why is there so much more recoil in revolvers then pistols?

Uh.........

All things being equal, there is not.

Usually revolvers are chambered for cartridges much more powerful than those for auto pistols. Auto pistols chambered for very powerful rounds, such as the .44 Magnum, are generally much more massive and therefore absorb the recoli more. Recoil is a function of gun weight, bullet weight, and how fast that bullet is sent down range.

But pistols usually have the line of the bore closer to the hand and therefore less muzzle flip.

Bob Wright
 
Semi-autos have recoil springs to help tame some of the recoil, and the action of the slide moving with each shot also helps damper some of the felt recoil and sheds some of the energy that would be transferred back to you. I'm sure it's much more technical than that and someone will chime in and tell you why but you get the idea. My SR9C has a dual recoil spring which is one of the reasons it is such a soft shooter.
 
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Auto loading pistols are designed for rapidity of fire. A cartridge that generates heavy recoil requires too much time to recover for follow up shots. For this reason, pistol cartridges are usually kept to milder recoil, as are most cartridges intended for defense type of shooting.

Bob Wright
 
When gripped, revolvers usually have the center line of the bore higher in the hand than autos. This causes the revolver muzzle to climb more on firing, and the gun rocks back in the hand harder.
That being said, it is all relative. A .44 Mag. simply recoils more than a 9mm.
 
As a matter of interest, I'm a long time (Looong time) revolver shooter. I find the recoil of most pistols disconcerting, even distracting. I feel the recoil impulse as the round fires, the jolt as the slide hits the stops in rearward travel, and the milder jolt as the slide slams forward. Then when the last round is fired, the lack of the third impulse as the slide stays locked to the rear.

Bob Wright
 
I feel the recoil impulse as the round fires, the jolt as the slide hits the stops in rearward travel, and the milder jolt as the slide slams forward.
Click to expand...

You can feel all that in a fraction of a second?
 
Bob Wright, with all due respect you are comparing dissimilar ammo and frames. Edit: using the same ammo, we can reduce to just one variable - the platform.

Shoot my Colt 1911 next to my Colt 1917, using the same ammo, and the 1917 definitely has a sharper kick. As others have mentioned, the slide and spring action of the auto soak up a fair amount of recoil impulse which the revolver's design transfers directly to the habd.

Shoot my Fusion 10mm Longslide next to a S&W 610, same thing.

I haven't got my hands on a Coonan, but would expect it to shoot softer than a .357 revolver of similar mass.
 
I also find the recoil of a semi auto a bit distracting. The shuffling about of it's slide is far more bothersome to me than the recoil of a revolver.
But to the original posters question, actually the recoil (given the same round fired) is the same BUT. Some of the recoil energy is consumed in unlocking and operating the action, some is also absorbed by the recoil springs, and some is disipated by the shape and area of the stocks. A physicist would tell you the actual energy is identical, but in practice it "feels" different.
 
DFrame, the physicist would tell you the total energy is the same, Edit (energy in all directions) but the net portion directed into the shooter's hand is NOT.
 
I shoot a 1911 5" 45, and also a S&W 625 5" 45. Just weighed them,
the revolver outweighs the 1911 by 4.3 0z. empty.

Same ammo---I really don't notice one recoiling "harder" than the other.


The recoil IS different. 1911 is more straight back and forth, a little
more barrel flip with the wheelgun. Assuming it's the bore being
higher above the grip on the revolver that causes it. My shot
to shot splits are faster with the 1911, but not by much.
 
Revolvers are harder kickers in general because they are typically chambered for the more powerful cartridges. 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 45 Colt, 454, 460, and so forth. You can get a lot more horsepower in a revolver than you can an auto (and still have a practical sized weapon).

Big bore (.40 cal+^) revolver cartridges are a lot of fun to shoot and also the easiest type of cartridge to reload for. Managing big bore recoil is not as hard as you may think. It's like anything else. The more you (shoot) do it, the easier it becomes. I think that most of the people who complain about big bore recoil being too much are simply people who have not shot them very much, so are unaccustomed to the techniques used. They take some practice, and rubber grips help some. But the fun factor and cool factor are off the charts. :cool:
 
In a semi auto most of what you feel when you fire it is the slide slamming into the frame and then returning forward. If you could lock the action closed so it did not cycle you would be amazed at the lack of "recoil". I have seen people hold the slide shut with just their offhand thumb and fire the gun with no problem. And as Bob said most revolvers are chambered in calibers that generate more recoil and there is no reciprocating mass involved. Fire a .45 ACP out of a 1911 and then fire the same load out of a 25/625 revolver. Big difference in "felt" recoil. The .45 from a revolver feels like a big .38 Spl.
 
A few people have mentioned that revolvers tend to shoot more potent cartridges, which is true. But there are a lot of revolvers that shoot .38 specials, which are milder than even 9mm ammo. A coworker recently showed me a video of her skinny little 5th or 6th grade daughter shooting a S&W revolver (model 66 or 67 maybe) at a shooting class for women and children. I'm sure they chose or loaded very mild loads, but the girl had no trouble shooting the gun.

So while height of the bore axis and the slide do factor into the revolver vs. semi-auto equation, gun weight and ammo selection are probably still the predominant considerations, regardless of gun type.
 
I can assure you there are lots of .38 Spl. loads around that are NOT milder than a 9mm. But you're right, ejected mass and the mass of the gun makes all the difference. And some good grips.
 
I can assure you there are lots of .38 Spl. loads around that are NOT milder than a 9mm.
Click to expand...
True. I was not including +P loadings and was thinking in terms of average .38 sp. vs. average 9mm.
 
Three issues, mostly already covered by other comments on the thread.

Revolver bores tend to be higher in the hand which accentuates muzzle flip and can make "felt" recoil (the subjective feel of the recoil impulse) seem more pronounced.

Revolvers can be chambered in cartridges which are more powerful than are suitable for use in common autopistol designs. For example, a .357Mag revolver using full power loadings is quite a bit more powerful than most common autopistol cartridges. Once you get up to .41Mag and above, there really aren't any autopistol cartridges that can keep up--at least if you restrict the comparison to commonly available cartridges.

Autopistols, especially locked breech designs, tend to spread the recoil out over time which means that the hand doesn't absorb it all at once. You get a recoil impulse when the barrel stops against the frame and then a second recoil impulse when the slide hits the frame at the end of its rearward travel. Spreading the recoil over time not only cuts down on the force applied to the hand, it also typically cuts down on "felt recoil", the subjective feel of how much the gun recoils.

Moving to General Handguns...
 
I have found that revolvers have greater need of comfortable grips than autos. I have an S&W M1917 and a Colt M1917 plus a Colt Mark IV, even dryfiring the Mark IV feels more comfortable. Just my $.02.
 
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