Is .38 special recoil from a gp100/sw686 similar to 9mm recoil from a glock/xd?

[Spec ops Grunt]

.38's have more of a push, 9mm have more of a snap.


.357's have a pushy snap.

 

[sixgunner455]

If you measure power solely by muzzle energy, sure, the .38 seems weak compared to the 9mm.

If you measure by penetration and tissue damage, that's something else entirely, and they are a lot more similar than the paper numbers saying "xx ft lbs vs. yy ft lbs". Rah, rah, bigger is better.

You were talking about messed up joints in your dominant limb. When that is a consideration, you shouldn't have your weapons' power level as your primary concern. You should have being able to tolerate shooting it, and being able to hit well with it, as your primary concerns.

Hits trump ft lbs.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Well, the average .38 special round has a muzzle energy of about 200 lb/ft (some a little more some a little less, but the average is right at about 200 lb/ft)

The average 9mm round has a muzzle energy of about 400 lb/ft of energy (some a little more some a little less, on avg about 400 lb/ft though)

So on average, 9mm is about twice as powerful as .38 special.

I'm not going to argue with you and this will be my only post on this subject.
Using Speer Gold Dot ammo as a test and their posted velocities here's the data:
9mm 124gr @1150 fps = 364 ft/lbs
38 Spl 125gr @945 fps = 248 ft/lbs

Hardly twice the energy. Sure it's more but twice??

BTW, the post above mine by "sixgunner455" is a very good one.

 

[Sunray]

"...comparing a revolver vs a semi-auto pistol..." It's an apples and oranges thing.
"....38 super from a GP100..." Is unsafe. .38 Super and .38 Special/.357 Mag are not interchangeable. You have no headspace.

 

[Mizar]

Energy has nothing to do with recoil - force that is needed to move a bullet (bigger weight - bigger force) and to accelerate it to certain speed does.

Boris

 

[Dr.Rob]

The great thing about a full sized .38 special is you can learn to shoot it with wadcutters. (Very low recoil lead bullets) and work your way up to 'defensive loads'.

This is what you are looking for: http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/38-special-wadcutter-ammo

There isn't really an equivalent in 9mm. Most 115-124 grain bullets will feel the same recoil wise in a given auto pistol.

 

[sixgunner455]

"....38 super from a GP100..." Is unsafe. .38 Super and .38 Special/.357 Mag are not interchangeable. You have no headspace.

Not quite. .38 Super is semi-rimmed, and will quite happily headspace on it. May not be a good idea, pressure may not be compatible, may not be accurate, etc, etc, but headspacing is not an issue. Old .38 Super semi-autos headspaced on the semi-rim. Only when it became a competition cartridge did the builders start making them to headspace on the case mouth for better accuracy - but still, that was in semiautos.

 

[FoMoGo]

Sunray, thanks for the catch... should have been ".38 special from a GP100".
Fixing it now.


Jim

 

[Mp7]

6 shots from a full size revolver in .38
are easier to shoot than 17 from a Glock 9mm.

for a reason.

The revolver is overbuilt and steady.
The Glock is maxed out as a combat firearm.

Both are great. The Revolver is tame in that configuration.

 

[Ledgehammer]

I think this thread should have been started in handgun general discussion, because you're not getting an unbiased opinion here in revolver world - lol

A glock 17 is a long way from being "maxed out" lol that gun shoots like a dream. Shooting .38 out of an airweight j frame revolver is pretty harsh. Shooting 9mm out of a g26 is a walk in the park. When you move down to a pf9 sized gun the recoil starts to hit the .38 Jframe feel. Now shooting .38 out of a full size revolver is quite pleasant. I agree that the semi auto seems to spread out the felt recoil of the gun by the action of the slide absorbing a good bit. Plus it hits your hand higher up.

So in short I wouldn't worry about recoil out of any compact or above 9mm or out of any full size metal revolver. You're good to go!