I shot two boxes of shells through a Stoeger 12 ga. with a stock that fit me poorly and had my right cheekbone so swollen that I couldn't see out of my eye. Felt like I'd been in a heck of a beatdown after that one.
As for rifles I've never shot any big boomers but I did experience some pain from a lightweight Browning A-bolt in 7mm Remington Magnum once. I walked up to a whitetail buck I'd shot in the neck from about 175 yards away thinking he was dead. I had the rifle in my right hand as I was finishing taking my backpack off my left shoulder. As I approached from behind the buck used the last drop of life in him to suddenly lunge forward. I instinctively flipped off the tang safety and finished him off "Rifleman style" wielding that light 7 mag like a pistol. That is something I will NEVER EVER do again! It's amazing how much combination recoil and muzzle flip a gun like that creates without something solid holding it back.
