[twoblink]

I was just wondering, which would have a bigger felt recoil?

Shooting 38Spls out of a 2" barrel
or shooting 357Maggies out of a 6" barrel.

[Z_Infidel]

That question is hard to answer for a couple reasons:

1. Felt recoil is highly subjective.

2. Both calibers are available in various loads.

You would probably need to compare a specific .38 Special load to a specific .357 Magnum load in the two guns in order to make a valid comparison. I would tend to believe a hot magnum will produce more felt recoil out of a 6" barrel than a typical .38 out of a snubbie, but the larger gun will go a long way toward making that recoil manageable. Same goes for a 4" L-frame or Ruger GP100.

[Jim March]

Yup - it'll be hard to compare apples'n'apples, because most people buy long barrels on a larger L/N/GP100 class frame and small barrels on a J/K class.

Even when the same gun is available both ways (S&W K-frame from 2.5" to 6") people often run bigger grips on the bigger gun.

I *suspect* that barrel length alone doesn't make all that much difference. As the barrel gets longer, velocity and hence recoil power go up (slightly) but this is balanced by the extra weight out there. So a lot will depend on how heavy the barrel really is, which is why the PPC guys use barrel weights.

[twoblink]

This was a "loaded" question (sorry, couldn't resist!!)

I ask this, because I think the difference is pretty much load and frame specific. Unlike maybe say 9mm vs. 40S&W, which almost everybody agrees, almost regardless of load and gun, 40's have more snap to them.

I do remember doing a comparison of shooting 38SWC's out of my SP101 2", and hothouse 357's out of my friend's 6" python, and I thought the SP101 was softer, and he thought the python was softer, same loads. So preceived recoil seems to vary drastically between one hand and the next.

[Jim March]

The difference will probably be based on what part of the grip is hitting what part of each user's hands. Basically, any "high spot" is where the pain will be; bury a nail backwards into the front edge of the grip and you'll get a very painful demo on that point.

Grips are an extremely personal matter.

[Standing Wolf]

I have both a two-inch .38 special revolver and six-inch .357 magnum. The little .38 special has smaller stocks; the larger .357 magnum has a thumb rest and is better contoured to fit my hand.

Federal Premium Personal Defense loads in both calibers smack my hand harder in the magnum.

[twoblink]

After I changed the SP101's grip from the factory rubber booty to the hogue one, it was a world of difference as far as felt recoil..

[Jim March]

Something else most people don't think about: in some cases, as the gun gets bigger the barrel is at a higher plane from the hand than it would be on a smaller frame/cylinder gun. Some of the S&W hammerless J-frame models, with the right grips, set the barrel WAY down into the hand which helps eliminate "flip".

The Mateba takes this to an extreme, as the firing chamber is at the BOTTOM of the cylinder and the barrel is similarly slow-slung to match.

But anyways, that difference in "flip" could be part of what's up.

[Midnight]

I once fired my S&W Mod 36 J-frame in .38 spl back to back with a friend's Dan Wesson 4-inch .357 mag. I thought they were about the same. However, the .38 gets WILD with +P loads. The Dan Wesson was a real pussycat with .38 loads.

[Johnny Guest]

- - -As if there weren't already enough variables under discussion.

Let's just stipulate a rather brisk, +P .38 load for self defense, and a similarly warm .357 load.

- - - Many of the current crop of 2" .38 revolvers are lightweights, to make carry easy, though not shooting. Comparing an all steel J frame (19.5 oz.) with the equivalent size revolver with aluminum (12.5 oz,) titanium (11.2 oz.,) scandium, unobtanium, or kaboomium alloy frame, and there's quite a difference right there. I don't know of a six-inch .357 that is not all steel.

The higher-setting barrel in the larger framed .357 has already been mentioned. Consider that in conjunction with the longer lever principle. If the muzzle blast takes place some four inches from the web of the thumb, using the 2", then it would be more like nine inches distance with the 6" barrel - - -Longer and deeper lockwork, longer cylinder, and so forth. Combine this additional leverage with a much hotter load, and there pretty well MUST be a great deal more muzzle flip with the longer magnum.

A 1995-vintage Model 10 M&P 2" RB scales at 28 oz, and, being a K-frame, has the same relative barrel height as the 6" model 66 weighing 39 oz. I'd say that this is the "truest," most objective comparison. The recoil difference in THESE two revos might not even be noticible.

Confusedly yours,
Johnny

[raveon59]

I must take issue twoblink, I think the 40S&W is the sweetest round I ever shot. The 9mm always stung my hand, not to mention the tonal difference-and both were shot from a full size S&W-but what do I know, I much prefer the sound of a .44mag to a .357mag any day. I have to agree about the SP101. I have shot the same load from a GP100 6" bbl and a SP101 and feel the SP has a much softer felt recoil..maybe it had to do with the brand of coffee I had that morning..