OK last week I was very luck to pick up a really nice 4516-2I got my butt to the range today and I just dont understand why the recoil on the 3 gens is so polite.
Compaired to other 9s and 45s it just seems to be light. The 2 45s I have are steel frame the 9s and 40 are alloy frame and still go easy on me.

Why?
Hank

Hank, You shouldn't bother yourself just send me you 4516 and problem solved!

The mass of the pistol and recoil spring may be absorbing the energy. Do you know if it is a stock recoil spring or an extra power variety?

Ammo strength also comes to mind...

Those 3rd gens are great guns. I've got a 4553TSW that I shoot with 230gr loads. Recoil is less than my .44 Special shooting 240gr.

When I cleaned it it has 2 springs on the guide rod my 4566 only has 1 I think need to double check that
Hank

That's the way it's supposed to be.

__________________
Thanks,
KPSqured

Only the 4516-1 used the single recoil spring, the -0, -2, -3 along with the 4513 and 457 all used the dual spring set up which should say something about which is the best system.

Special S&W Magic....I am not allowed to disclose the secret.

I have always attributed the lack of recoil to the locking system. The standard 3rd gen. pistols use a barrel with an additional locking lug forward of the hood and a swell near the muzzle that rides inside of bushing. These combine to distribute bearing surfaces and smoothen the unlocking process. (This is also an expensive process, requiring a lot of hand fitting).

Most other pistols, including the M&P series, simply use the Sig method of only locking up on the barrel hood.

The 4516 is a big, heavy gun for its "compact" size (if that makes any sense ) so of course it is not going to recoil like a Lightweight Officer's model, or something similar. I think the combination of heavy slide, stiff recoil spring, and heavy overall weight of the gun make it comfortable to shoot. The hand has a lot of area to get a hold of, and the magazine floor plate, which serves as an extension, also aids the control and feel of the gun. Timing may have a little something to do with it? Maybe the S&W unlocks just a bit more quickly than a 1911-type gun? Any recoil-operated, locked breech gun should be similar, but maybe tiny differences amount to more than we think?

As to just how the gun is locked, that is probably more a matter of convenience of manufacture and fitting than how it feels when fired. No pistol is going to be consistently accurate if it "locks" only on the hood, since the hood can only establish side-to-side fit of the barrel in the slide. (SIGs lock on the front end of the ejection port in the slide, which, together with hood fit, controls front-to-back play in the slide-barrel assembly, and of course the M&P does the same.) The SIG system is probably considerably easier to machine and fit with a high degree of precision than Browning-type lugs both in the slide and on the barrel. "Locking" only the "hood" (as we think of it in a 1911, i.e., the read end of the barrel) would actually lock nothing and would leave the pistol free to choose whatever headspace it likes.

4516s are pretty pleasant guns to shoot. I think the M&P series is too (in .45 caliber), as is the SIG 220, for an Aluminum-frame gun. 1911s seem good too, until the lightweight frame models come into play, and especially those of the Officer's length.

A couple of things will affect felt recoil. Number one is weight of course, and the all steel Smith 45s are tanks. The relationship of the barrel to hand hold in terms of bore height above the hand will also have pronounced effect. The Smiths are slightly better than average in that regard(MHO).
I think that the all steel Smith 45s are just about the most rugged 45s out there, their accuracy is always better than I am, which is all one can ask. When you get into the alloy frames recoil will seem to pick up a bit, but is still quite mild. I find the 10mms to have much sharper recoil than the 45. Of course the 10mm is a really hot round-the main reason the FBI did not adopt it. And that gave birth to the 40 S&W and the rest is history. I still think the 45 ACP and 45 Colt are the best combat pistol rounds available, YMMV.