What Mean "Reduced Recoil" Ammo?

[Don Ro]

Less powder?...or what?
Thanks for your wisdom.

[flipper35]

Different powder and less weight.

For a 30-30 the powder burns at a different rate and goes from 150gr to 125gr.

[Don Ro]

Hmm.........thought so, thanks.
Just read that it's for kiddies & women with recoil "sensitivities"..
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Sorry to bug the forum...ought to look before crossing.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I have some reduced recoil .500 S&W. Strangely, I still can't get my wife to shoot it!

[Z-man]

I've heard of "P+" (P plus) ammo -- I guess reduced recoil is "P -" (P minus).

Less powder can possibly lead to stovepipes and other FTF (Failure to fire) conditions, if the powder doesn't have sufficient energy to move the slide back fast enough.

If someone is recoil sensitive, then maybe they need to use a different ammo like a .38 caliber bullet.

-Z-man.

[flipper35]

I wouldn't know except my daughter used it her first year of hunting deer. She wasn't afraid of the recoil as much as she was apprehensive. Since she could only see about 75 yards it was plenty effective for that range. She has since moved on to the regular ammo. I think part of it was mental. She didn't worry since it was "managed recoil". This was her first center fire rifle and the day she practiced she also shot a friends .243 after having gone through a box of her own.

[flipper35]

Z, it is mostly center fire rifles or larger handgun calibers. They are still plenty fast. It isn't reduced powder, just different to go with the lighter bullet to reduce "perceived recoil".

[scottmandue]

I have a full size 9mm auto that eats any kind of ammo large or small and is a pleasure to shoot.
I later picked up a cheap small 9mm pocket pistol... put some of the +P ammo the large frame 9 had no problem with and was all OUCH!!!!
I suppose I should get down to my spoon store and ask what they have in super light 9 loads?

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Z-man

I've heard of "P+" (P plus) ammo -- I guess reduced recoil is "P -" (P minus).

Less powder can possibly lead to stovepipes and other FTF (Failure to fire) conditions, if the powder doesn't have sufficient energy to move the slide back fast enough.

If someone is recoil sensitive, then maybe they need to use a different ammo like a .38 caliber bullet.

-Z-man.

.380 is not fun to shoot in a 13oz firearm.

[id10t]

All depends. The Kemen low recoil 20 gauge target loads I've shot do it by slowing down the powder burn rate and changing the pressure curve. Still launches the same shot weight at about the same velocity.

The commercial rifle loads from (IIRC) Hornady do it with a lighter bullet *and* by altering the powder burn rate to change the pressure curve. They do the same with the "light magnum" loads, having higher pressures throughout the bullets trip down the barrel, which is what can bend op-rods on the Garand, M14 types, etc. An adjustable gas system (ie, the FAL or a Garand with the aftermarket adjustable gas valve) can make that a non-issue, but I can't see an EBR eating a steady diet of this type of ammo anyway.

And of course, you then get into the reloads - a whole new world. Only real trick here is using a powder that has the correct volume at the weight needed to generate the amount of oomph needed. Not enough powder volume and your primer can ignite a whole bunch more than it should at one time (think of the powder laying along the bottom of the case with the "side" being hit by the primer flame vs. the base if it had a case full). This is why powders like Trailboss exist - they don't generate as much gas when burnt, so large amounts of it (volume and weight wise) still generate low pressures and low velocities.

Remember, NRG=mass*velocity*velocity - no getting around that. How quickly you arrive at that velocity controls how the recoil feels.

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by id10t

All depends. The Kemen low recoil 20 gauge target loads I've shot do it by slowing down the powder burn rate and changing the pressure curve. Still launches the same shot weight at about the same velocity.
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Thanks. I can see how that would work in a long barrel.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

I have a full size 9mm auto that eats any kind of ammo large or small and is a pleasure to shoot.
I later picked up a cheap small 9mm pocket pistol... put some of the +P ammo the large frame 9 had no problem with and was all OUCH!!!!
I suppose I should get down to my spoon store and ask what they have in super light 9 loads?

Do you want to carry with those lighter loads? Because you should practice with what you carry. In an already smallish round, I would be very concerned about reducing the grain size and powder charge, both of which reduce your kinetic energy and stopping power.