Stock design is huge in handling recoil...
So does shooting form at the bench as well as the mental picture the shooter has about recoil.
Some shooters seem to have preconceived ideas about recoil that hinder their ability to handle it. On two separate occasions I have taken young teens to the range with me that have never fired a CF rifle before and by the end of the trip, these two young men were effectively shooting my 375H&H and getting good groups. Neither of these fellows came from a "shooting" family, so had no mental baggage before the trip. They did great and based on that positive experience would be able to handle pretty much any reasonable rifle after that.
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