In another thread about the stupidest things the staff members at a gun store have said to their customers,
I recounted how I was told by a gun store clerk that the S&W Shield EZ 380 was going to have more felt recoil than the 9mm version of the same gun,
even with both guns being basically being the same size and shape and weight, due to the .380 round having more gunpowder in the case and a higher velocity (but lighter) bullet.
Another ODT member added that it could be true, if you compare a .380 with a direct blowback system to a 9mm that uses the common delayed recoil or moving-barrel system that the Model 1911 made popular.
I want to explore this more. Why would one system have less recoil than the other? Direct blowback guns have to have heavier slides (or, for long guns, heavier bolts) compared to those with other kinds of energy-absorbing action mechanisms, but GIVEN THE EXACT SAME OVERALL WEIGHT of a pistol, and for guns of the SAME LENGTH (so the distance of travel of the slide of the semi-auto pistol is the same), how can a gun's recoil be increased if you switch the caliber to .380 from 9x19mm and give it a direct blowback system (with the standard heavy recoil spring and massive slide)?
I recounted how I was told by a gun store clerk that the S&W Shield EZ 380 was going to have more felt recoil than the 9mm version of the same gun,
even with both guns being basically being the same size and shape and weight, due to the .380 round having more gunpowder in the case and a higher velocity (but lighter) bullet.
Another ODT member added that it could be true, if you compare a .380 with a direct blowback system to a 9mm that uses the common delayed recoil or moving-barrel system that the Model 1911 made popular.
I want to explore this more. Why would one system have less recoil than the other? Direct blowback guns have to have heavier slides (or, for long guns, heavier bolts) compared to those with other kinds of energy-absorbing action mechanisms, but GIVEN THE EXACT SAME OVERALL WEIGHT of a pistol, and for guns of the SAME LENGTH (so the distance of travel of the slide of the semi-auto pistol is the same), how can a gun's recoil be increased if you switch the caliber to .380 from 9x19mm and give it a direct blowback system (with the standard heavy recoil spring and massive slide)?