Mine was a 700 KS in .35 Whelen. That platform was just light enough to make shooting 250's fairly unpleasant. And that was before it scoped me...

What about you guys? It seems like some fellas were recently bemoaning 77's chambered in .338WM... Let's hear about it.

FC

Savage model 110 blue/synthetic 300 Win. Mag.

A Savage (forget which model) in 338 WM. I Traded it a week after I bought it.

Ruger No.1 .45-70

My best friend, who played Nose Guard for the University of Missouri, built a lightweight fiberglass stocked 416 Wby... that thing was brutal! He could sit at the bench and put 3 shots into a sub-moa group. However, after 10 rounds he'd be black and blue in the shoulder, but you wouldn't know it by the groups. He's essentially recoil-proof... not me. That thing SUCKED.

Another time we were shooting and another friend borrowed his 45-70 Marlin with 2-7 Leupold on top... he was warned the scope might bite him... advice he ignored. First shot, he get's up with a "damn" and blood running out of his thoroughly broken nose! He "adjusted" it and didn't say much more

Like anyone that's hunted much, I've been "scoped" (aka, Wby eyebrow)... but that can happen with even fairly mild rounds like the 30-06.

I've had light 338's and the like, and when I was in my 30's they didn't bother me. Coming up on 51, I prefer stuff that kicks like the 270 and 308 Win.

Color me wimppy...

probably a real light .308 with a stock that was WAY to short for me.

That little SOB beat my brains out.

Ruger #3, hot smokeless hand-loads, 45-70. Crescent butt plate.
That was a snotty little dude.
Cut your shoulder, and the lever whacked your right hand.
Utterly un-shootable.

Same friend had that rifle... pretty tough recoil, but a hot-loaded lightweight 416 Wby made it almost comfortable by comparison... seriously.

.460 Weatherby...trigger guard and bolt knob cut my hand,then the bitch tried to drive the scope thru my forehead...twice!
.338's are one of my favorite rifles,kilt a lot stuff in Africa with it, Ruger 77.....Don't mind my .450/400 or .458's

Check out .700 Nitro Express on youtube. There are several,
but its the one with the arabs shooting a rifle in an indoor
range.

That's Saeed's indoor range, owner of www.accuratereloading.com

No thanks...

Harrington & Richardson single shot 12 gauge 3" magnum with 2 oz turkey loads.. I'll put it up with any of the above.

Uhh, huh my old 12 ga. Ithaca 66 supersingle will get your attention with turkey loads too.

Colt Anaconda, 4" barrel, 45 Colt, 335 grain cast bullets and a bunch of H110. That exceeded my recoil tolerance and I've been paying for it ever since.

45-70 With a plastic buttplate and 12 guage 3.5" magnum pump. Ouch I would much rather shoot a 375 H&H anytime (with a pad).

Back in 1972 or 73 after I first started reloading, I accidently loaded up too much IMR 4350 in my 300 Win. In my manual, I looked at the IMR 4831 max charge weight instead. Went about 4 grains over. Don`t remember the bullet weight.

Ouch! Got nailed with about a 1/4 circled bloody scope gash above the left eye and damaged the firing pin as well. My smith at the time got a good laugh.

Winchester Black Shadow 444 very light synthetic stocked levergun in 444Marlum. Dang thing was miserable to shoot, traded it quickly.

8mm Rem Mag in a Rem M700.

I found my recoil tolerance limit with that rifle.

Yeh, I had one of these Synthetic stocks. It would bust you. One shot and a headache all day. I also had a M70 pf in 30-06 that had some kind of problem. Shooting 180 light magnums it did lasting physical damage to the shooter. I've had probably ten '06s, including one that runs less than 6#, and never one that came close to the M70 for brutality.

Remington 7600 carbine in 30-06.

Remington M600 in 308 Win wasnt very pleasant for me.

I don't think there is anything worse than a Long Tom shotgun with that tiny straight stock, shooting heavy duck loads.

Mossberg 835 12ga 3 1/2" turkey loads....still kill with it every year

Mine was also a 45-70. My first Marlin Guide Gun didn't have much of a pad. Loaded up some HOT 405's and then suffered the punishment. I'd shot a friends 458 bolt gun (which probably weighed 3 pounds more) and it paled in comparison to the Marlin!

