Does anyone know how much the chambering of a round "cushions" the slide going foward?
Looking at it from a mechanics standpoint, I would consider the chambering of round to be a non-deforming collision where both objects stick together, therefore
mass_1*velocity_1 + mass_2*velocity_2=mass_(1+2)*velocity_3
Let mass_1 be the slide, mass_2 be the round, and let
mass_(1+2) be the slide and the round.
Okay, now let's assume that a loaded round of .45 weighs twice as much as the bullet.(I know that this is a little high, but I don't have a precise way of measuring. If anyone knows, post it, and I will recalculate.) This is 2*230gr., or 2*14.9g (grains converted to grams).
mass_2 = 29.8g
The weight of a 5", .45 slide is 12.8 oz. (reference to
www.sviguns.com/catalog2001/)
There are 28.3495 grams in an ounce(reference to
http://www.metrication.com/), so
12.8 oz = 12.8*28.3495g
12.8 oz = 363g
mass_1 = 363g
velocity_1 is the velocity of the slide before chambering, I don't know it, so I'll just call it
v_i
velocity_1 =
v_i
velocity_2 is the velocity of the round of ammo, zero
velocity_2 = 0
velocity_(1+2) is the velocity of the slide and ammo after chambering, I don't know it, so I'll call it
v_f
velocity_(1+2) =
v_f
Now subsituting into the equation
mass_1*velocity_1 + mass_2*velocity_2=mass_(1+2)*velocity_3
yields
363g*
v_i + 29.8g*0 = (363g + 29.8g)*
v_f
reducing,
363g*
v_i = 393g
v_f
deviding both sides by 393g yields
0.924*
v_i =
v_f
So that means that the final velocity of a five inch .45 round of ammo is slowed by about 10% by picking up a round of ball ammo. It seems to me that you could increase the slide velocity by a larger amount by simply shooting hotter ammo than ball, or by reducing the weight of the spring. I have never heard of shooting hotter ammo or reducing the weight of the spring to cause damage that is attributed to slamming the slide on an empty chamber.
Also, if you consider the closing of the slide to be a collision on the internal parts, then it is appropriate to think in terms of momentum, by conservation of momentum and the equation above, same momentum hits the internals wether or not a round was chambered
Kinetic energy of the slide-ammo has decreased, if ya'll want, I can figure out by how much the kinetic energy of the slide-ammo body decreases when you chamber a round.
But based on these calculations, I don't see how the round of ammo would be able to slow the slide down enough to prevent battering of internal parts. I'm willing to be conviced however, so please review the calculations and help me find better data to calculate with!