110gr, 125gr, 158gr, +P, etc

Jamie · #1 01-02-2011, 11:23 AM

I'm sure this hasn't been discussed much

, I'm starting to pay attention to what ammo I use, (the Woodstock years have taken a toll), in particular my wife's 442 'J' frame. Just put a CT LG-405 grip on, not as good of a grip as came on the gun, a bit thinner, enough to notice when shooting, (have an email in to CT for any help they can give), was curious what ammo she was shooting, I have Fiocchi standard pressure, 158gr, also Fiocchi 110gr +P, (both FMJ), and Winchester 125gr +P HP. I intend to compare the next time we get to the range, and PAY ATTENTION to each and see the difference in feel, (if any). My question is, at equal pressure, same manufacturer, will a heavier slug recoil more, will a +P 110gr feel about the same as a standard pressure 158gr?

cp1969 · #2 01-02-2011, 11:54 AM

Pressure, although you'd think it would, doesn't equate directly with recoil. Peak pressure is all that matters in ammo and you can have high peak pressure and yet have relatively low recoil.

What matters is how heavy the bullet is and how fast it's going when it leaves the muzzle. In general, you can just multiply the weight of the bullet times the muzzle velocity and use this number as a reference. The bigger the number, the more recoil in a given gun:

110 x 1200 = 132,000

158 x 860 = 135,880

148 x 750 = 111,000

125 x 1000 = 125,000

I just pulled these numbers out of thin air. You can do this with the actual numbers and get a feel for which load will recoil the most out of your J-frame. Keep in mind this is only good for ONE gun. You can't intermix other guns which have different weights and get a good comparison.

This is also a simplified recoil calculation. The full, more accurate calculation which takes into account the weight of the powder charge, can be found in numerous handloading manuals.