Of all things, a round of trap with a pump .410. That thing punched me on the cheek for every shot. Probably didn't help that I had been duck hunting that morning and had a fair number of 3" steel shells already to my credit.

I pulled both triggers on an old 12 gauge. I won't do it again.

same here except with a wood stock

835 Mossberg With 3 1/2" Turkey Loads. SOB. Will Kick The Taste Out Your Mouth..

Shooting this:



Out of this 7 lb shotgun:



For Comparisons,..that's an 875 gr. projectile moving at 1125 fps(per Winchester)..

Still have 7 shells left in that box,..must have lost 2.

Never again..!

Wow, got no love for the light 3.5 Mossie pump either. Nearly broke my shoulder shooting whilst leaning back against a white oak.

Have fractured hand bones shooting hot 300 grainers outta the Smith Mountain Gun from isosceles...confirmed Weaver guy on Magnum revolvers now.

I havehad three memorables

I built a 358 norma..it had a 20" feather weight barrel that tapered to .600 at the muzzle, it was in a stock which I think was a brown pounder.. Its not that it kicked hard.. it just kicked fast.

#2 a super 14 contender in 45/70 government. It would open my Trigger finger even wearing a glove. full power loads were impressive. I sold it at a local shop and it kept reapearing every so often.

lastly, a H&R topper buck gun. 3" 12ga with a 20" barrel. It was hell with federal magnum slugs. It was my first deer gun and killed a number of deer, still in my safe 30 years later.

Hard to single out THE worst case.

I had an old J. Stevens double that had the plastic Tenenite stocks. weighed right at 6 pounds and shot the tightest groups with buckshot of any gun I ever owned. My brother always said it "got meat at both ends" with heavy buckshot loads.

I also traded a half case of beer to a buddy for a "truck gun". It was an H & R single shot that had the barrel cut off to 18" and the stock shortened to 12". It was really handy in a truck cab, but when you shot 3" buckshot loads.....one was all you wanted to shoot.

Probably the worst case of recoil I didn't personally shoot, but did witness. My father was hunting rabbits with a muzzle loading 10 gauge double that was rated for 8 gauge loads.....so of course he was using an 8 gauge loading. Don't remember the exact load but around 4 1/2 drams of powder behind 2 1/2 oz. of shot.

He shot a rabbit and went to reload....apparently letting the gun turn....and inadvertantly loaded a SECOND chrge in the already loaded barrel.

A few minutes later another rabbit was spotted. He aimed and the cap just snapped with no explosion. He cocked the second hammer and touched it off. The results were ....spectacular....to say the least. Smoke, flame and recoil that nearly took the gun from his hands. The gun was still intact after the shot, but the shooter was a bit rattled. Guess we "proofed" that shotgun that afternoon.

The rabbit, by the way, died.

My first deer rifle was an old savage 99 in 300 savage with a shortened stock that my dad picked up for $100. That rifle kicked the snot out of my little 90lb frame at the time.

700NE a friend of my dad's had one and let me try it. He gave me two cartridges, I dropped them in and closed the action. Took a solid stance and made sure I had a good mount. Took aim on the target at 50 yards and slowly squeezed the trigger. After the shot it wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. But needless to say I didn't feel the need to fire the second barrel.

NEF single shot 10 ga mag turkey gun. Buddy won it on a raffle. He traded it on a Remington M-11 12 ga.

4 me rifles have never bothered me much, big lil or small I just deal with them. G-dad told me you're gonna get hit anyway so make it count.

Only time I had issues on game with a rifle was the one time, (did I say one time) that I used a rifle with a mzl break on it. I hit broke a cows back at 450 yds on a steep up angle, and had to shoot (or try to) again. I jerked the trigger so darn bad I don't think I hit the mtn she was on with that second shot. Then, I had some serious prayer timing asking that I hit on the next shot...

Now BB guns (shotguns) have at times been less than an orgasmic experience. When I was young (10ish) I recall shooting a Silver Snipe sxs 12 that wasn't any too much fun.

