M49 snub nose recoil test

[Nevada Ed]

I finally got some time to go out and test some 9mm and 38 special loads, out of my short barrels.

I have two (2) pictures to down load so hang in there, if I'm slow posting them.

The first set of pictures is with lead 148 BBwc and 158 Lwc bullets
and I was surprised at what bullet and powder was king of the hill
for my standard to light 38 loads, out of the snub nose.

In the 148 the recoil of the w231 load was light but the Trail Boss
felt a little lighter with the Bullseye load at a full 38 special loading, for targets.

I made it easy with the 158 Lwc bullet with all three powders with
the same amout of powder.
The w231 and Green Dot felt about the same, "medium light" with the Red Dot load being my full load in my J frame with the heavy bullet.

I also shot three 38 +P loads just to bring back what they felt like
since it has been a while since I shot this revolver with loads in the +P offerings.
The 110 and 140 grain pills, felt about the same in recoil and were doable with little muzzle flip.
The 158 Lhp "FBI load" was not as bad as I had remembered it,
even though it did have more muzzle flip.

I rated the Recoil on how it felt to me................ and I learned that a sand bag can really make your groups look a lot better
than at the range, doing it off hand.

This test was really about finding out about a very light load with w231 powder
since I sort of left it out on a lot of my test, for some unknown reason.

My chrony at 9 feet, was acting up with weird numbers, so sorry, no fps for the w231 loads.

My recoil data goes from target loads at R 5 up to a max of 10
which I have felt with a few "FBI" loadings, but backed off on,
since this is with a little J frame.

[ruger 22]

very nice shooting!!

[Nevada Ed]

With all the 9mm test and shooting that I have been doing in the last two years
I let the little J frame collect some dust and actually forgot how much fun
it was to shoot with all the different target loads that I have made up.

I some how got the idea that the +P loads kick a lot and that it was not fun to shoot.
On this outing I found out that I was wrong about the real heavy recoil, that I feared
and that it was, really manageable and not the big old Boogey man that I was side stepping.

I will have to take it to the next range trip, now that I learned what the recoil, is really like.
I'm a happy camper.

Thank you for your kind post.

[ArchAngelCD]

I use mostly W231 for my handgun range ammo, I'm obsessed with it lol. I'm glad to see it did so well with accuracy.

Thank you for the info and the target pictures.