How much does 45 +P beat up a gun?

[Boberama]

How much more does .45 +P beat up a gun than standard .45? The pressure limit for the .45 Auto is set at 21,000 psi while .45 +P is limited to 23,000 psi.
Compare that to .40 S&W and 9mm at 35,000 psi each, and 9mm +P at 38,500 psi.
However, the recoil from the .45 +P is much greater than the others.

Which do you think is going to beat up my gun more out of the four calibers above, assuming similar guns?




On a totally unrelated side note, I noticed that in Massad Ayoob's In The Gravest Extreme, he spelled 9mm like this: 9 m/m
I've never seen that done in any other book that I can remember. It can't be the old fashioned way of writing " mm " either because my 1947 copy of The Rifle In America spells " mm " normally.

Any thoughts?

 

[FullEffect1911]

with regard to how much more +p beats up a gun:

It isn't really the pressure that causes more wear, the pressure is either going to be contained or it won't be. It is really more the forces being applied to the firearm that cause more wear; momentum, impulse, energy from recoil etc. Of course over pressure will blow a gun up, but let me give you an example. The .9mm +p is 38,500 psi, a 45-70 govt is 28,000, I can guarantee the 45-70 would beat up the same gun faster.

How much more will a .45 +p beat up a gun? Well it will completely depend on the handgun in question, some designs are just stronger. I would love to be able to give you a definite number but I can't. All you can really do is go by a firearms durability reputation, but even then we are mostly getting our info from the interwebs and is therefore inherently suspect.

 

[MichaelK]

Hi Bob
Like FE stated, it's not the pressure per say that causes damage, it's the preening of metal parts that get smashed together. Typical for 1911's, they sell recoil springs rated at different "weights". Basicly, you match a heavy spring (lets say 18-24 lbs) with the heaviest loads and the lightest spring (8-10) for the lightest loads. It's the spring that keeps the metal parts from hitting each other too forcefully, and you want to match up the spring weight with the intensity of your loads.

The felt recoil is a result of the weight of the bullet and how fast it is being pushed. You might be pushing a 147 grain 9mm bullet at about 1000 fps, while the .45 could push a 200 grain bullet the same speed. Increased bullet weight means increased recoil. The other factor is the weight of the gun itself. The felt recoil will be greater in the lighter of two guns chambered for the same cartridge simply because the lighter gun is easier to push.

Looking through a couple of my collected reloading manuals, the standard convention is 9 mm rather than 9 m/m.

 

[FullEffect1911]

Typical for 1911's, they sell recoil springs rated at different "weights". Basicly, you match a heavy spring (lets say 18-24 lbs) with the heaviest loads and the lightest spring (8-10) for the lightest loads. It's the spring that keeps the metal parts from hitting each other too forcefully, and you want to match up the spring weight with the intensity of your loads.

This is entirely true, with one additional data point. The higher recoil spring weight will take a bit of the beating away from the recoil force at the expense of causing the slide to return to battery with more force. This can cause premature wear on the barrel lugs of a 1911 for example.

Firearms are a system of mechanical parts working in harmony with each other. Change one of those parts and you can change the system as whole for better or for worse.

 

[Lafeswede]

Hi-velocity rounds

Greetings from mid-Atlantic ocean.
The nice thing about 1911's is the ease to modify them with springs. That goes for trigger pull as well as recoil behaviour. If you are loading hot 45 rounds, watch the distance of the ejected brass. In my somewhat humble experience, beyond 10 feet and you might consider a stiffer recoil spring.

I did another observation many years ago; I tried to use cast bullets in my Tanfoglio TA90 9mm. When loaded hot enough to reload, the bullets keyholed. Obviously the bullet pushed through the lands in the barrel and was not brought to rotation. Reduced the load, no keyholing but the gun would not reload. The way to go at that time had been a lighter recoil spring. I decided it was not worth it, so have used jacketed bullet for 9mm since.
Sail safe
Lafeswede
(STI Trojan 6")