Recoil: .45 ACP vs 9mil vs .40SW

N

Nordeste

New member
Right, first of all, I wouldn't like this thread to become yet another "caliber war". It's just a question from someone who is quite unfamiliar with two of these calibers, and very familiar to one of them.

The one I regularly train with is the 9mm. It's the one I use in my service gun and the one I regularly shoot at my local IPSC range. I've range tested a .40 STI from a range buddy and found the recoil harder than in my 92FS, but this gun is a "Standard" category weapon, thus a sport gun, not a service one. Therefore, I have still no data on how a .40 would feel, for example, on a Beretta 96, chambered for that caliber. My thought is that it should feel harder. BTW, .40SW is not used by any law enforcement agency in my country, we all use 9mm. 45, on the other hand, is a quite uncommon caliber for licensed CC users, not to mention law enforcement.

Question comes from a conversation I had with a couple of guys that shoot .45ACP at our regular IPSC meetings. They state the .45ACP is more manageable for them than the 9mm. Their explanation is that the .45 has a stronger recoil impulse, but slower recoil speed than the 9mm. Watching the behaviour of .45ACP pistols on some videos I've watched, this kind of makes sense to me. I still haven't shot any .45, FYI, but I can't wait...

Just want your opinions. A lot of you guys own pistols in any of this three calibers and can give a useful opinion on the question.

Thanks!.
 
To me the 40 is the sharpest recoil. (it is like a fast snappy recoil) The 45 is a slow push to me. The 9 is the lightest recoil to me it is a little faster than the 45.
 
The 40 does have a fast, snappy recoil. 45 is a heavier, slower push. My wife shoots and enjoys my 40 glock better than my other 9mm guns because it handles the recoil well. Somewhat depends on the gun you shoot and the bullet weights you pick. Heavier bullets have a little slower recoil than lighter, faster ones of the same caliber.
 
Assuming the same sized gun:
Technically, the .45acp has the most recoil, with .40S&W close behind. 9mm is much lighter than both. That said, the higher velocity rounds have more of a snap upwards on the bore of the gun. The heavier, slower rounds like the .45acp have more of a straight push back. Since the .40 is both fast and heavy it feels like it has the most recoil.

Most people prefer the .45's recoil impulse over the .40's. That said, none of the three rounds are that bad. They should be manageable for any average sized person, unless you have arthritis or another handicap.

If you want recoil, try shooting some magnum revolvers that are so popular in America.
 
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Well. I have 3 guns in .40S&W, 3 in .45ACP, and 2 (soon to be 3) in 9mm. My most real life advice is that whatever you practice with a lot. I mean A LOT. You will be immaculate at in most cases. Now..I will also like you to take this into consideration..it is a lot easier to do this with my 9mm's and .45's. Follow-up shots are quicker with my 9mm's and second place are .45's. But reality really close comparison was hard to bring this conclusion.


Most accurate are my 9mm's. Under stress. Rapid fire. What have you. Where it counts. And range costs..etc.


Yeah..45's are a pushing recoil.

.40's are snappy..the front of the gun barks upwards.

9mm's hang tight. Slide is the only motion to me.


I went from .40 to .45 and now 9mm. I mainly stay with 45 and 9 now. Haven't practiced sufficiently with my .40's in a while anyways.



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My mother who is 5'2" shoots a 45 and does not think the recoil is bad. A 44 mag out of a 4+ in barrel with nice grips is a pleasure to shoot imo.

9 mil is a good center fire to start people off on.

The gun/grips is a bigger factor then round.
 
The above as Mr. Jason said is true too. About the gun and the grip making each caliber different in the recoil department is true.

Think we're done here.

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You might also consider the mass of the pistol being used. A full size all steel or better yet stainless steel pistol will help to absorb the recoil of any round. A very light short barreled pistol will have you feeling the recoil the most. I have shot stainless .45s that had a lot less felt recoil then an alloy framed 9 mm. When you compare similar construction and barrel lengths, the above comparisons by others pretty much is my opinion as well.
 
I have shot .45 ACP out of my SA 1911 and my 625 revolver. The 1911 had way more kick to it than the revolver.

My 96FS (.40 cal) has more kick than the .45 ACP revolver but less than the 1911.

My 686 with .38 Special Wad Cutters has about the same kick as a .22, well, maybe a tad bit more, but put .357 Magnums in there and it has more kick than any handgun I presently own. (I say presently since I have a 629 on the way.....)

My 92FS (9 mm) has more kick than the .38 Special, but less than the .40 or .45 stuff no matter what I shoot them with.

It will be interesting to see how my 610 revolver shoots .40 compared to my 96FS when I am finally allowed to pick it up.

