Low Recoil Revolver

flagman1776 · #51 01-03-2020, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farmer17

I would have a new shooter practice in the garage with a heavy tarp or blanket on the wall and shoot Speer plastic bullets with CCI magnum primers, these are quieter and kick less than .22s.

I have to urge caution with the Speer plastic bullets. I ended up using layers of inner tube strips after one penetrated my target box fully.

Bobbysixkiller · #52 01-03-2020, 11:29 PM

I would recommend a 686. You can shoot standard 38 special and get little recoil. Especially if it’s 4 inch or longer barrel.

dr. mordo · #53 01-04-2020, 10:11 PM

I HIGHLY recommend you check out a LCR327. It's the perfect gun for someone who hasn't shot much or is recoil averse, because it uses any .32 variant of ammo (even the semi-rimmed.32 ACP supposedly). I'd start her off with .32 Long (Fiocci is fairly cheap and available if you order online), they try .32 H&R, then maybe full tilt .327 Mag if she does well with that. If all else fails you could even fall back to .32 Short for training. The .327 round is a monster. Anyone in front of a firing 327 is going to rethink their life choices if just from the blast and noise. That said, it's far more manageable to the shooter than .357 and feels more like shooting .38 SPL in an airweight.

I own several S&W and other brand J frame revolvers, but IMO the LCR327 is the perfect gun for your situation. After its broken in, the trigger pull is very light and the grip is well designed to absorb some recoil; LCR .22s have a surprisingly heavy trigger - meanwhile the 327 trigger is lighter than almost any other stock DAO revolver. And like I said, it's the most ammo flexible gun I have ever seen; 32 Long feels like .22 in this gun.

An 3" SP101 or GP100 in 327 would be even better for recoil, but would certainly need some trigger and spring tuning to be as light in DA, and they are slightly more expensive than the LCR (see below).

The only downside is they are spendy - I paid $500 at my LGS well over a year ago; prices have climbed recently and they are $539+transfer fee at Buds. Not cheap, but that is one gun I don't think I'll ever sell. In 20 years when my arthritis is in full bloom, I have a feeling that LCR327 will be my primary CCW.

Echo40 · #54 01-05-2020, 01:40 AM

Get them a S&W 460XVR then load it with .45 Long Colt.

Voila! You've got a soft-recoiling revolver shooting a legendary man-stopper!

But seriously, I would recommend a S&W Model 10 with a 4" Barrel loaded with Standard Pressure .38 Special. It's still small and light enough for carry, fires an adequate self-defense cartridge, and has extremely soft recoil.

In all honesty, heavy revolvers work wonders for taming recoil. I may have been joking about getting a 460XVR, but I wasn't exaggerating about the recoil when shooting .45LC. So while a heavier revolver isn't as easy to carry as an airweight, it makes up for it by reducing the recoil, and thus allowing the person who's carrying it to shoot capable self-defense cartridges.