Why did the recoil stories start, 44 magnum

[magnumuser]

Recoil is subjective, based on bullet, powder, velocity, and gun weight.

But with a new 629 in 5" barrel... I honestly cant "feel" a difference between 6 grains of BE and a 240 SWC, and 18.5 grains of 2400, or with the fiochi 240 grain sjhp moving at a box speed of 1330 fps.

The fiochi has more noise.. but the same rear ward thrust on my hands, and i have bad hands.

But im just curious as it feels alot like my 40 ounce 357 firing full loads of 2400 and 4227 wih 158 grain swc.

[Winger Ed.]

I've fired the same load in different handguns, and the recoil felt different as well as the muzzle wanting to climb..
I wrote it off as being different barrel lengths, and the angle of the handgrip to the barrel being a little different.

[marvelshooter]

I have never shot a 5" .44 magnum with any load. I have shot an 8" .500 with full house loads and prefer it to a J frame with +P 38's. My point is the weight and shape of the gun have as much affect on felt recoil as the load(s).

[dverna]

Recoil is not a "story". The laws of physics apply.

How recoil "feels" if impacted by various factors. Also, some people seem less affected than others.

[Bird]

The 629's weight especially with loaded chambers absorbs recoil very well. It feels more comfortable than my 9mm CZ, and a lot more accurate as well.

[georgerkahn]

The 629's weight especially with loaded chambers absorbs recoil very well. It feels more comfortable than my 9mm CZ, and a lot more accurate as well.

Bird said it all! I still have vivid memories, albeit six or seven (?) years back when I was shooting my S&W 629 at the range, and a fellow with a quite short-barreled aluminum-framed revolver inquired vis what I was shooting. After a bit he asked, and I gifted him six cartridges. Upon his first shot his arm was pointed STRAIGHT up, he used his left hand to take the revolver out of his right, and -- with a stream of expletives -- began shouting I might have broken his wrist! I asked for the remaining five back, chambered them in my revolver, and -- for kicks & giggles -- fired two rounds. My arm stayed horizontal, and while there was a bit of muzzle-flip, it was minimal. Yupper -- my revolver weighed in at a hair more than THREE POUNDS; his Taurus? Roughly one and three quarter pounds. Quite the difference vis recoil!
geo

[JSnover]

People just love to exaggerate.
I've had people tell me the .357, .44, and .500 magnums will "break your wrist," and 30-06, 45-70 and 12 gage will "break your shoulder." The only two guns I didn't care for were a 4" .500 SW (barrel needed to be longer) and any lever action 30-30 (too much drop in the stock) but after trying all of them, my wrists and shoulders remain un-broke.

[Carrier]

I have a SBH with a 5.5” barrel that is one of the nastiest things to shoot. My 629 with 6” barrel with same magnum load is like shooting 44 specials

[El Bibliotecario]

A half century ago .44 Magnum became so popular that for a time the weapons routinely sold at scalper's prices. Inspired by the Clint Eastwood films, I would speculate that for some purchasers this was their first handgun--to quote Arnold Schwartzenegger: "Bad idea." It was said that it was not uncommon to find M29s being resold along with their first and only box of ammunition, minus six fired rounds. I suspect these disillusioned Dirty Harrys were prime instigators of the horrific recoil stories.

[rintinglen]

Bad grips, light gun, Full on Mag load=sore hand. As was mentioned, it's simple physics.

The n-frame, S&W target grips were and are a bad fit for me. My first experience with a 44 magnum was with a 4 inch 29-2 and full on Keith loads. It stung, it jumped just about twice as high as my similar 27 did. It was not enjoyable. The same load in an 8 3/8" barrel with Pachmyr grips was still pretty stout, but not at all painful. Later on, I shot a Jovino 3 inch 44 mag with those funky, wooden, combat grips. Two shots were all it took to convince me I didn't need to shoot that gun again. Likewise, those Airlite 357's can look for another owner. I can do without that, especially with my old, injured wrists.

However, anybody who tells me they can't tell the difference between a 44 Special load and a magnum load better stand back--the wind force from the eyeroll will be substantial.

