Recoil: check please

B

Boberama

New member
Check this out: What do you think of these figures?


.357 Mag, S&W 686 4-in, 40 oz, 125 gr 1440 ft/s, 20 gr powder, gas velocity 3000 ft/s

Recoil: 7.3 ft-lbs, 13.7 ft/s


.45 ACP, S&W 625 4-in, 43 oz, 230 gr 820 ft/s, 6 gr powder, gas velocity 1500 ft/s

Recoil: 4.6 ft-lbs, 10.5 ft/s






Note: gas velocities calculated as 1.5 times the muzzle velocity in a rifle-length barrel
 
I don't really know what to say about the figures. I assume you calculated them from known data, in which case it all comes down to your arithmetic.

The numbers indicate that a 357 Magnum recoils 58% more than a 45, which sounds about right to me.

That said, if you're going to compare the heaviest bullet in 45 ACP vs. 357 Magnum, you should compare a 230 gr. +P in 45 to a 158 gr 357 Magnum. Max loads in each gun, in other words.

I have no idea about gas velocities, or how they are relevant here. (esp. if they were calculated from a rifle length barrel, and we're talking about handguns here) ;)
 
Gas speed is not as big a driver in handguns as rifles.

The bullet mass to powder mass ratio is very different.


The bigger problem with just looking at free recoil energy is that it does not account for perceived recoil.

I have seen rifles that smacked you in the face with every shot (.30-06 pump) while the same diminution in a different gun was perfectly comfortable (bad but plate angle in the pump gun).

The same occurs in handguns.
Things like bore height above the grip, grip size, grip shape, and even the speed of the acceleration (jerk).
 
I don't know about the gas velocities but the recoil looks reasonable enough.

I have a 6" GP100 and a 7.5" Super Redhawk and 45 Colt loads out of the SRH have significantly less recoil than 357 loads out of the GP100. Even if the SRH were as "light" as the GP100, I believe the difference would still be pretty noticable. Btw, the 45 Colt loads were hotter than the 45 ACP load listed above.
 
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