A .38 SPL produces about 200 ft-lb muzzle energy from a 6" barrel, compared to 9x19mm, which produces approximately 400 ft-lb from a 4" barrel. .40 S&W and .45 ACP are in the same ball park as 9 mm.

Plain vanilla .38 SPL packs a real wallop of recoil in a 15 oz revolver because there's no action to spread out the momentum. The recoil of a pistol is spread out over about 1/10 second as the slide flies back, which reduces the felt recoil significantly.