[magnumuser]

if the loading data come from the magnum section of the handbook, its not a special at all.

[redhawk0]

I have a Ruger Redhawk (not the Super) with a 5.5" bbl. 6gr of Reddot behind a 240gr boolit and I can shoot it all day long.....My bear load of 18gr of AA#9 behind a 300gr Hornady bullet....ouch...After 20 shots and you'll be wondering how you'll ever get enough practice with it because your hand will be pretty sore.

I've started cutting back on my max loads...as an older gent...it just became too punishing for arthritic hands.

And I agree with dverna....it's all physics...but some handguns are weighted/balanced differently...so with the same load, felt recoil can be subjective with so many variables.

redhawk

[Rockingkj]

One recoil observation I have had is when a .458 win mag is offered for sale it usually includes 17-18 loaded rounds for the box of 20.

Never found the 44 mag to be that nasty to shoot.

[FergusonTO35]

A college buddy had a Ruger SBH 7.5" barrel. Recoil wasn't terrible but it was so top heavy that the muzzle jump was exaggerated. Still a very nice gun, I would love to have one with about a 5.5" tube and feed it .44 Specials.

[ACC]

I don't find it fun to shoot anything that hurts when I pull the trigger. It just ain't fun for me. I have fired a S&W 500 mag pistol and a .375 H&H magnum rifle. It just ain't fun.

ACC

[.429&H110]

I have a .44 SRH and I learned to shoot it from reading here.
Scary? I saw it on the internet so it must be true?
Of the thousands of things to launch, 250 gr midrange mule snot Keith boolits are accurate and the recoil is learnable.
But woe is me if I shoot "bear loads", they teach me to flinch.
If I flinch, I can't hit anything with anything, glad I am to figure that out.
We have bigger bores in the family, the kids seem to enjoy them, YMMV.

[murf205]

I don't find it fun to shoot anything that hurts when I pull the trigger. It just ain't fun for me. I have fired a S&W 500 mag pistol and a .375 H&H magnum rifle. It just ain't fun.

ACC

AND...the cast boolits loaded to a respectful 1000 fps will penetrate 100% of anything I can afford to shoot/hunt. Any faster and heavier loaded will only make a deeper hole in the dirt on the other side.

[Milky Duck]

take off your ear protection and the recoil will be much much worse...cause its all a relative thing. if your body thinks its going to get hurt,it will react accordingly..we in shooting world refer to this as the dreaded flinch.....I normally wont even type that word out for fear it will grab me AGAIN.... a light rifle,with poor recoil pad,hot loads and terribly heavy trigger started this dreaded journey some 35 years ago...light shotgun with hot loads and prone possibly contributed too...then said same shotgun was swapped to a mate who had foolishly burst his barrel and sawn it off to just legal length..that booted and was terribly loud...no matter the load used...very flinch inducing as body knew it was going to hurt ears....
the 45/70 is in a heavy gun..but there sure is difference between a trapdoor level load and anything heavier.
mate has ruger bolt action in 44magnum..... he doesnt like hot loads.....too loud as much as more recoil.... as said at beginning its all relative.

[Kosh75287]

Recoil is not a "story". The laws of physics apply. How recoil "feels" if impacted by various factors. Also, some people seem less affected than others.

MEASURED recoil is determined by the laws of physics. PERCEIVED recoil is more of a "story" in that human factors and perception matter. PERCEIVED recoil might be better measured in terms of how many seconds it takes to fire a certain number of rounds, at a particular velocity, within a 4" diameter circle, at a specified distance, with the firearm of interest.
"

[dtknowles]

Some guns do hurt on both ends. You can do things to reduce both actual and perceived recoil, but you can't beat physics. I have a Barrett 50BMG that is less painful to shoot than my lightweight Ruger 77 in 30-06. I can't imagine shooting that MDL 77 in a magnum cartridge at the same weight. The Barrett has a muzzle break and weighs a lot, sucks up a lot of the recoil. I have not shot a lot of 44 mag handguns but the ones I shot did not hurt. I shot a friends S&W 460 Mag. it did not hurt either but it did hurt him when his thumb got near the cylinder gap.