Gratuitous slo-mo recoil comparison: S&W 625 vs. Ruger Vaquero

When you have a camera that shoots 240 fps in your pocket, you do stuff like this:

Interesting notes: you can see that the SAA rolls more in my hand than the 625. The DA gun comes back on target faster and after the first shot, everything is faster with the DA revolver, because as it turns out, DA guns are faster to shoot than SA revolvers. Which isn’t really a surprise. On the “felt” recoil end of things, even though the Vaquero has more muzzle flip, the felt recoil was a lot more pleasant, specifically because it’s delivered in that rolling fashion. The 625, on the other hand, delivers its recoil straight back, which is better for speed shooting, but harder on the hands.

12 Comments

  1. When it comes to shooting Colt SAA type revolvers, an old man told me years ago, that part of the design was the intended muzzle flip, reason being that the original hammersprings were extremely stiff, and difficult to cock ( harder primers back in the day as well I’m told), thus then the recoil flips the gun up, this is when you start to recock it, and snapping your wrist, just like throwing a ball, when your sights are returned, your ready for more trigger time. Hence the term ‘lay a throw down’. Not sure how true it is….

    Back ‘in the day’ the other two major competitors to the Colt SAA were the S&W Schofield, and Merwin Hulberts, they’re heavier, and don’t have as much muzzle flip, but are more difficult to cock without breaking your grip, so makes we wonder about the Colt SAA design, which Ruger Vaquero’s imitate.

        1. Really ? Explain why it is not so on the double action,what you are saying is against the laws of physics .

          1. How is it against the law of physics? Colt SAA style grips are much smaller than the double action to begin with….to get all your fringes on the SAA grip to begin with, you’ll move your grip up so high you won’t be able to cock it easily, efficiently, or reliably. You’ll be breaking your grip, which will result in fiddling with a loaded gun. The point of wrapping your pinky is to prevent the recoil from rocking the grip back in your hand. When cocking a SAA type gun all the meat on your hand stays on the grip, only thing moving is your thumb. Even shooting with two hands, your grip hand wraps more under the butt.

  2. “because as it turns out, DA guns are faster to shoot than SA revolvers” Good thing Bob Munden isn’t alive as he’d track you down and slap the snide off your face.

    1. Fanning a gun is a neat trick, but it’s not a great way to put lead on steel. If you put Bob up against Jerry to see who could get hits on target quicker, I’d bet on Jerry.

      1. I’ve always disliked the Bob vs Jerry debates….sort pointless….both are very skilled at what they do/did, but what they do/did are two different styles which aren’t comparable to each other. Put Jerry in Bob’s realm, Bob would win….but Bob in Jerry’s realm, Jerry would win.

        1. I agree. I was just using it as an example to point out that speeddraw gun fanning isn’t really “shooting” in the sense that the word is used ’round here. Bob could absolutely shoot as well, especially long shots, but he was never really a great competitor in anything like IPSC or Bianchi Cup.

          Then there’s this dark side of Bob Munden.

          1. I heard about his cocky, arrogant, dark side but was never able to read about it. I do remember a number of years ago when I dabbled with fast draw, quite a few people were like ‘feh, Bob Munden’ or ‘pfft Bob Munden’, or just roll their eyes….

            Fast Draw has a few tricks, and Munden worked ’em pretty good like a magician should.

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