And the last time I hunted sky carp (geese) it was 23 below and I was shooting a 3.5" 12 with heavy loads from sitting on the ground and other positions as well. Not a load of fun either...grin

Dober

Weatherby Vanguard VGX 300 Wea Mag. Ordered the rifle, received rifle and purchased 1 box of factory 300 Wea Mag 180gr. Went straight to the sand-pit and fired it 3 times. 1 out of the 3 shots and the forend was out of my hand. Sent it out for mag-na-port. Muzzle jump was tamed after that but my shoulder turned into a shock absorber.

Ken

Win 1300 with light pistol grip and 3" max load slugs...not fun. I let my buddy's brother fire it and it almost flew out of his hands (literally).

Second is the same buddy's S&W Airlite in .44 mag with 300 grainers. Bought for 'bear protection'...I guess you give it to the bear and let him shoot it and he runs away!

Well let's see when I was about 9 my dad took me hunting outfitting me with my grandfathers single barrel 12ga. We spotted a dove in a tree and he wanted me to lay down and sluice it off the branch from a prone position. I shot the dove and while we were looking at it I noted a wet feeling on my chest. I stuck my hand under my shirt and it came out pretty bloody. Turns out I had a nice V shaped imprint of the toe of the stock right in the v of my collar bone,I bled like a stuck pig.
However the worst recoil I recall shooting in my adult life was the slug barrel on my 870 12ga. That thing was awful much more so than my friends 450-400. The muzzle flip was probably 50-60 degrees on that 870. Miserable just miserable.
I also had a old 44 mag contender that was rough on your hands. It finally shattered the 1pc grip.

#1 Marlin Cowboy 45-70 Not all than fun to sight in.

#2 Ruger .338 Win mag, 40 rounds, 250 gr Nosler Part., hot loaded for Alaska, on the bench. Just beat the heck out of me. After being Mag-Na-Ported it's just like shooting a .270.

#3 454 Casull, 325 gr hard cast, and all the H-110 the case could hold. Loaded for the same trip to Alaska, and just as unpleasent to shoot as the above .338.

After the Alaska trip, I sold the Casull, as I just didn't like shooting the darn thing. Still have the Marlin Cowboy, but only killed a couple of Elk & a Bison with it. Other than hunting, it just sits in the safe. Good looking, but I'd much rather be shooting my other rifles.

When S&W's 329 came out I found a guy peddling one with a box of 49 rounds at a gunshow for $400....should've bought the darned thing.

6-1/2 lb 458 off the bench. I couldn't believe how bad it hurt!!
Both shots.

drover

Who was the genius that bought the 6-1/2 lb .458? I wouldn't think it much fun to shoot!

If my memory serves me right I believe the .700NE was 13-1/2 lb

I see .300 Weatherby Vanguards on the used gun racks quite often.

I've really ony 2 memorable experiences with recoil issues ...and was not really flinch prone in those days.

The funny one was when I was Rep'ing for Stoeger back in the mid '80's and I had a SAKO sample show up unannouced right before the Dallas Safari Show back in the days at the Conv Ctr at the DFW Airport. It was a 7lb 3oz SAKO 375H&H carbine in a the first Mickey stock I had seen on a SAKO. Called the office to see what I was 'posed to do with it, took it to the Show as ordered and sold the right guy a couple dozen as planned to go to Alaska for Salmon guides....but he wanted some changes and did not want the Sample shipped to him...so I kept it to show off the new Mickey stock with. Following week I had some range time planned and took the 'lil guy along to burn up some 300gr factory Remmy's I had left over from another live dealer demo.
The bench's at my range are an individual concrete deck with a height adjustable wedge seat that slides up and down the seat brace pole. As per usual I hooked my heels around the pole to get my fat feet out of the way in the super tight area...touched one off...and "came to" flat on my back and stretched out on the concrete sidewalk behind the bench with the gun pointing up at the tin rood overhead. The Range Master freaked, and wanted to call an ambulance until I shook it off...and figured out what I had done WRONG ...and took a linebacker type squat & forward lean into the gun with my feet behind me since we cannot shoot standing at this Public Range... and finished off the box ...with the gun lifting me up about 6"s off the bags without any pain or additional excitment. Needless to say I cleared the bench for several positions around me with the Carbine's muzzle blast but I was getting 1 1/2-2" groups out of a freeby Tasco 1.5x5 World Class that stayed together long after this. Shot the gun later off some sticks and freehanded and it was a joy to shoot...with my feet properly put where they belonged Under Me...wish'd I'd kept that SAKO Carbine!

