I've found the big Glocks to be good at slowing recoil down. I have both the G20 in 10mm and the G21 in 45 ACP.
The 45cal Glock has significantly less recoil than my 1911's with the same ammo. Even using the hottest Double Tap 10mm ammo is not bad at all in the G20. The grip angle, low bore and wide backstrap combine to help.
Well said!
I feel that unless you stay with a 9mm, the softest recoiling semi auto in a significant caliber would be a Glock 21 in .45acp. I carried one for work for a few years, and it had to be the softest recoiling .45 I have ever had or shot, and one of the softest autos of any caliber.
How unusual for the internet! In my experience this is, also, entirely correct!
…… My friend has an HK USP .45 (full size not compact) and it is probably equal in the recoil department to the 21.
No actually it’s not. I’ve fired both extensively. The USP is a much more uncomfortable pistol for my older hands to have to hang onto and manipulate. After, about, 50 rounds the USP’s narrow backstrap really starts digging into the web of my gun hand. A G-21 will allow me to go for 150-200 rounds before I, even, start to feel it.
Plus you could get a 21C, which of course is compensated and lessen the felt recoil even more, and before somebody says it, not the compensator won't blind you if you shoot at night, especially if you use any quality defensive ammo due to the use of flash suppressed powder...I do low light/night shoots a lot and compensated models never had any ill effects on my night vision or shooting. ……
Yeah, but can you toast marshmallows over your ports to snack on while reloading? (JK!)
That’s been my own universal experience with shooting ported pistol barrels, too. I really do get sick and tired of reading about all the old, ‘set your clothes on fire and blind yourself’ ported barrel myths. It’s nice to see that another popular, ‘gunzine myth’ is finally starting to be exposed to the realities of everyday use in the real world.
By the way, ‘compensation’ and, ‘porting’ are NOT the same thing. There are, also, significant differences between, ‘muzzle porting’ and, ‘barrel and slide porting’. Each has its own pluses and minuses which, for the time being, I will not go into here.
Finally, when it comes to genuinely smooth (and fast!) pistol recoil management every shooter needs to be able to distinguish between the, ‘sharp’ recoil of: 9mm, 357 SIG, 10mm, and 40 S&W ammunition; and 45 acp ammo. Me? I am very well tuned into and strongly prefer the, ‘slow heavy push’ of the latter over any of the other aforementioned rounds.
45 acp is easier for me to manage and actually cuts down on my front sight dwell time and improves my splits. Consequently, I tend to be a lot faster and more accurate with a 45; and I’m, also, a lot more confident that – if I should ever actually need to defend myself with a pistol – larger heavier bullets (especially in FMJ configuration) will get the job done better.
45 acp bullets may be slower and carry less energy than some other pistol rounds; but they are, unquestionably, easier to control and – in the right hands – leave the muzzle more frequently, more accurately, AND hit harder than any other pistol round I’ve ever used.