Yes, but no. Mechanically delayed blowback actions sometimes feel softer because the kinematics
No. The pressure is orders greater than enough to move the bolt almost instantly after the primer goes
At work have you ever had to explain a relatively simple, to you, concept to a co-worker and you get that 'I don't get it' look like you just explained it in Mandarin Chinese. I hear what you're saying, but at this point I still don't 'understand' it. I'm sure its not what you are saying or even how you are saying it. It's my brain that can't yet put together what is happening that makes it feel different.
I'm an engineer for a construction company. That's a title not a degree. But I do have a NY State Regents diploma in Music, Math, and Science and two years of engineering classes including several physics and calculus classes that I passed. So I have a pretty good understanding of Newtonian physics. Or at least I think I do. Maybe when we are done here I'll have to change that assessment of myself.
I figured that the mechanically delayed blowback spread the impulse over a different time period and that accounted for the difference in what is felt by the shooter. I just don't understand how it does that. My initial assumption was that the mechanically delayed action Produced 100% of the initial recoil because the firearm stayed 100% in battery for the entire time until released from battery. While in the blowback action the bolt started to move immediately but stayed 'closed enough' to perform its function and that little bit of movement would reduce the initial recoil impulse. Thinking about this a bit more and reading the above response there is now an assumption on my part that the amount of time the firearm remains in battery is the same or very similar in both the mechanically locked and blowback actions. That may be a bad assumption on my part.
Blow back actions tend to have heavy bolts and I assume that when the heavier bolt hits the end of its rearward travel it hits 'harder' because it is heavier. F=Mass x Acceleration. But I just can't get over that each system, either mechanically delayed or delayed by mass/spring, the bolt either hasn't moved (in the case of the mechanically delayed opening) or hasn't move much (delayed by the mass of the bolt and the spring) initially. So shouldn't the initial felt recoil be almost exactly the same? And if the bolt on the blowback action has moved even a little bit in the same time period that would have transferred some of the initial forces to the bolt movement reducing the amount of initial felt recoil. That force only coming back into play when the heavy bolt stops at the end of its rearward travel.
Is the initial felt recoil from the 'in battery' condition just not what makes the recoil feel 'sharper'? Is it just the fact that the blowback actions bolt is heavier and hitting harder that causes the 'sharper' recoil on the blowback? That would relieve my confusion and maybe settle the whole question.
NOTE: I'm not saying that anything above is the way it is, but it is the way my brain interprets it. My 'Paradigm' if you will.
Maybe the better question is what part of the recoil cycle gives the shooter the 'sharper' recoil impulse? The initial point while both actions are in battery, the travel of the slide rearwards, the transition from rearward slide motion to a stop and then to a forward slide motion or when the forward motion of the slide stops? (
my 6th grade English teacher would have belittled me for that run on sentence! Please don't hit my Mrs. Zazaretti)
What would be great is if a manufacturer made a single pistol in both delayed and straight blowback actions. Then we could actually measure the differences. But I don't suppose one of those exists. The closest that comes to mind is the Llama mini-1911 types of pistols in 380. They made them in both delayed and straight blowback. And I'd suspect they were very close in how they were constructed except for the mass of the slide almost had to be increased to slow the opening from battery. But maybe the slide was heavy enough and all they had to do was replace the delayed action parts with a fixed barrel. Technical writing takes time and effort and I'm not sure I wrote things in a manner that could be understood. Hope I haven't lost anyone on this topic.