The other time was with a Wby MkV 300Wby FiberClass in their 1st 'glass stock I'd picked up trading. Again the gun only weighed about 7lbs bare nekkid. I was using some Federal factory 180's and the gun shot great left and right holding under a 1/2" wide 5 shot group. However the groups would range from 2-3"s to 5-6's high in a verticle string. I Got Mad at the groups I was shooting and my "obvious flinching" ...and shot 2 full box's in an hour or less. Thank God we ran out of daylight...as my face and right ear was black and blue from past my nose to the back of my neck on my shooting shoulder when I got home an hour later. My 'smith later pointed out the flimsy 'glass stock was bowing out from the sides of the reciever and almost collapsing thru the receiver area as I had Polished a 4" strip on the bottom of the barrel from where the forend was moving back and forth. I knew then why the guy I had bought it from was so willing to take a beating on the price ...but Dang that gun sold fast Again!
Ron

Shot a friends lightweight, un-scoped, .338 Mag. with a checkered steel butt plate. It was hot out and I was only wearing a t-shirt. After 2 shots my shoulder looked like I'd been attacked with a meat tenderizing hammer.

No doubt whatsoever for me. Browning 10ga BPS with a Goodyear hard rubber recoil plate. Got that sucker and went out right away and shot 5 rounds of 2 1/4oz 1200fps turkey loads. My right cheek looked like I'd lost a fist fight to a good left cross and my right shoulder looked like it'd been used for an anvil. Never shot it again until it got back from being Pro-Ported. That took the buck out of the comb but did nothing for the kick. Shot some turkey with it but finally came to the conclusion I just don't hate turkey all that much. Last few times I shot it resulted in first round immediate headache. Would have traded it off but son used it on a black coyote that came to a turkey call and died in a hail of copper plated #5's and wants to keep it. He's bigger and stronger than I ever was so I guess it'll work out for him. But for me, nevermore.

I bought an XP-100 chambered in .308 Win. I had some 180 gr factory loads, so I took it out to shoot. That thing recoiled so fast it was like something out of a ninja movie. It became a 250 Sav., which was the plan all along.

I think I still have that barrel somewhere, if somebody needs it.

8 bore black powder rifle, 850 gn round ball at 1400 fps pushed by 300 gns BP in a 10 lb steel butted rifle.

Things that make you go WTF?

Gunner

It would been a good one to pick up, then put on some grips off the S&W 500 and life would be good!

Dober

Thinking that one was built for when the mother in law wanted to go to elk camp...

Dober

About a year after I got the 10ga, Mossberg came out with a 3 1/2" 12ga pump that weighed about 2 pounds. Couple of friends of mine bought them. Absolutely made the boys belly-crawl when they shot them with 2 1/4 oz loads. Offered me the opportunity to share in the fun but I declined.

You haven't lived until the day you need to sight in a newly scoped 870 pump slug gun with 2 oz slugs... Fun times...

Yep 870 sighting in a scope with 12 ga. 3" mag turkey loads, took 5 shot to center on forty yard target left 8" diameter bruise on my shoulder.

Sako AV 338WM, shooting prone downhill, with butt of stock not firmly anchored .

I've never had someone sight in a gun for me b4, but if I ever have a need to sight in a rig like that I'll give you a call... . Come on, help a brotha out.

Dober

358 Norma Magnum in a Schultz & Larsen 65. I was sneaking along a steep mountain side when suddenly gravel and small rocks tumbled towards me. I look just about straight up and there stands a bull elk and three cows about 150 yards above me. I shouldered the rifle, put the crosshairs were they should be and fired. Recoil drove me to the right and off balance. I thought I dislocated my shoulder...I didn't but it hurt for days.

