What's your recoil limit???

[Shooter973]

What amount of recoil can you tolerate on a regular basis from a handgun?
My limit is the full bore 44 Mag. loads out of a Ruger Redhawk with Pachmayr grips. These loads are to much fun for my 4 inch S&W 629!!! I have no need to move any higher on the power scale as I don':t think I'd like it!!!

 

[CAnnoneer]

Tolerance and pragmatism are different things.

I can tolerate .45acp, .44spl, and .40S&W, but prefer 9mm and .380 for sustained fire. On the other hand, .44mag is too much for me.

 

[Mooseman]

44 Mag is as high as I want to go. I'd love to try some of the even bigger boys but I don't think I'd enjoy them enough to drop money on them.

 

[The-Fly]

my limit in a handgun is max power 357 mag (1600fps 125gr round). 44mag is too much for my tastes.

 

[dragongoddess]

Seems 44 mag is a bit much for me. I am though going to work on building up the strength in my hands and wrists before giving up and sending the Anaconda in for porting. But right now its more then I can handle. Granny will prevail though.

 

[SigfanUSAF]

I have shot most modern pistol calibers up to and including two cylinders from the .500 S&W. I must say, .357 is as much as I want to shoot on a regular basis. For me, there is NOTHING in my percievable future that warrents EVER shooting a .500 S&W again!

 

[Black Majik]

Top for me would be .44 magnum out of a 629. I can shoot a box of that stuff but any more and I get the mad shakes.

I can comfortably shoot .357 magnum and .45 ACP all day through full size revolver/pistol.

Oddly enough, I can go through more .44 magnum in a full size revolver than I can .40 S&W out of a polymer pistol. Dang I hate that round.

 

[RyanM]

Most I can "tolerate" is Remington 125 gr SJHPs out of a 2" Ruger SP-101. Most I can shoot a bunch of in one range session without starting to flinch is .40 S&W in a Glock 23.

 

[rockstar.esq]

I am a huge fan of the .44 magnum and shoot approximately 900 rounds per year. For me the "threshold of accuracy" tops out with the .44 Magnum. To me that is best defined by maintained accuracy throughout a range session of around 100 rounds. I've fired a 500 S&W twice and although I didn't limp away nor lose feeling in my hands, I found the overall concussive effect of it's recoil to be not only unpleasant but distracting in the extreme. With all of this being said, I find a sharp recoil with a twisting wrench to be the worst. Topping my list of offenders are black powder single shots with their terrible ergonomics and honking recoil. I'm not talking about typical cap and ball pistols so much as "Howdah" pistols which were invented by English hunters for lion hunting!

 

[grimjaw]

Depends on the cartridge/gun combination. The most unpleasant gun I've had the opportunity to fire was a S&W 640 and full house .357 Magnum. It was something about the grip, but it would tear the skin off my hand in a dozen rounds or less. Out of a Ruger GP100 I can shoot that round all day. I have a .44 Magnum Ruger SBH w/10" barrel that's fun to shoot, but after a twenty or so rounds of that my wrist will start getting twisted.

jm

 

[Beetle Bailey]

Obviously, the size and weight of the gun, as well as it's fit, affect my recoil limit, but in general .357 magnum is my limit. Give me a .44 mag and I'm just making noise.

Oddly enough, I can go through more .44 magnum in a full size revolver than I can .40 S&W out of a polymer pistol. Dang I hate that round.

I don't care for .40 S&W either, but I recently got a chance to shoot a lightly tuned G35 and it was wasn't bad at all.

 

[Metapotent]

My limit for occasional shooting is the .44 mag in a comfortable gun.

I tried a .500 S&W and I will say with confidence that I will never shoot one again. I shot one with a scope and I was so unprepared for the recoil (due to the light trigger pull mostly) that when I touched off a round the recoil was so harsh that the scope smacked me right on my lip and caused me to bleed profusely.

With that said. I can shoot a Colt1911 .45 all day long, and I do just about every weekend.

 

[slicknickns]

Honestly, whats the point of having anything larger than .357 in a collection? Practically speaking (unless you're into large calibers, you know past .44mag) you're not going to need a handgun more powerful than a .357

 

[Steve C]

How recoil is felt depends so much on the weight of the gun, how well the stocks fit and what they're made of. The heaviest caliber handguns I own are .41 mag's. The 4" S&W mountain pistol wasn't pleasant to shoot with the original Houges and full power ammo but some Pachmeyer Presentation grips makes it much more acceptable. I've shot friends .44 mags and they don't seem to have any heavier felt recoil than the .41 mag. though the pistols I shot where a Ruger Super Blackhawk and a Ruger Redhawk, both heavier than my S&W's.

Personally I see no reason to go any heavier than the .41 mag as it has the capability to fulfill my foreseeable needs for a heavy magnum.

I did have the "opportunity" to shoot a S&W 500. I have to say that's the heaviest recoiling pistol I've ever shot and found its recoil to be down right unpleasant. Unless there's some greater reason than simply putting holes in paper I have little desire to shoot one again.

