I converted from Smiths to Glocks recently. I thought it might be useful to compare three of their full size guns in different chamberings. Guns were:

G17 gen 5 9mm
G22 gen 5 .40
G21 gen 4 .45.


Ammo was handloads. All were loaded with AA#5
Powder to max published loads, in order to simulate defensive loadings.

9mm was loaded with 115 grain FMJ to max +P spec.

.40 was loaded with 180 grain hardcast to max spec.

.45 was loaded with 230 grain hardcast to max standard pressure spec.

I expected the .40 to equal the. 45 in recoil and muzzle flip. This did not pan out as the .40 fell subjectively closer to the 9mm than to the .45. The. 40 fired faster and got back on target quicker than did the .45 by a noteworthy margin. The 9 shot faster and more accurately still.

The wild card here is that the gen 5 G22 has a wider and heavier slide than its predecessors. By all accounts the gen 5 is smoother and less flippy than the earlier models, which were merely G17 9mm guns fitted to shoot the .40.

In a previous thread I ran the M&P 9 against the M&P 40. The Smith is as smooth as any .40 out there, but it still flipped more and shot slower than the 9mm; this difference widened when shooting one handed.


I'd like to do some more quantitative comparison, e.g with a timer and a video camera for slow motion viewing.

For me, the G22 and G21 are range guns. I want the G17 when it's for real.