Most unpleasant firearm you ever shot?

[AK0perator47]

The .40 can be loaded to almost 10mm velocities, it is after all just a shortened 10mm case.

But in the shorter case, to get those velocities you wind up with pressures higher than 10mm, so you have to be careful and you wind up with more battering and wear.

Personally I am just fine with standard .40 loads - the 180 gr. loads @ 1K fps are very close to the .45 ACP 185 gr loads at the same velocities, with less recoil.

I ran them in my Sig 229... in my Glock I have the Federal HST and I think they are 180gr

 

[wired]

The .40 can be loaded to almost 10mm velocities, it is after all just a shortened 10mm case.

But in the shorter case, to get those velocities you wind up with pressures higher than 10mm, so you have to be careful and you wind up with more battering and wear.

Personally I am just fine with standard .40 loads - the 180 gr. loads @ 1K fps are very close to the .45 ACP 185 gr loads at the same velocities, with less recoil.

You cant afford to shoot enough underwood 40 S&W through any gun to damage it. I practice with the cheap stuff and switch to mags full of the magnum level stuff to carry.

 

[Lennie]

Someday, I would like to shoot a .577 Howdah pistol. Stories of it's recoil intrigue me. A 500 grain bullet driven by 85 grains of blackpowder had to deliver some serious wallop.

 

[Newberg]

Personally the most painful handgun I've ever shot was a toss up between:

The 629PC 44mag

Model 629 | Smith & Wesson

www.smith-wesson.com

And the 360PD .357mag

Model 360PD | Smith & Wesson

www.smith-wesson.com

The 360PD leaves my hands shaking after a few cylinders but the 629PC with the right ammo and I can only handle a few shots before I'm bleeding.

I own both and like both, but wooof.

 

[Kylechino]

This guy at the range had a .38 special (I think?) derringer. Trigger pull had to have been ~20 pounds and me, the owner or his friend had a hard time hitting a target at 5 yards. Grip so small you couldn't reach it with your pinkie, snappy as all hell.

Second worst would probably be a 590 shockwave with a pistol brace. Just straight up obnoxious to shoot.

 

[The Heretic]

You cant afford to shoot enough underwood 40 S&W through any gun to damage it. I practice with the cheap stuff and switch to mags full of the magnum level stuff to carry.

1) I have 7+K of .40 S&W ammo, most of it self-defense ammo, but also FMJ practice ammo. If I wanted to I most certainly could afford to buy enough high pressure .40 ammo to wear out the aluminum frame of my SIGs. I have seen SIG aluminum frame guns that are worn out - probably from shooting just standard ammo. If I were to want to shoot a steady diet of high pressure ammo I would get one of the steel frame SIGs instead.

2) I was talking about loading (handloading) the case to 10mm velocities - i.e., another 200 fps or so. To do would take the pressure above that found when shooting 10mm. While it can be done, I don't recommend a steady diet of it, nor do I see the need for it - good 180gr projectiles at 1K fps are adequate for self-defense against humans.

3) I practice with the FMJ ammo that is the same projectile weight and velocity as the self-defense ammo I shoot. There are multiple good reasons to practice with ammo that shoots the same as the self-defense ammo you intend to carry.

YMMV.

 

[JumpMarine]

1st Gen Ruger LC9. Shot like a shotgun with all of my loads even at 7y.

 

[Farmer72]

First 2 I can think of off the top of my head are:

Taurus Tracker 44 mag (shot 5 rds and my hand went numb)

AMT Back-up 45 ACP with 230 gr. HST defense ammo

 

[Lennie]

Ive got the P226 in 40 and the Glock 23. Yeah I think thats funny. That underwood 135 grain 40 S&W in +P at 588 lb/ft is very well into 10mm range. Same ballistics as the CorBon 135 grain 10mm load. Puts a hurtin.

Underwood ammo produces great velocities and is developing a following.

For carry, I opt for ammunition labeled for LE use. I don't want to have defend use of specialty ammo that possibly exceeds SAMMI specs, if I am ever in court due to a defensive shooting. If that should occur, the argument is simply, I selected what is used by LE because that is what they use.

A prosecutor will make every attempt to make you out as a bad guy. I feel it's best not to have an ammo issue for him to ounce on.

 

[wired]

Underwood ammo produces great velocities and is developing a following.

For carry, I opt for ammunition labeled for LE use. I don't want to have defend use of specialty ammo that possibly exceeds SAMMI specs, if I am ever in court due to a defensive shooting. If that should occur, the argument is simply, I selected what is used by LE because that is what they use.

A prosecutor will make every attempt to make you out as a bad guy. I feel it's best not to have an ammo issue for him to ounce on.

That certainly is a theory.

 

[Flopsweat]

Underwood ammo produces great velocities and is developing a following.

