Recoil - .45 vs 9mm?

Link · January 13, 2007, 01:05 AM

How does the recoil compare on Springfield XD's in .45 ACP vs 9mm?

Will the .45 have significantly more recoil, about the same, etc?

Thanks in advance.

rantingredneck · January 13, 2007, 01:21 AM

Never shot the XD pistols but all things being equal the .45 and 9 aren't worlds apart in recoil. They're different, but it's hard to say that the .45 is "worse" than the 9mm. The 9 has a snappy fast recoil that doesn't have a lot of recoil energy, while the .45 has a slower but stronger recoil. More of a pushing than the snappy pop of a 9.

Socrates · January 13, 2007, 02:42 AM

Recoil is NOT caliber dependent, but, load dependent.. The advantage of the 45 is you can load it down in bullet weight to 9mm, and get the same, or better velocity, with a bigger bullet. The 45 can push the same weight bullet, using the considerably larger case, at much lower pressure. Also, you can put weaker springs in, and load 45 WAY down.
45 works at under 19k, and, 9mm at about double that. At a certain point, with handgun cartridges, you pay a large increase in recoil, for little increase in velocity, when you increase pressure.

S

pgg · January 13, 2007, 09:36 AM

I've never shot the XD but I've noticed with my Glocks that the .45 has a recoil that just pushes back towards you while the 9mm has alot more muzzle flip (the .40 is even worse). I can't really say that I've found any of them to be uncomforable though.

Boriqua · January 13, 2007, 10:03 AM

I have the XD in .45 service and .40 and 9mm in sub. The .45's recoil is very managable but i can get quicker follow ups with the 9mm. The 9 feels more like a pop gun after a few rounds of .45. Now that little .40 is a snappy bitch and took a little extra pracice but now she is my best freind. The .45 was much easier to shot right off the starting line than that .40.
YMMV
Alex

jaysouth · January 13, 2007, 10:26 AM

When I concentrate on the basics, good grip, good sight alignment, etc, etc, I do not notice the recoil on either except for disturbance of the sight picture.

NCHornet · January 13, 2007, 11:02 AM

I have not shot the XD's in each caliber but I can tell you that each is fairly mild. The .45 is more of a push and the 9mm is more snappy. As already says a ;lot depends on the load and also the gun. A 45 out of a full size gun will feel like less recoil than a 9mm from a pocket gun.

**Shane Tuttle** · January 13, 2007, 12:02 PM

Staying specific to the guns and caliber you stated, the .45 has more recoil. More felt recoil is a little more subjective. The 9mm in my hands were very minor. The .45, like in some other guns, had a predominant push. However, the frontal surface area of the .45 was larger than the frame of the 9mm., providing more area of controlling the gun. Therefore more management of the recoil. My .40 feels like it has more recoil because of the snappiness of that round.
Now, are you leading to another question? Like what feels the best to manage? Which one can you recover on sight better? Then you get into really good discussions.
I personally like all those rounds for different reasons. Putting aside the other attributes (mag cap., etc.) I really like the .45 the best. It isn't intimidating to fire. Very easy to manage. But, that doesn't mean to say it's necessarily better than the 9mm. The 9mm obviously, IMO, is a great round in it's own right.

elwaine · January 13, 2007, 03:07 PM

I have XDs in both .45 cal. and 9 mm. I agree with all posters, above, but I'm not sure we can really answer your question in a way that is likely to be meaningful to you. Put is this way, my wife is a small lady and can shoot them both without difficulty. In the XD, there is not a lot of difference in felt recoil between the .45 and the 9 mm when using WWB practice ammo in each gun. Load them up with really hot loads, and the difference increases... but they are both easy to shoot.

On the other hand, I've recently switched from carrying a .45 to carrying a 9 mm because, as I age, I find it easier to control the 9 mm. But you are probably younger that I am. Everyone is probably younger than I am! (128 next birthday.)

AndrewD · January 13, 2007, 03:45 PM

I've not shot many .45's, but I can echo what was said above about the
.40's recoil, in that compared to a 9, or a .357 SIG, the .40 is really jumpy. I've heard from a few qualified professionals that the recoil of a .45 is usually a lot easier to manage than people think.

**Shane Tuttle** · January 13, 2007, 04:02 PM

Elwaine,
you have a good point about the hotter loads. My wife handles the .40 and 9mm. easily. But, to my surprise, she handles the .40 better. Her reasoning is the recoil makes her focus on regaining sight picture. It's a weird thing to say because when I first started shooting, I wanted less recoil so that I didn't have that to factor in or anticipate it while concentrating on other variables.

Hope this information helps you out, Link.

**Shane Tuttle** · January 13, 2007, 04:03 PM

Of course, this isn't her first rodeo either!

burnera · January 14, 2007, 02:39 AM

in my experience muzzle jump is much more present shooting .45's than 9mm.

the kick felt in the saddle of your hand is pretty much the same, the 9mm feeling 'sharper' where the .45 'pushes' more.

this would be experience from Kimber, Colt, and XD in .45
and Beretta, Glock, and CZ in 9mm.

Incursion · January 15, 2007, 04:31 PM

With full power loads for both, .45 definitely has more muzzle flip for me.

January 13, 2007, 01:05 AM	#1
Link Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2006 Location: Tyler, TX Posts: 181	Recoil - .45 vs 9mm? How does the recoil compare on Springfield XD's in .45 ACP vs 9mm? Will the .45 have significantly more recoil, about the same, etc? Thanks in advance.

