Measuring G-Force of Handgun

I have been recording the G-Forces while shooting handguns. Understand that these values are from my Apple Watch which is on my arm, it is not attached to the firearm. So, the way I lock my wrists and elbows, the tightness of the watch band, and many other things will influence the results.

Let's start with my friends GSG 1911 in 22LR.



The firearm was fired 10 times. The maximum magnitude of the g-force vector is 5.18, the axis that recorded the most force was the Z axis at 4.64.

This is a CZ 85B.



5 shots, max g-force magnitude was 6.51.

This is a SpringField 1911 in 9mm.



5 shots, max g-force magnitude was 7.85.

I am not sure how useful this information is, but I found it interesting.

I decided to compare these two 9mm's to see what kind of forces were recorded.



Here is the S&W:



Here is the Glock:


I shot each of these 100 times, in sets of 5 shots. On average the Glock recorded higher g-forces.

I got fairly tired shooting them and my hand got a little sore.

I shot them fairly fast into a silhouette target. They both "hit" the same.



You can see the time between shots was about 0.5 seconds.

Jim Watson said:

Looks to me like the Smith was higher gee.

Click to expand...

In that case it was. I randomly picked the set. After averaging them all out the Glock was higher.

I was asked if the WatchForce app can detect / record dry firing or drawing your handgun.

Let's start with dry firing.

I used my S&W 659, double action mode. All of my pistols are metal, hammer fired types.

Five dry fires



Using the filter slider I remove noise until it seems reasonable and then I tap to get some data.



I have no idea what might be recorded with a really smooth and soft trigger.

Now to the drawing of my handgun.

I was pleased to see the motion is easily recognized.



So, I select where I think the motion started and stopped and I get a time for the draw.



I did this several times and the motion pattern was very similar each time.

If you have an Apple Watch try it out. It is free for now.

Trey Veston said:

I find the G-Force results fascinating! There is always talk about how certain firearms "feel" more harsh in regards to recoil compared to similar firearms. In general, IIRC, the Shield is considered "softer" than the G43 by shooters, so your results bear that out.

Looking forward to more results!

I know I definitely "feel" more recoil when shooting my .40 S&W Glock compared to other similarly-sized .40 S&W handguns. Some say they feel the same, and others say the opposite.

Click to expand...

What I have found is that the numbers match what I felt. So, when someone says they feel one firearm is softer shooting than another, they are probably correct.

After 100 rounds through each it was very clear to me that the S&W felt "better" to shoot. After doing these 200 rounds total I also concluded that my hand was very sore and that I wouldn't want to use one of these firearms as a range gun.

I also made a personal decision that because of the capacity of these small 9mm's that I would choose a revolver over one of them as a first choice.

reddog81 said:

What do X, Y, and Z axis represent when holding a firearm?

I'm guessing X is backwards, Y is upwards and X is side to side, but not sure.

Click to expand...

The axis coordinate system is based on the watch face. X axis is the horizontal.

Y axis the vertical.

Z axis comes out of the watch face.

Same as iPhone.



The watch is the center of the universe so to speak. Everything is based on the watch’s perspective.