Recoil question

[Shadow 7D]

For anyone doubting a "muzzle device" go stand next to a Barret

 

[MCMXI]

Newton's 3rd. law of [strike]relativity[/strike] motion ... for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction.

You could have a very light 22-250 bullet moving at very high velocity that would give a muzzle energy figure almost identical to a 240 grain .44 Magnum. But recoil would be nowhere near as much as the .44 Magnum 240 grain bullet going half as fast.

If you think about it, and Newton's 3rd law of MOTION mentioned above, it's a no brainer.

Force = Mass x Acceleration

Take a 240gr .44 magnum bullet leaving the muzzle at a healthy 1745 fps. Now compare that to a 55gr .22-250 bullet leaving the muzzle at 3600 fps.

.44 magnum
Mass = 240gr
Velocity = 1745 fps
Energy = 1621 ft-lb

.22-250
Mass = 55gr
Velocity = 3600 fps
Energy = 1581 ft-lb

So the muzzle energy values are similar but due to the difference in mass and muzzle velocities, both bullets require different amounts of force to accelerate them to their respective muzzle velocities. The shooter is going to experience the equal and opposite force that is generated by the burning powder. The time over which that force is felt will have a HUGE effect on perceived recoil. Impulse is the change of acceleration wrt time i.e. dA/dt.

Call F1 the force required to accelerate the 240gr bullet, and F2 the force to accelerate the 55gr bullet and assume that the time-in-barrel for each bullet is the same, then ....

F1 = M1 * A1 (240gr bullet)
F2 = M2 * A2 (55gr bullet)

M1 = 4.36 * M2

Since A (acceleration) = dV/dt and V1 = 0.48 * V2, then ...

A1 = 0.48 * A2

Therefore, F1 = (4.36 * M2) * (0.48 * A2)

F1 = 2.12 * M2 * A2

F1 = 2.12 * F2

So with a few assumptions, the force required to accelerate a 240gr bullet to 1745 fps is 2.12 times greater than the force required to accelerate a 55gr bullet to 3600 fps. If you enter the appropriate values into the recoil calculator at Handloads.com, you get the result that the free recoil energy for the .44 Magnum is 12.09 and the free recoil energy for the .22-250 is 5.23 (7lb rifles in both cases). In other words, the recoil energy of the .44 Magnum is 2.31 times greater. That's very close to the 2.12 value I calculated.

So is it really that surprising that a .44 Magnum rifle has a lot more recoil compared to a .22-250 rifle. As has been mentioned, other variables come into play in determining "felt recoil" such as the weight of the rifle, the type of recoil pad, the size of the shooter, the shooting position etc.

 

[dullh]

Recoil is a physical characteristic for sure, but it's more mental and individual than anything else. Recoil is a personal perception, and one would be advised not to acquire more rifle than one is comfortable with. For me, my personal limit is the .375 H&H Magnum. Now the "biggest" rifle I have is a .300WSM, but I have fired a friend's .375 and will say that's about as much as I am willing to tolerate and still successfully hit my target over and over again.