Took my son out shooting today using our M&P 9mm. The recoil was really easy to handle. A year or so ago I had a 639 and even though it was all steel the recoil was sharper. Even my son mentioned how softer this gun shot versus the 639. I thought it was just me but both of us agreed it was much easier to shoot. Heck my model 10 .38 seemed to kick more.

Is it possible that this plastic gun could have less perceived recoil?

If so has anyone fired a .45 M&P and can you compare it to a full sized 5" 1911 all steel? I want my next gun to be a .45 but I was really impressed with how easy the MP was to shoot. I could shoot the MP all day.

My M&P FS 45 has the lightest recoil of any 45 I have ever shot. It was THE first thing I noticed the first time I ever shot it. Ironically, it is also the first thing every friend who has ever shot mine notices also.

It's one of the things I love most about my FS M&P 45.

...even softer with a LWD comp on...
Lone Wolf 45 Comp on an M&P45 - YouTube
LWD 45 comp on a m&p45 4.5" - YouTube
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There's a variety of reasons why the m&p has soft recoil characteristics, but one of the main reasons is the bore-axis of the gun. Because it's a striker-fired gun, most of the fire control group is located up in the slide. All that needs to be fit into the frame is the sear and trigger bar assembly. Because there's no hammer and mainspring to cram down in the grip, the grip can be undercut more and shorter front to back.

Compared to a hammer-fired gun, this results in placing your hand higher in relation to the bore. The higher your hand is(in other words, the lower the bore is), the more force from recoil is directed into the radius(bone) of your forearm and less force turns into rotational force(muzzle flip). To get a clearer picture, hold your gun reallllllly low on the grip so the slide is way up there over your forearm. Push back on the front of the slide and see how the rearward energy wants to rotate the muzzle up. Now place your hand as high as you can get it on the rear of the gun and see how more force just pushes into your hand and less rotational torque happens.

The flexibility of the polymer does soak up a little bit of recoil impulse, but that 1911 you'd shoot has plenty of flex too when you slow things down enough. There's also other considerations like the weight of the slide and how the recoil spring is tuned to the load you're shooting, but the main thing that makes it feel like there's so little recoil is the bore-axis.

Now compared to the 9mm, the 45 will have a good deal more push...but I actually like the .45's recoil characteristics better than the 9 and especially the 40. The 45 isn't a harsh snap, but moreso just an easy push. Even without the comp, or the tlr1s on my m&p45, I can dump a mag through it allllllmost as fast as my brother's m&p9pro 5". My 45 is easily faster to shoot than my m&p9c. Also, one thing that can't be overstated is how damned accurate the .45's are. s&w really hit a sweet spot with the m&p45, making a light-recoiling, relatively small-framed(compared to a g21 or hkusp), and VERY accurate .45.

The one huge failure is the trigger. Out of the box, it sucked. It was heavy and gritty. I polished up the trigger bar, and tossed in the apex dcaek, and it made a world of difference. The reset is still barely noticeable and apex doesn't have the RAM for the .45 yet, but the rearward stroke feels nice.

It's going to be hard to find a better .45, until you step up to an HK...in which case you'll have to deal with the da/sa and kiss goodbye to the simplicity of the striker-system of the m&p. overall, not a bad way to spend $500....
S&W M&P45 45ACP Black $501.00 SHIPS FREE

I have an M&P45 and I think the recoil is very manageable. I don't have any significant trigger time with 1911's, so I can't compare. I consider the M&P45 a pleasure to shoot.