 

[Doggieman]

I can one hand a SP-100 with 357s all day no problem. 45s a breeze. 12 ga don't even feel it anymore. But my 642 with 38 +Ps gets to me. Weird.

 

[madmattmd]

In a revolver, my comfort limit is .357 magnum (Dan Wesson 15-2, S&W Model 19 or 586) or 4" Model 29 with .44 spl. The .44 magnum rounds are a bit too much until I find a better grip or break down an buy a shooting glove. I'd love to try a .41 magnum.

In a semi-auto, my personal preference is 10mm. The regular retail factory ammo is very much like .40 S&W to me and full power 10mm like Double Tap is pure fun. I have both a Springfield Omega (1911 frame with linkless 6" slide) and G20. The recoil can be stout, but not punishing. .45ACP is quite comfortable in a 1911 frame.

Keep in mind I consider myself to be a "Recoil wussie."

Matt

 

[BigV]

For me, there is NOTHING in my percievable future that warrents EVER shooting a .500 S&W again!

Watched a guy at the range a few days ago shoot his S&W .500. He would shoot once and then set the gun down and walk away. It took him about 30 min. to shoot 5 shots. He asked me if I wanted to take a shot. One was all it took. Never again!!

 

[Ben Shepherd]

For a 50 round session full horse 454 is enough. For a cylinder full or two, just about anything.

 

[nero45acp]

.357 Magnum, .45 Colt



nero

 

[RNB65]

.357 Mag is about as heavy as I like for extended shooting. I fired 5 shots out of my buddy's S&W 460 Mag awhile back. Fun, but not something I'd want to do very often. My wrist hurt for the rest of the day.

 

[Smith & Wesson Man]

not trying to sound like a tough guy

I have a 460 and love it. The recoil doesn't bother me. I reload rounds in 44mag, 41mag, 45lc, and my 460. I have shot a full round of a 500 and it didn't bother me. Will my hands get shaking after awhile of shooting the bigger calibers, yes. The recoil just doesn't bother me as much as others. BUT, I think something should be said with the setup of the handgun. All my guns that I shoot have weight to them, and are in pretty big frames. I have shot those airlights by smith and I really didn't care for them. The recoil was hurting my wrist after a few shots. I can't remember the model number but it was in 45acp! If smith came out with another bigger round I know that the 460 is plenty for me. Just my two cents

 

[cmidkiff]

I've shot probably 200 rounds of .500, from various guns. It wasn't too bad until I shot a couple cylinders full from a 3" 'snubby' .500 with bird's head grips

I find the .500 to be easier on me than the .460. It's more the teeth-rattling blast of the .460 than the recoil. Just shows that percieved recoil is a personal thing. I don't own either, yet, but I will! I wouldn't want to put hundreds of rounds through either in a single range trip, but then again, I couldn't afford to do so anyway!

I have a 6" 29-2 that I shoot quite a bit, 50 or 100 rounds per range trip. It's not unpleasant at all.

 

[cookekdjr]

Recoil and how we experience individually is a funny thing. I think the recoil-induced pain and discomfort are as much a function of a handgun's design (ergonomics, weight, bore axis, grip design, etc.) as they are a function of caliber and ammunition choice. Then you also have the factors of the individual shooter: size, strength, ability, and experience.
I guess what I'm saying is, my limit is very handgun specific. I'm a pretty big guy (6'5", 225-230) and I work out with weights a good bit (including a number of hand-strength exercises). I've been shooting guns all my life.
All that being said, I cannot comfortably shoot an alloy j-frame in .38 special. It just plain hurts, and I suspect it gives me a flinch. Forget about the 10 oz .357's I owned.
OTOH, I can comfortably shoot a Ruger Redhawk in .44 magnum. It fits my hand well, and its very pleasant to shoot, actually. Ditto for the Ruger Blackhawk in .357 w/full-house loads. Easy as pie, can shoot it all day. I can shoot both guns much more accurately than most other handguns.
A SIG Pro in .357 SIG? Painful and uncontrolable. Twisting torque and muzzle flip.
.40 Cal Glock 27? No pain, no torque, just can't shoot it well at all. Same gun in 9mm? No problem, I put them all where I aim them.
1911's and SIG p220? Like shooting a laser beam. Recoil is not an issue.

I guess what I'm saying is, there's alot of factors in a recoil "limit". For me, it seems to be a matter of how the gun fits my hand, and how much the gun weighs, as opposed to any other factors.
-David

 

[Essex County]

My limit in a snub revolver it's .38 Special + P. With a hunting revolver I don't want to exceed full power loads of .44 Magnum..........Essex

 

[farscott]

My limit is an FA 83 with a 260-grain .454 at 1200 fps (really a heavy .45 Colt load in .454 Casull brass). I tried a box of FA's full-power 260-grain ammo (at 1800 fps), and ten rounds was my limit. The recoil was not so bad, but the muzzle torque was amazing.