So does this help the OP at all? It really depends on what you are firing those rounds with if you ask me.............:confused:
 
The physics of "the .45 pushes straight back and the .40 snaps and has more muzzle rise" do not compute. The shape of- or the area under the curve of the graph of recoil force versus time (from which we get impulse) does not affect how much of the kinetic energy being released in the gun goes toward accelerating it angularly versus linearly. What determines how much muzzle flip (angular acceleration) or straight-back recoil (linear acceleration) a gun has is the geometry of the particular gun, specifically its moment of inertia about its center of mass in the direction parallel to the trigger pin/takedown pin and the minimum distance from the bore axis to the center of mass. So naturally those parameters vary pretty wildly from gun to gun, caliber to caliber, and even whether the gun has a full or empty magazine.
 
And physics says that there is no such thing as a curveball. If you've ever been up to bat against a good curveball, you can tell the eggheads that they are wrong.
 
Depends on the Firearm

I have found recoil depends more on the firearm than the round.
A 9mm in a Rorbaugh is definitely unpleasant,as it can be in many other small autos.
A 45 ACP in a steel frame auto or a big polymer/steel job like a Ruger or Springfield Armory isn't unpleasant at all.
I have a Smith Scandium 45 1911 and the recoil is very noticeable but not at all distracting-it's hard to explain,but the firearm is a pleasure to shoot-you just really notice the auto functioning more.
I never liked 40's at all due to the snappy,twisting recoil.
So what do I do,but get a Glock 20SF and I find the 10mm recoil very noticeable,but not as annoying as the 40.
I think I just don't like the 40:mad:
BTW the 38 Super in a 1911 is almost devoid of recoil,about like a 9mm in a Browning HP.:)
 
erm...physics very much explains curve balls, the spinning ball creates a pressure difference forcing the ball to drop more radically than normal.

Now as to the physics of recoil, the impulse does effects how a person can physically respond, example, say a person has a angular resistance of X, IE anything above that threshold will cause angular movement, while a .45 may expend more energy than a .40, if it does it at a lower rate, ie longer impulse, you may not exceed that threshold(X) by as much, causing the felt recoil to push back, vs snap up. Just a notion on why people perceive .45 as a push and .40 as snappy.
 
The recoil impulses of the three calibers will be different with different firearms, but the forty is generally the fastest recoil speed of the three. This gives the impression that it has more recoil to many people.

The first forty I shot was an HK USP and I hated it. When I switched to the P 35 in forty it was like shooting a purring kitten. Same caliber, same load, different guns. The amount of energy generated is one part of the recoil impulse. The other part is the speed at which it generates that energy. Hence the "flip" of the forty when compared to the 9mm or .45 ACP.

Recoil is subjective too. Hand size, bore axis, and grip stregnth will play a significant factor in how one perceives recoil. I shoot all three calibers in platforms I like and none are an issue. Give me a platform I don't like as well and I may have issues with the recoil sensation.

Biker
 
Thanks everyone for your inputs. They have indeed been helpful and confirmed my thoughts. Certainly, I didn't put the "gun factor" in the equation. Perhaps I should have started by comparing these three calibers in the same pistol family, say, Springfield Armory or Glock, then compare how recoil is felt in the three of them.

Unfortunately, I know no one that is currently shooting a Production category .40, so as to see how .40 feels. The two guys that use it have STI "Standard" pistols, as I said. The .45 guys live a good two hours drive away in another town, don't show up that often, and I still don't know them well enough as to ask them to let me shoot those guns. Here you can't rent guns at ranges, so I guess it'll still take a while for me to put my hands on a good full sized 1911 or similar and get the feeling of how shooting a proper .45 feels like :(. These .45ACP guys say they don't like the 9mm because it has a "rabid" recoil :D.

@Mr. Blue... Man, you bet I'd love to put my hands in any of those Magnum revolvers, or a Desert Eagle, or anything BIG :p. Anytime I happen to hit the States (I have a good friend in North Carolina and another one in Kentucky), I'll make sure they take me to a good range where I can rent one of those :p.

Thanks again for reading and answering. It's great to have the chance to learn from this community ;).
 
Nordeste, also being of European descent, I can relate to the 9mm/.45 recoil conundrum of your buddies. After a lifetime of shooting the 9, and being relatively new to the .45 in similar guns I also like the .45 recoil much better. It is a longer-but much softer/slower push. No question about it, the 9mm gets you back in target a bit sooner for a second shot. But the .45 is, for me, much more pleasant, mellow-feeeling to shoot.

Report also has a lot to do with percieved recoil, and the .45's boom is much less piercing!
 
.40 seems more snappy to me but, not a lot
of difference IMO between all three calibers.

Now when we get to the bigger revolver
calibers that's a whole other story :D
 
erm...physics very much explains curve balls, the spinning ball creates a pressure difference forcing the ball to drop more radically than normal.
Click to expand...

There are still physicists who don't believe a curveball is possible. They believe it is an optical illusion. I've read about this and heard physicists argue against the curveball on NY Yankee broadcasts. Just like many sciences, their are two schools of thought.
 
454 said it best. I'd just add recoil velocity. The 40 is a high pressure round like the 9, and is built on a 9 platform for the most part. The ACP is a low pressure round with a lower recoil velocity, which is my choice. I find my 4" 657, shooting 200s @ 1300fps is more comfortable than a 40 Auto.
 
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