OT: Seriously????

[kalos72]

Supposedly the Gen 4 Glocks have very little recoil, I wonder how 45 feels through one now?

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by kalos72

Supposedly the Gen 4 Glocks have very little recoil, I wonder how 45 feels through one now?

They have the same recoil as the previous generations had. The advantage is that you can configure the backstraps to better fit your hand. This reduces muzzle climb and directs the recoil straight back into your hand (for better recoil control). This allows for faster follow up shots. Considering how light most polymer framed guns are; This is a very important upgrade.

Pro tip: You should never "resist" recoil (try to hold down the muzzle during recoil) or "lock" your wrist against recoil. You should hold your weapon as firmly as you would hold a hammer when driving nails. Firm enough to prevent "side to side squirm" but not with a "death grip." You should allow a pistol to "ride up" through it's recoil and concentrate on returning your wrists/hands to their "prefiring position." By not resisting the recoil and focusing on the return of your hands (and the weapon) to your initial "point of aim," you will suffer less "discomfort" in your hands and recover from shot to shot faster.

[kalos72]

Never owning a Glock myself...but I am told that the double springs in the new Glocks make for a reduced felt recoil. Not sure...

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by kalos72

Never owning a Glock myself...but I am told that the double springs in the new Glocks make for a reduced felt recoil. Not sure...

I does have a small effect on both felt recoil AND also reliability; As Glock can tell you from their recall of the gen 4 models (mostly 9mm's). They put .40 S&W springs in the gen 4 G19 and the guns wouldn't run. There was just too much spring strength for the 9mm. Everyone who had a recalled gun did say it was the "lightest" recoiling pistol they had ever shot. Too bad they wouldn't function properly.

[Webstral]

All very interesting. I have no experience with the .40 caliber or the .357 SIG. I have some experience with the M1911, and I find it very manageable. I had a girlfriend who went shooting with me and found the M1911 very manageable once I showed her how to hold it properly. She was a little lady, too. She struggled with .357 Magnum, even though my large frame revolver has a fair amount of inertia. Her feedback was that she felt she could fire an M1911 all day, whereas after 7 rounds of .357 Magnum from a revolver she was done.

In any event, I would not care to try to provide the security of a free state with any handgun as my primary weapon.

[Raellus]

The last decade saw a huge swing away from 9mmP to .40 cal S&W as the prefered "self-defense" caliber here in the U.S.A. There are "scientific" and opinion pieces ad-nauseum online supporting the latter as the better self-defense round. There are probably an equal number championing the 9mmP round. During this time, law enforcement, both federal and state migrated en masse to .40 cal S&W. It appears, however, that a swing back to 9mmP is underway. There are a couple of reasons why but one of them is apparently the stress that the 40mmS&W cartridge places on the working parts of most modern handguns. Slide cracks and other damage occurs in .40 cal S&W handguns much sooner than it does in those firing 9mmP. The U.S. Army has been looking, on and off, at potential replacements for the M9 pistol during this last decade, specifically at larger calibers, but the greater wear and tear exerted by .40 and .45 caliber rounds has, so far, held it back. We shall see.

I've only ever fired 9mm handguns so I can't personally comment as to felt recoil and controlability vis-a-vis other pistol calibers.

[Webstral]

I have an open-ended question for this crew. What would distinguish a shotgun design intended for self-defense or hunting from military applications? I understand that some shotguns can serve in all three roles. More so than with other firearms, a shotgun’s roles are like a Venn diagram. However certain characteristics, like automatic fire, probably distinguish shotguns optimized for combat from shotguns for self-defense or hunting. I’m curious what this crew thinks.

[swaghauler]

I have produced an Energy Dump chart for Twilight2000 that uses the caliber's Energy Ratings (determined by bullet weight in grains multiplied by Velocity, then by velocity again, then by the constant 0.000002218) to determine the number of Damage Dice per Range Band in game. I have yet to type it up (It's my trucking co's busy season since we haul pipe). I'll try to post it for your use. All you have to do is look up a round's Energy (both the Shooters Bible and Gun Digest have printed charts in their books for my fellow "Old Schoolers"). You can find these at all of the ammo manufacturers' websites. You then compare the round in question's Energy at a given Range Band to the chart. This tells you the number of damage dice that round does in a given range band. I have ONE set of Energies for pistol and SMG rounds and a second for rifles. Be prepared to be surprised by the chart AND the Energies listed for various rounds. Preparing the chart was an "eye-opener" for me.