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mr.72 wrote:it's not milliseconds.

In a typical pistol it'd be like a couple of hundred microseconds between the time of ignition and the time the bullet exits the barrel.

The barrel and slide are locked and will move back, but so will the frame. Since the frame is allowed to move independently from the slide+barrel, then the frame will move less than the slide+barrel during this time period but the distance may be very small. Of course the shooter's hand will also move, as will their shoulder and upper body and the whole works will move some measurable, albeit small, amount. I think in a typical semi-auto the barrel+slide will move only a couple of mm before they are unlocked. There is spring tension between the frame and slide that causes the slide to be able to move more than the frame, and then the tension of your muscles and joints causing your shoulder to move less than the frame and just about the only thing that doesn't move some amount is your feet on the ground.

Liberty wrote:The problem is with all of these animations is that they show the slide starting to go back only after the bullet is well clear of the barrel.This isn't how it really works. The slide starts going back at the same time as the bullet starts seperating from the brass. The slide of course is going to accelerate much more slowly than the bullet. Both the slide and the the bullet achieve max velocity while there is pressure in the barrel. The secret in a good gun design is to not allow the barrel to tilt until the bullet has cleared the barrel. Some designs do this better than others