Which 9mm pistol will recoil the least? (take a guess)

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Earlier today I performed a completely subjective, non-scientific recoil test of my readily available "service-sized" 9mms, loading 10 rounds in them all, placing them on a table pointing downrange in a locked range, and shooting them somewhat rapid-fire one right after the other to see if I could determine which recoiled the least. Ammo was Blazer Brass 115 grain ball.

Pistols were:
S&W M&P Core 9L
SIG P226 (german)
CZ75B Omega
Beretta PX4 Storm
Glock 19 3rd Gen
FN Hi Power
Beretta 92FS Brigadier

Thought it might be interesting to get people's guesses about which pistol or pistols might recoil the least. I was surprised at the results, which I will post later. I shot a quick vid and will include it FWIW. I was surprised at 2 of the 3 "winners" and was surprised at a couple that had more recoil than is reputed.

Again, recoil is very subjective and this is of course just for fun, but there were definite standouts for me.

I don't really have a list of best to worst, but I did single out the three I thought had the least recoil, and one that definitely had the most. The others were all too close to accurately place.
 
Toughy.

I'd say the B92FS.

My CZ75 isn't quite so soft in terms of kick to the paws, and the 92 is just heavier than the Storm.
 
I'm guessing the 92 Brigadier. I have used most of what you listed, but I was issued a 92 with a brig slide at one time. It seemed that between that P38 locking block and the heavier slide, the recoil was pretty minimal. Which is the only thing I liked about that pistol.
 
I'd say that the one that recoiled the least is the PX4.

I'm going to guess that the other two of the three that recoiled the least are the CZ75B and the 92FS Brig.
 
The 92 is a big ol gun with a lot of weight forward he trigger guard so I'm going to go with it for the least recoiling.

When I first shot the BHP I was surprised by how little it recoiled, and how accurately I shot it - so I'm going to go with the BHP for my #2 pick,

The gun with the most recoil on your list would be the DoubleTap Defense Tactical Pocket Pistol without the training grip.
 
I would go with the Beretta PX4, the SIG P226, and the Browning Hi-Power as having the least amount of felt recoil with an honorable mention going to the CZ75 B Omega.
 
Since I have almost all of those guns I’m intrigued to see the way you rank them and how it lines up with my subject perception.

I’ll also add that subjectively I’d rank my steyr M9 as a softer shooter than all of them. I believe the low bore axis and grip design that allows me to get a very high grip on the gun contribute significantly to that perception. I’m predicting that bore axis and how one can grip the gun may factor into how you rank your list.
 
Most of you got very close and some guessed 2 of my three least recoiling. As I said this is subjective and non scientific but my three winners were the two berettas and surprisingly the M&P. The CZ has been touted as having very low recoils but mine was clearly sharper than all the others. Which is weird. I may do another trial with just those four pistols. If I had to choose a winner with this ammo it would probably be the Brig. Big heavy slide seems to help.

Interesting that someone mentioned muzzle flip versus recoil. I tried to discuss that in the video. The Hi Power and P226 seemed to me to have the most front sight lift.

Someone else could likely shoot these same pistols and choose a different winner but it was fun anyway.

Video for any interested.
 
Girodin said:
Since I have almost all of those guns I’m intrigued to see the way you rank them and how it lines up with my subject perception.

I’ll also add that subjectively I’d rank my steyr M9 as a softer shooter than all of them. I believe the low bore axis and grip design that allows me to get a very high grip on the gun contribute significantly to that perception. I’m predicting that bore axis and how one can grip the gun may factor into how you rank your list.
Click to expand...
I'd like to shoot a Steyr. I never have. They look intriguing.
 
The CZ has been touted as having very low recoils but mine was clearly sharper than all the others.
Click to expand...
I'm not really a good judge of recoil, but my wife is very sensitive to recoil differences. After I posted my guesses above, I asked her which of the 9mms that she had fired had the lowest recoil and she listed her PX4 as the lowest with the H&K USP in second place. She said the CZ75 definitely recoiled more. I just sort of assumed it would recoil less since it is probably one of the heaviest pistols on the list.
 
The result surprised me a bit I own a CZ85, S&W6906, and Ruger P85. I have shot the PX4 a bit as well as Beretta 92. I probably chose the CZ since I enjoy shooting mine so much and that it's steel framed, nor am I recoil sensitive. I would guess a P85 would fare pretty well with its beast of a slide, I do recall that it's pretty much a non event pulling the trigger on it. I don't shoot the P85 much just because of the enormous DA to SA transition.
 
I have shot all the ones you've listed and you findings closely match mine.

The Beretta 92 has less recoil due to it's non-tilting barrel. The PX4's barrel also doesn't tilt to unlock, but the rotary forces always made followup shots slower.

The M&P having less felt recoil might have been a function of the grips fit in your hand. Interestingly, both the .40 and the .45 have even less felt recoil due to their slightly slower unlocking.

I would have thought that the FN P-35 would have presented with the most recoil...or were you testing a later Mk III?
 
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