Low recoil centerfire

First topic message reminder :

After 18 months rehab on my elbow I can shoot the 22. I tried the 45 (with the lightest load I have - suitable for indoor only) and after 5 shots it was "nope".

I guess with time I will get to the stage of being able to cope with the 45 but I'm of an age now where healing is a much more drawn out process than it was 4+ decades ago. Even then I'd much rather only shoot 90 rounds with it and not 180. Therefore the search is on for a (much) lower recoiling CF. I'd rather stay on the 1911 platform as I use that for the 22. I realise that I could spend $4K on a Pardini and conversion - but the ensuing divorce proceedings would make that a poor choice :-)

So - any suggestions on a sensible way to approach this. There's nothing I can see that springs out and says "me". My ideal would be a 32 ACP conversion. I spoke to Larry Nelson about that a couple of years ago but he said that although it's possible there wasn't a business case for doing one. How about a 380? Is that doable at 50 yds? Using my Beretta service pistol as a benchmark I don't think 9mm is the way to go. 38 special I suppose but model 52s are like hen's teeth nowadays - is anyone doing a modern version?

Numrich's have a lot of parts available for the 52, look on their site to grab the parts diagram with online order link.
Dave Salyer can fix them.
BME sell really neat and well made mounts for optics.
I have a 52-2 and optic mounts currently for sale.

straybrit wrote:Yeah - I've looked longingly at the 52 - the issue I have is maintenance. The youngest one has to be, what, 25 years old? AFAIK there's no supply chain for after-market spares (though I'd love to be proved wrong) so what do you do when something breaks?

  Numrich has spare parts, Wolf has springs, Clark is making barrels now and I was able to pick up a third magazine.   So I am not really concerned about spare parts (hopefully time wont prove me wrong).   Last year I mounted an Aimpoint H2 to the rear sight dove tail and that seems to make it shoot even softer.   If I had to make the same decision over again I would buy another one PROVIDED, I could shoot it first and/or buy it from a trusted source.  I am am concerned about the buying used guns.  There are good used guns out there but people tend to unload their lemons.

DJW1CAV

After acquiring an S&W 52-1 last year (from a member of this forum) I believe that I now have virtually every part that might break or need replacing.  I've finally worked up a .38 mid-range hand load that works reliably in the pistol and performs very well.  It is certainly a pleasure to shoot and capable of accuracy that I would love to equal.  I have obtained the parts I need from both Wolff and Numrich.

I have been experimenting with shortened 38spl cases in the SW52 in order to shoot bullets other than WC's.  Nothing to report yet, but I have been looking for reduced loads in shorter cases.  I was struck by the lack of load data for 9mm using heavy bullets (e.g. 158 SWC).  A place to start might be to look at a case like the 38 Smith and Wesson.  Length/diameter are very close to the 9x19mm, and therefore volume is similar, and there are pressure data published for heavy bullets in light loads.  I am not recommending any loads here, and you need to do your own study, but it might be worth a look as a place to start.

I ran into that loading powder puff cast bullets in the 9mm for a SW 929. 38 SW data from an older Lyman manual was a starting point.

So, I've read quite a bit on reloading now because this topic interested me. And it got me thinking. Why isn't there an open-source database for reloaders? All I found was one (Loaddata) that required you to subscribe to get the load data.
Surely with the data available for free from each powder manufacturer, plus data from reloaders, a community and crowdsource database could be developed.

loaddata is well worth the few $$ IMHO.

especially if you load for older cartridges or wildcats. Tons of data from older Handloader articles

I had an elbow injury that took the better part of a year to recover from. When I resumed pistol shooting, I worked up a soft 9mm load for my Beretta. 147 gr XTP and 2.5 gr of N310 is under 800 fps, very soft shooting. I needed a lighter recoil spring - think I have a 12 pound spring in it now (14 was the factory spring). Ransom Rest group of under 2" at 50 yards. That's maybe not good enough for high masters but it's good enough for me, for now.

I tried a bunch of heavy lead and powder coated bullets but had problems with them tumbling at low velocities. Don't know why the XTP works and they don't.

Be advised N310 is an unforgiving powder in 9mm. Once you get past about 3 gr Quickload predicts the pressure will rise rapidly into unsafe territory. To an extent this is of course true of all dense fast pistol powders. Use a check or cop die. VV publishes some 9mm data for N310 so I'm not way off in the wilderness here.

Hmm - interesting. I hadn't even tried the Beretta given that my softest 45 load hurt. Though I ordered some 160s from Brazos to see what happens with them.

I've got some N310 stashed away somewhere so I'll order some XTPs and give that a go. Thanks.