Snub nose recoil question?

[DTown24]

Hello:
I have a 340PD which is a 11 oz. scandium/titanium 2" snubbie. A few weeks ago I fired Gold Dot 125gr +p through it and the recoil was pretty stout. The other day I replaced the Hogue grips and put on a nice pair of Spegel wood grips. I went to the range with a few boxes of Corbon 110gr DPX standard pressure .38 special ammo and a few boxes of 38 special Gold Dot 135gr +p. I expected the recoil in the 135gr +p's to be worse than the 125gr +p's I shot a few weeks ago. Well, the 110gr standard pressure load had a noticable more amount of recoil than the 135gr +p's. Actually the 135gr +p's had less recoil than the 125gr +p's that I shot a few weeks ago.
This just doesn't seem to add up to me. How can the 135 gr +p have less recoil than a standard pressure 110gr .38 round? Could the grips make that much of a difference? Is it possible/likely that they gave me a box of 135gr +p that were marked wrong? I did get this box directly from Speer. Thanks for any input.

 

[Ninjato]

As a rule of thumb, I have noticed that the lighter the bullet weight the more recoil.

It was explained to me that a lighter bullet need more velocity to mushroom on impact than a heavier bullet.

Transfer of energy is most likely the other part of it. The lighter bullet has to travel faster to achieve the same impact a slow bullet has.

I may be wrong but this has been my experience.

 

[SnWnMe]

Heavier bullets recoil more. Old school gamers used 185gr 45 slugs vice 230 fr less recoil. They drove them faster to make major. Some light loads have a bigger blast because of the greater powder charge.

It was probably the grips.

 

[Brian 45]

I agree as grips are everything. Ever choke up on a hammer and pound a spike?

My best example of this was when I loaded up some hot loads for my SBH for hunting. The factory grips became brutal with those loads and I put an ugly set of Packmieres on it. It tamed the beast and I've taken several deer with gun and load.

I'd doubt there's much mislabeling of ammo either. Too much of a liability factor these days and I expect they're real careful about that sort of thing.

 

[The Body Bagger]

Heavier bullets recoil more

Right on. I notice this with full house .40's the 155's while being snappy are no where near as heavy feeling as the 180's. Same thing with 9's the 115's are easier than the 147's. 185's in .45acp are a lot less than the 230's.

 

[osirus101]

im not sure but i believe the smaller grain bullet the more pressure wich would make the added recoil

 

[DTown24]

Right on. I notice this with full house .40's the 155's while being snappy are no where near as heavy feeling as the 180's. Same thing with 9's the 115's are easier than the 147's. 185's in .45acp are a lot less than the 230's.


Well then this throws me off even more. THe standard pressure 110gr bullet had more recoil than the +p 135gr.

 

[SAWBONES]

C'mon, this is simple stuff.
Heavier bullets recoil more, ALL THINGS BEING OTHERWISE EQUAL.

If you change the propellant type and charge volume appropriately in a given cartridge, you can make a load with a heavier bullet recoil LESS than a load with a lighter bullet.

The .38 Special Gold Dot 135gr+P JHP is an ideal "snubby" load, having been specifically engineered to hit to the same POI as the traditional 158gr+P LSWCHP, yet with slightly less perceived recoil. I've tested it in this regard, and found the advertising claims to be accurate. It's my personal choice for CCW in 1 7/8" barrel revolvers.

 

[DTown24]

ok so then how do you explain the 110grain standard pressure load having more recoil than the 135gr gold dot +p? thanks

 

[BillCA]

I agree with Sawbones and his analysis.

You can figure the recoil energy of your particular gun & load using the formula:

(Bw Mv + 4700 Pw)2 / (64.348 Gw)

Where:
Bw = Bullet weight in pounds (7000 grains per pound)
Mv = Muzzle velocity in fps
Pw = Powder weight in pounds
Gw = Gun Weight in pounds

Load Catalog X3576P Winchester (125gr JSP @ 1450fps-6" bbl)
Bullet Wt 125 grains
Muzzle Vel 1450 FPS
Powder Wt 6.5 grains
Gun Wt 23 ounces (S&W M649/640)

Gives 9.90 ft-lbs of recoil energy.

 

[PKAY]

Where I really noticed how heavier bullets gave more recoil was when firing my Freedom Arms .454 Cassull. With 300 gr. factory loads, man, recoil is substantial! With loads I purchased out of Texas with the same propellant but 240 gr. bullets, the felt recoil was substantially less. BTW, if you have experienced some flinching due to recoil with your .357 or .44 mag guns, just try 20 rounds or so of factory loads through a .454; then go back to your .357 or .44 mag. My Model 29-2 felt like .22 LR with much better groups than before.