For carry, I opt for ammunition labeled for LE use. I don't want to have defend use of specialty ammo that possibly exceeds SAMMI specs, if I am ever in court due to a defensive shooting. If that should occur, the argument is simply, I selected what is used by LE because that is what they use.

A prosecutor will make every attempt to make you out as a bad guy. I feel it's best not to have an ammo issue for him to ounce on.

That certainly is a theory.

I've read several articles on the subject, some by lawyers and one by, I want to say Mas Ayoub but it may have been some other self defense expert. I'm not convinced that this courtroom scenario is likely. This is not to say that it's not good advice. I do think it's a good idea to carry a well-respected brand name or a brand that you know to be reliable and performant. A lot of modern police issue ammunition is just that.

 

[DeanMk]

AMT Back-up 45 ACP with 230 gr. HST defense ammo

Not that I've ever shot one, but along those lines, the good ol' Semmerling .45 acp belly gun has to rank right up there with the AMT Backup as an unpleasant gun to shoot.

 

[brucekr]

First gun that was ever mine....when I was 12, my dad bought me a 12 gauge H&R break action single barrel shotgun. Between the recoil and seemingly 40 lb trigger....let's just say I've been trying to get rid of a noticeable flinch and tendency to jerk triggers for almost 40 years now.

 

[10mm]

.357 and .45 Derringers sting, .44 or .357 scandium snubbies sting, .458 M 70 Unscoped hurts, 3.5" 12ga out of a pump hurts, 12ga 2 3/4" max dram in a SxS doubling hurts, 30-378 is not fun either. A light .300 Win or Wby mag can be painful at the bench. Sporterized Carcano 7.35, .405 with the crescent buttplate, same story, different verse but .50 BMG shakes your nasal passages, brains, eyeballs, etc.
I will say I can shoot a cheap .38 derringer well enough to hit a gallon paint can at 12 yds every time from the bottom barrel and about half the time with the top barrel.
Always set your O/U Derringers to fire the Bottom barrel First boys and girls. Press straight back on the trigger, yes it is a 24 lb pull. The Little Fkrs will carry both shots way higher that most people imagine.
When charged by a rhino or possibly even a R.I.N.O and forced to fire a gun that packs a punch on both ends -you will not feel the recoil due to intense concentration on the threat.
My Grandpa shot a Brown Bear in AK with a borrowed 8 ga, but the only guns my Mom's friend was able to save out of his collection was his 1903 Winchester .22 auto- said it was his favorite to shoot, and the Model 54 Win -30Gov't06- that is my favorite gun. I have no problems with its two stage military trigger.
I shoot Glocks and Ak's well. The first revolver I ever fired, at age 12 was a Ruger Old Model Super Blackhawk .44 mag with hot handloads. Some guns do kick like a mule, but heavy muzzle blast or the loudness and pressure blowback of a brake bother me just as much.
I don't shoot Cor-Bon ammo very well.

 

[1371JarHead]

My late Uncle Nicks 340 Weatherby...he would take me out elk hunting with him, in eastern WA., He let me fire it on a hunt when i was about 12, my shoulder still hurts today lololol.

 

[Makers Mark]

Already been mentioned in a couple of posts but my 340PD Scandium revolver with full-house .357 is a handful with decent rubber grips, and downright painful with hard plastic or wood grips. Decent rubber grips and .38 +P is do-able.

 

[AboutTime]

Winchester 1910 .401 Self Loader.

A five shot magazine would go automatic. And I was literally knocked down to my with butt on ground.
The five shots went off so fast there was only one perceived big bang. Good thing I didn't load the 10 shot mag. Dad shot it too. Also ended on his butt with the gun pointed straight up. We quit right then. It was kind of fun though.

Gunsmith Fransen said it was not fixable. So I sold it as parts gun.

Don't suppose you kept the mags- I've been looking for 1910 .401 mags for ages. It was my Grandpa's gun and it kicks like a mule.... but it was a LOT of fun before my Mom took the ammo and the mags for it to a police disposal event while I was at college. Those mags are hard to find!

 

[GWS]

Freedom Arms .454 Casull.
The recoil on that revolver was way too much for my tastes.
Hard pass.

 

[sobo]

...but it was a LOT of fun before my Mom took the ammo and the mags for it to a police disposal event while I was at college.

Whaaaa...!!!???

 

[Frank RW]

Although not a firearm, it's still a "gun". Bought a highly-recommended Beeman R9 recently.

I gotta say, I don't know what all the hype was about. Sold that "finely tuned flyingdragon masterpiece" within a couple months.

That was about $500 bucks that I could've spent on a REAL gun. :/


Fine rifle, really is, but just was so wrong for ME in so many ways.

A very fine fella relieved me of it in trade for something I've already used more. I think we both walked away happy.