considering purchasing one of these since theyre legal for primitive season here in MS ... a buddy of mine says its the worst kicking gun he's ever shot and i should get a 45-70 instead...but an old man i know said all he shoots is a 35 whelen and he loves it and says it has very little recoil...was just wondering...the one im looking at is a CVA Elite Stalker

They're really not that bad. Just make sure the stock is tight to the shoulder and watch your posture. It's not fun to practically prone out behind the gun when shooting from the bench - with the axis of your upper body right behind and in-line with the stock. Get your upper body a bit for vertical to let the gun push you. Shooting them standing is thus most comfortable, IMHO.

i have a .35 whelen and a .45-70 and the .45-70 by far packs more of a punch in your shoulder especially in a single shot the .35 is a great round though i love it especially in the brush but the .45-70 is a beast of a round too ive killed 3 deer this year with it and none of them took another step after the round hit them but the .35 has a little more range than the .45-70

Thanksim def considering buying one so i can hunt during primitive season

I'm down here also and have used 45/70s and several others "primative" calibers. Got me a .35Whelen and liked it so much that I got a Ruger #1 Whelen that I use all the time.
It does kick a bit but is worth it to me...

Having shot both the 45-70 (Lever action and Single shot) and 35 Whelan in a bolt I can say the 45-70 is more punishing on the shoulder.

My brother's teenage daughter used his Encore last season to take a nice buck. He uses handloads I make up for him with Hornady 200gr. SP bullets at 2700 fps. She didn't have a problem with it.

My first hunting rifle as a teenager was a 30-06 and I thought it kicked pretty hard back then. Over the years I've used a variety of other cartridges including the 35 Whelen and 45-70, as well as a variety of magnums. I've recently started shooting '06s and Whelens again and they don't seem to kick near as hard as I remember from years ago. I think a person gets used to recoil over time and builds a tolerance to it within reason. I also am finding as I get older I don't enjoy shooting the hard kickers as much, but the 35 Whelen is very manageable for me. Regarding the 45-70, blackpowder level loads are milder than the 35 Whelen, but loaded up can recoil considerably more than the Whelen.

My 225 grain loads at 2600fps recoil a lot like a hot loaded 180 grain '06.

Way less recoil than a .308 Norma Mag or .338 Win Mag in similar weight rifles.

to the OP, there are a lot of ppl in MS going through this dilemma each yr. To answer your question, the Whelen will develop less recoil than full-bore .45-70 loads out of those H&R Handis. Even though it's less, it is nevertheless substantial. I have seen at the range and spoken to a number of ppl using .45-70, .444 marlin, .35 Whelen ... practically everybody has one now. from what I can tell, very few of them shoot these guns particularly well.

I have seen some ppl add a brake to the .35 whelen. that's an idea. Another idea is to get a heavy-barrel gun that will have some additional weight to slow down the recoil.

whatever you decide to do, practice makes perfect. Shoot the thing until you're comfortable with it and printing nice groups. don't be one of those ppl that's blaming the "primitive weapon" for their misses when their trigger jerk covers a 5 yrd swath with the scope reticle.

Stock design has a major impact on felt recoil. Ask any shotgun competitor.

yes stock has a lot to do with it, i took my 700 35 whelen out of its cdl stock n put it in a b&c stock with a good pad and it seems to kick 1/2 as much.

I've have a 350 rem,in a 700, and a 35 Whelen in a Ruger. The Whelen kicks about 3/4 as much at the 350. The only think I a figure it the stocks.

im looking at the TC Encore...i think it has that flex stock ? wonder if thatll help with the recoil..seems like a fairly light gun...i know the H and R seems a bit heavier than the TC's

someone i know said they put a muzzle break on their cva scout...not sure id wanna do that from what ive heard the muzzle breaks make the gun much louder

In my experience the Flex Stock on my Encore soaks up recoil VERY well. I have a 30-06 Pro-Hunter barrel for it that I had cut from 28" to 22". Makes the rifle 36.5" total overall length. Felt recoil with 180 grain bullets is less than my Savage 99 in 300 Savage.

That said I also picked up a Pro-Hunter stainless .375 H&H barrel from TC for $150.00 after rebate! Couldn't pass that deal up! After shooting my brothers .338 Win Mag Rem 700 (which hurt!) I was a bit apprehensive to touch it off the first time.

Well, It was a big push but no pain to shoot at all and I fired off 30 more rounds with no problem. The Pro-Hunter stock with the factory Limbsaver recoil pad and "energy burners" works real well in my opinion.

If a .375 H&H is a pleasure to shoot with the Flex Tech stock a .35 Whelen should be easy on the shoulder!

The Encores looks take a little getting used to but they function well. Good single shot rifle.

I call the Encores "functional reality". No stock crawling needed like the Ruger no.1's....the Rugers are real purty though....

if i get one ima have to go with the encore then...i hate to spend the money tho lol ...ive dropped quite a good bit of cash this deer season

Everytime I take my Encore Pro Hunter out of the safe, or out of its case I think "I am going to sell this ungainly looking funky handled rifle". Then when I raise it to my shoulder it just feels perfect and shoots little bitty groups; I put off selling it. Maybe one day.

Recoil is generated by bullet weight & exacerbated by poorly designed stocks. Good stocks make even a heavier recoiling round more fun to shoot.