Which has better recoil...?

[ogilvyspecial]

The problem with recoil is if the gun hurts you too much you'll be reluctant to practice with it, especially if it makes you bleed. The cylinder latch on the S&W is much more prone to make you bleed, while the Rugers don't have this problem. But I never met a Ruger that I could shoot as well as a good S&W.

Dave Sinko

I wholeheartly agree with everything David said above.

My wife has had problems with the cylinder latches on the newer J-Frames but not those with the older style Cylinder Latches. Because of this I'm waiting on an order containing some old style latches, which should be here in a couple of days and should resolve this issue for her.

The newer latches, which are longer & pointed on the back end tend to dig into the web of her hand and that's the main reason she bails on shooting those guns, opting for a larger K-Frame if I have one handy. The recoil doesn't bother her, it's those darned latches.

 

[russp1]

To be able to practice enough with her 642, my wife uses a fingerless glove on her strong hand. Just enough extra padding to allow her to put at least 25 rounds through each time we're at the range.