|
|
|
|
|
|
by exelius
4136 days ago
|
|
|
You're right about my numbers being off - I was killing time on a long flight and it's been a while since I've shot a .45 (mostly because I have small hands.) But the general principle remains: the slide shoots backwards with equal force to the projectile. And yeah, any sort of magnum cartridge (.357, .44, .50) is a beast because it has double the powder load. The .50 S&W in particular, as you mentioned, has so much recoil that it's prone to double-firing (S&W even recommends that you only load 1 round at a time). But among standard handgun cartridges, I still think the .45 kicks a lot more than say, a 9mm. It's also just big enough that you can't really stagger the rounds in a magazine without making it super-wide; hence why a standard 1911 holds 8 (7+1) rounds and 9mm pistols of the same weight can hold 15+. I find a modern .45 like the USP (12 rounds) to be uncomfortably wide for me to hold; though a Glock 17 (9mm, 17 round mag) is fine. That definitely makes the recoil feel worse. |
|
|
Eh, it doesn't really matter, IMO!
Realistically, no matter what the math might say, felt recoil is still a subjective spectrum (within reason, obviously too much force is going to hurt), because two people can fire the same gun and have different reactions.
Although, you definitely wouldn't catch me with a .500S&W ;) There comes a point when it's too much gun to be enjoyable.
My father had a .454 Casull once. He sold it because he could only go through a couple cylinders before a blister would wear on his hand through gloves. I've since borrowed his philosophy: If a gun hurts a bit too much to be fun, there's no point owning it!