Going Back to 9mm ( and .45 !)

[warbird]

I have several firearms in these 3 calibers. Like all 3. For carry I have my G23. For home defense in addition to the 23 I also have a Sig P229 DAK, a Kahr K40 and a Sig P250. Loaded and ready around the fortress. My 9's and 45's are for range and competition.

 

[chiefbob81]

I want every caliber!

 

[Mountain Walker]

Some guns mitigate the recoil of the 40SW. This round when loaded with 180 grain bullets duplicates the 180grain 45ACP. Guns that I have personally found to reduce or mitigate the recoil of the 40SW: Sig P2022, Sig 229 and Ruger SR40c. Other guns such as the Glock 23 have substantially more recoil. Since I use the 180 grain bullet traveling less than 1000 ft./s these 40 S&W are not snappier, simply have more recoil. It is important not to have more gun than you can manage as misses are not at all helpful. I am also a long time user of the 45 ACP but have found that I shoot better with the full size 1911 or commander class pistol. I find the recoil of the 45ACP is excessive for me in the micro guns such as XDs. For these very small guns the 9mm is far, far better. Just my experience, others may have different impressions after shooting these guns.

 

[sandog]

I agree that choice of guns makes a difference, and that each of us has different perceptions of recoil.

I don't find recoil from a .45 Shield to be much worse than 1911's I've owned, and they are much heavier pistols than the Shield.

The smaller .40 case needs way more pressure to drive a 180 grain bullet the same speed as a .45 ACP will drive a 185 grain. Physics dictates that the .40 will be "snappier".

All I've ever shot in my .40's are 180 grain, both FMJ range loads and HST's for SD. I don't find them near as pleasant to shoot as any .45 ACP load, out of any of the guns I've shot chambered for .45 ACP.
Sure the .45 loads have recoil, but they aren't a problem for me. The muzzle rises, and the pistol comes back relatively slow. I can shoot them all day long.

.40 loads come back so fast it smacks the web of my hand. A couple dozen shots are enough.

 

[Farmer17]

When the .40 first came out I bought a cheap EAA Witness which is a CZ-75 clone that is a little lighter and thinner with a feel very similar to a Browning HP. That gun was accurate, reliable, and didn't kick bad at all and was my defensive hand gun for over 20 years even though I had over a dozen defensive handguns to pick from. I liked 155-165 grain loads for the velocity but couldn't tell any difference in recoil firing 180 grain bullets but I know some guns were terrible at handling the powerful .40 cartridge. I fired a friends Walther P88 and it had more muzzle flip than my .44 mag. You could easily tell the gun just wasn't engineered and balanced properly it was just a rebarreled 9m/m, and several guns at the time were similar and had recoil and longevity issues.

 

[Sheepdogged]

The .45 has more recoil than .40 so in a compact pistol I cant see as how it's more comfortable to shoot than a .40

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In general, the .45 ACP will have more "recoil" but the .40 S&W will have more muzzle flip. In other words, the .45 ACP is going to give you a greater feeling of Newton's equal and opposite reaction law (as the energy opposite of the bullet launching comes directly back at you), but .40 S&W in general relies more on velocity than mass (remember, kinetic energy = 1/2 times mass times velocity squared), and the greater powder charge to propel the bullet faster causes more muzzle blast as a result. In comparison, I also shoot .357 SIG and, in general, it's even snappier than the .40 but typically with less recoil (since there is usually less mass in the bullet). In fact, I've been using 65 gr. bullets in my .357 SIG lately and it is really soft shooting even with the blast. So there is a difference between recoil and muzzle flip, but people often use the umbrella term "recoil" to describe both. More than caliber, however, this is a matter of bullet weight and velocity. After all, some 9mm bullets weigh more than some .45 ACP's (e.g. Underwood has a XD bullet that is only 120 grains). Generally speaking then, the more mass you have the greater recoil, and the more velocity you have the greater muzzle flip. Both can cause the pistol to rise (as it's the least path of resistance in most regards), but the instability we experience controlling muzzle flip is usually more of a result of velocity while the gentle push back of the .45 comes more straight back at you.

 

[federali]

Felt Recoil

I own a 5" Model 1911 and an S&W M&P, both in .45 ACP. I've never owned but I have fired the .40 S&W. As others have said here and elsewhere, the .40 S&W has more snap and and I feel that felt recoil is more pronounced in the .40, assuming similar platforms.