Recoil question, semi auto vs single shot

S

Steve227

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Recently I shot a 38 special revolver and a 40 S&W beretta.

the 38 special cartridge looked much larger than the 40cal but the beretta seemed to kick alot more.

is this mostly due to the action cycling?

has anyone shot 40cal semi auto and single shot to compare the recoils?

are there semi autos with light slide components to reduce this portion of the recoil force?

Thanks for your time,

Steve
 
.40 S&W is more powerful than the .38 Special; a bigger bullet moving at a higher velocity. The .38 may have a large case volume compared to the .40, but it is loaded to lower pressures.
 
size of the case doesn;t really mean anything ;)

.38spl has a large cage but even a 9mm (a lot shorter) will have more recoil...just like .45acp dosn't recoil That much considring the size of the round.

if anything cycling slide on a automatic obsorbs recoil!
 
The .40s are loaded to 35,000cup and the .38 Spl. to 17,000 cup, and the .40 usually is loaded with a heavier bullet. The reason for all this is the age of some .38 Spl. revs., thin cylinder walls, small frames and even alloy frames, can't take a diet of higher pressure.
 
dent said:
What measurement is "cup" ? Pressure related?
Click to expand...

Copper Units of Pressure. Old school way of measuring pressure with a piece of copper and gas check in a hole in the side of the barrel, that is crushed by the gas pressure, then you measure how compressed it is, compare it to a chart, there's your CUP measurement. Now it's measured in PSI's, by computers with sensors in the barrel. There's no direct correlation between the PSI and CUP, they are different ways of measuring the same thing.
 
Steve227 said:
Recently I shot a 38 special revolver and a 40 S&W beretta.

the 38 special cartridge looked much larger than the 40cal but the beretta seemed to kick alot more.

is this mostly due to the action cycling?
Click to expand...
Nope. The cycling action actually absorbs and reduces felt recoil, not the other way around. However, .40S&W is a much more powerful round. .38 Spl was originally a black powder cartridge, hence the length of case (if you tried to fill it up completely with smokeless powder, you'd blow the gun up).
 
The .38Special as mentioned above is one of the softest centerfire cartridges you will ever shoot.
I didn't like it because in my Ruger GP100 it had no recoil; it felt like shooting .22lr (maybe the .22lr had more kick ;)).
 
Has anybody actually shot the same cartridge in both actions? For example, a .45 ACP in a 1911 and a .45 ACP revolver? Almost enough reason to go out and buy the revolver for me, but can't afford it until next month . . . somebody want to save me some time and tell me what I'll find out?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom