S&W 500. Thumps the hand pretty heavy.

But I have a 460v (5" bbl with comp) and while it doesn't hit the hand as hard, it slaps the shooter in the face with that percussion blast with the most authority I have ever experienced. I guarantee it will clear your stopped up sinuses with one cylinder full of stout mags sent downrange. ;) 454 Casull level stuff out of my 460 shoots like a pussycat.

I haven't really fired any big players in rifle world... Years ago when the 50BMG rifles were first hitting the market I fired a Grizzly single shot... Wasn't much more than my Remmy 870 with slugs. Working on acquiring a new M70 in 338 Win Mag.. Looking forward to trying that out. But I hear they aren't as nasty as the 300 Mags....
 
I forgot one gun that actually hurt my hand firing it. One time at my range a man showed up with a double barreled pistol, an over/under similar to the Remington double deringer, with maybe four inch barrels. The gun was either nickel or stainless steel, with stag grips, a .410/.45 Colt.

I shot the .410 shells easily, and factory .45 Colt ammunition. Then I put in two of my handloads. The combination of stag grips and heavy loads left my palm sore for a day or two!

There was an empty 7.62 mm cartridge case about ten feet down range, and after four shots with the .410 it still stood! Shooting at the bank at 110 yards downrange, the two barrels shot about eight feet apart.

Also had trouble with the safety, with my thumb high position, I engaged the safety with my normal grip.

Bob Wright
 
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4" M29 with Federal 180 JHP's
7 1/2" SRH with full power 454 loads
My brother in-laws 45Colt TC unscoped with some 260gr hard cast gas checks and about 200grs;) of IMR4227:eek:
 
Okay, my family won't let me tell my stories at the dinner table anymore - so you guys lose!

It' isn't so much the caliber as it is the gun. Let's keep it handguns here.

(this is where I my son rolls his eyes and starts picking at his dinner)

In the early 80s when I shot a lot of handgun silhouette I destroyed two model 29s using "aggressive" hand loads to reach the RAMs. (we were shooting 200 - 300 rounds a week at least)

So in an attempt to stop chewing up guns I purchased a contender in 44 mag - that d***n gun nearly ruined me for any handgun. I was shooting the same load and the felt recoil was horrific in the contender.

IMHO it is more about the gun than the caliber.

(crickets)
 
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M&P 340 shooting 357 mag silvertips feels like you slam the palm of your hand on a desk.
Click to expand...

Yup. When I shoot my MP at the range, it's 38 specials except for occasional magnums I put in the cylinder randomly, so I never know when the next round will hammer my hand. Five of those in a row, and I'm putting the gun down and shooting something else after the pain subsides. It's also possible to draw blood on the webbing between your thumb and index finger, I did this once when I was experimenting with different holds. Oh what fun.
 
.380 Beretta of some sort with Glasers.:p

I know its not a heavy caliber but that thing was HORRIBLY kicky. I've fired 454 Casals,. 44 magnums, .45 Colt SAA & I own & shoot a .357 Dan Wesson.

Nothing beat me up like that little .380.:eek:
 
JGL... I have several punishing guns, but one of my worst, is my 10" 45 Colt Contender I use for deer, with max Contender safe loads... gun makes my knuckle start bleeding within 6-10 rounds... thank heavens I only use one when hunting...

got a 45-70 Contender barrel ( 14" hunter with ports ) but that's not my most abusive on the shooter ( though the concussion alone can cause range damage )... my 375 Winchester with warm loads gets that title...

& speaking of concussion, I shot a 4" 500 S&W at a shooters round up, & one shot fired on the outdoor range knocked 4 knock down steel targets over with one bullet & the resulting concussion targets at 25 ft

BTW... to the OP... my Ruger Alaskan ( snubbie ) in 454 Casull rates right up there with the best of them...

however my all time worst / most painful, was an air weight 357 magnum snubbie with minimum grip, & exposed back strap, & hot 125 grain self defense loads... was most painful... though it didn't make me bleed, 2 cylinders were plenty in one range session
 
Handgun?

15" T/C Encore pistol in 460 S&W. Factory Hornady 200 gr loads averaged 2697 fps. That's the equivalent of a full house 200 grain 30-06 in a 24" barrel. Yeah, stick that in your hand.

Two rounds had my hand so beat up that I wasn't able to put a 3rd round on a water bottle at 20 yards. That thing damaged my wrist so badly I had to stop shooting for several months. After a total of 20 rounds over the course of a full year I sent the barrel off to be braked. That made the gun liveable but it was still the last thing you shot for the day.

It ended up being more of an an experimental load gun. I was always trying to do different things with it. I spoke with the guys at Precision Delta about using their 230 gr FMJ. It had an exposed lead base and I was concerned with "blowing it's skirt up" inside the muzzle brake.
Precision Delta said they had never tested the bullets at high pressures and velocities and were interested in my test results. I used 16 different charges, starting the bullets at 1250 fps and topping them out over 2500 fps. When I called them back the guy almost lost his mind. He was freaking out about the bullets not being designed for that kind of pressure and velocity. I guess he either didn't take me seriously the first time or didn't understand exactly what was going to happen.

It's a good bullet. I had no problems with them and accuracy was good. The exposed base did not appreciably lead the barrel. :D
 
A friend of mine is still (slowly) recovering from nerve damage to his hands and arms from a summer spent developing loads shooting .357 Magnums in snub nose revolvers.

its been a couple years, and now, he can about manage a box of 9mm before he has to quit.

It is more about the gun than the round, short of the monster magnums (.454 and up power levels), and even at those recoil levels the gun still play a big part

My 10" .44 Mag Contender is a lot more painful than my 14" .45-70.

S&W M29 with stock grips is painful, for me.
.44 Mag Desert Eagle isn't.

One of the most painful handguns I ever shot was a Broomhandle Mauser Bolo in 9mm Luger. The combination of the size and shape of the grip and the large gap in the back for attaching the stock made that gun BITE ME!! :eek:

The gun, and specifically the grip and how it fits you is the biggest single factor I see.
 
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