January 13, 2007, 01:21 AM	#2
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	Never shot the XD pistols but all things being equal the .45 and 9 aren't worlds apart in recoil. They're different, but it's hard to say that the .45 is "worse" than the 9mm. The 9 has a snappy fast recoil that doesn't have a lot of recoil energy, while the .45 has a slower but stronger recoil. More of a pushing than the snappy pop of a 9.

January 13, 2007, 02:42 AM	#3
Socrates Junior member Join Date: January 5, 2005 Location: East Bay NorCal, People's Republik of Kalifornia Posts: 5,866	Recoil is NOT caliber dependent, but, load dependent.. The advantage of the 45 is you can load it down in bullet weight to 9mm, and get the same, or better velocity, with a bigger bullet. The 45 can push the same weight bullet, using the considerably larger case, at much lower pressure. Also, you can put weaker springs in, and load 45 WAY down. 45 works at under 19k, and, 9mm at about double that. At a certain point, with handgun cartridges, you pay a large increase in recoil, for little increase in velocity, when you increase pressure. S

January 13, 2007, 09:36 AM	#4
pgg Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2007 Posts: 138	I've never shot the XD but I've noticed with my Glocks that the .45 has a recoil that just pushes back towards you while the 9mm has alot more muzzle flip (the .40 is even worse). I can't really say that I've found any of them to be uncomforable though.

January 13, 2007, 10:03 AM	#5
Boriqua Member Join Date: October 17, 2006 Location: Arizona Posts: 27	I have the XD in .45 service and .40 and 9mm in sub. The .45's recoil is very managable but i can get quicker follow ups with the 9mm. The 9 feels more like a pop gun after a few rounds of .45. Now that little .40 is a snappy bitch and took a little extra pracice but now she is my best freind. The .45 was much easier to shot right off the starting line than that .40. YMMV Alex

January 13, 2007, 10:26 AM	#6
jaysouth Senior Member Join Date: February 27, 2001 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 788	When I concentrate on the basics, good grip, good sight alignment, etc, etc, I do not notice the recoil on either except for disturbance of the sight picture.

January 13, 2007, 11:02 AM	#7
NCHornet Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2006 Posts: 1,001	I have not shot the XD's in each caliber but I can tell you that each is fairly mild. The .45 is more of a push and the 9mm is more snappy. As already says a ;lot depends on the load and also the gun. A 45 out of a full size gun will feel like less recoil than a 9mm from a pocket gun.

January 13, 2007, 12:02 PM	#8
Shane Tuttle Staff Join Date: November 28, 2005 Location: Montana Posts: 9,455	Staying specific to the guns and caliber you stated, the .45 has more recoil. More felt recoil is a little more subjective. The 9mm in my hands were very minor. The .45, like in some other guns, had a predominant push. However, the frontal surface area of the .45 was larger than the frame of the 9mm., providing more area of controlling the gun. Therefore more management of the recoil. My .40 feels like it has more recoil because of the snappiness of that round. Now, are you leading to another question? Like what feels the best to manage? Which one can you recover on sight better? Then you get into really good discussions. I personally like all those rounds for different reasons. Putting aside the other attributes (mag cap., etc.) I really like the .45 the best. It isn't intimidating to fire. Very easy to manage. But, that doesn't mean to say it's necessarily better than the 9mm. The 9mm obviously, IMO, is a great round in it's own right.

January 13, 2007, 03:07 PM	#9
elwaine Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 2006 Posts: 235	I have XDs in both .45 cal. and 9 mm. I agree with all posters, above, but I'm not sure we can really answer your question in a way that is likely to be meaningful to you. Put is this way, my wife is a small lady and can shoot them both without difficulty. In the XD, there is not a lot of difference in felt recoil between the .45 and the 9 mm when using WWB practice ammo in each gun. Load them up with really hot loads, and the difference increases... but they are both easy to shoot. On the other hand, I've recently switched from carrying a .45 to carrying a 9 mm because, as I age, I find it easier to control the 9 mm. But you are probably younger that I am. Everyone is probably younger than I am! (128 next birthday.)

January 13, 2007, 03:45 PM	#10
AndrewD Senior Member Join Date: March 29, 2006 Location: Occidental CA Posts: 105	I've not shot many .45's, but I can echo what was said above about the .40's recoil, in that compared to a 9, or a .357 SIG, the .40 is really jumpy. I've heard from a few qualified professionals that the recoil of a .45 is usually a lot easier to manage than people think.

January 13, 2007, 04:02 PM	#11
Shane Tuttle Staff Join Date: November 28, 2005 Location: Montana Posts: 9,455	Elwaine, you have a good point about the hotter loads. My wife handles the .40 and 9mm. easily. But, to my surprise, she handles the .40 better. Her reasoning is the recoil makes her focus on regaining sight picture. It's a weird thing to say because when I first started shooting, I wanted less recoil so that I didn't have that to factor in or anticipate it while concentrating on other variables. Hope this information helps you out, Link.

January 13, 2007, 04:03 PM	#12
Shane Tuttle Staff Join Date: November 28, 2005 Location: Montana Posts: 9,455	Of course, this isn't her first rodeo either!

January 14, 2007, 02:39 AM	#13
burnera Member Join Date: July 30, 2006 Posts: 67	in my experience muzzle jump is much more present shooting .45's than 9mm. the kick felt in the saddle of your hand is pretty much the same, the 9mm feeling 'sharper' where the .45 'pushes' more. this would be experience from Kimber, Colt, and XD in .45 and Beretta, Glock, and CZ in 9mm.

January 15, 2007, 04:31 PM	#14
Incursion Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2000 Location: TX Posts: 803	With full power loads for both, .45 definitely has more muzzle flip for me.