Another vote for the 870 Super Mag Pump. Lightweight synthetic camo stock. 3 1/2" turkey loads. Definitly made an impression (no pun intended) on me.
First time I ever shot it was at a crow....flying directly over head. The crow burst into a puff of feathers, and I truly thought he got off easier than my shoulder.

30-06 10" barreled IMI Lone Eagle pistol with hot federal premiums.
Fired twenty rounds thru it consecutively. I have very strong hands and my hands were sore for two days. The pistol came with four rings to anchor the scope down....i now understand why. I have owned a 500S&W and have fired very hot loads thru it,...it doesnt even compare to the sharp recoil impulse of the Lone Eagle 30-06 10".
....SmokeRolls

460 Weatherby was the worst....Honorable mention goes to a 35 wildcat on an Improved H&H case,a 375AI loaded to the gills,and a 300 RUM.

They all sucked.

3" and 3.5" 12 gauge are terrible things....I can't imagine going through all that crap to kill a friggin bird....

Haven't really shot any boomers in my short shooting life, but doing a little elk season practice during the summer, I let the .300 Ackley slip up on my t-shirt and whack me right in the collar bone... didn't feel that great. I look forward to getting my azz-whooped by some horses in the near future

another vote for the browning bps 10 ga. damn near broke my chick bone and knocked me on my azz

Make mine a .458 Lott...with a .416 Rigby a close second...both in a Ruger Express.

I shot a .470 double a few times and damn near enjoyed that, but the two aforementioned magazine rifles make my shoulder bones hurt and my butt pucker just thinking about them..

Shot a couple .450-/400s too, and they arent bad, but my comfort level is below .400


And now in my older years is wayyyyy lower than that.....

7.5 lb 30-06 Ackley running a 180 BT @ 3000 fps, prone.

Alan

That damned 460 Weatherby cut me over my left eye....and I'm right handed...any rifle kicks less without a scope...

My old Ruger No.1 red pad .458 Win. Mag has some giddy up coming back on the shoulder. But lord what a rifle it is. I do enjoy it though.
Mouse

835 24" non-ported barrel with the factory cement recoil pad, 670 non-ported choke, Win HV 3.5" 2oz #4's. I was seated against a tree and only a t-shirt was between my right shoulder and the cement pad.

Dats why they get left off a bunch-o-big ones on African rifles...besides, the big ones get used at spitting distances anyhoo....

My uncle's Win model 37 12 ga. I was grade school age and my cousin saw I didn't have it against my shoulder and let me learn the hard way. Almost knocked me down.

Runner is a Rem 760 30-06.

I'll add this....make sure you aren't using a rifled barrel and rifled slugs. 40 rounds in one sitting was enough to crack the stock and had me scratching my head wondering why I couldn't get the damn thing to hit in the same spot.

I got whacked by a 460 Weatherby that I built for a guy up in Ak. Took it to the range and got my first and only "scope bite"!

Mossberg 835 3 1/2 inch. If you hooked your thumb over the wrist of the stock it would bust you in the nose everytime. Last time it did that I drove it barrel first into the ground and walked off. My buddy went back and got it and put it on consingment at his gun shop. Ended up making money on the p.o.s. Never own another.

Lightweight 458 Lott with a synthetic stock was bad (THANKS, 458Lott from here at 24hrcf... NOT ) Browning A bolt stalker in 300WBY was awful, 8 bore punt gun fired from the shoulder was bad, worst ever though was when I bought an older straight grip lightweight Marlin 45/70, scoped it up, and loaded some 400gr bullets at 2000fps for it.... WOW that gun had me literally seeing stars! Killed exactly ONE Calif Boar Pig with it then sold it.

Mine was a 12 ga Traditions O/U built by Fausti in Italy. It was capable of shooting 3.5" turkey loads, but I was NOT. I tried to shoot some 3" loads, but it was not much fun.

Good luck to to the NEW owner.

donsm70

Shooting left over goose loads at ducks coming in to roost. Coupled with poor shooting and in between my buddies shotguns, I had the worst headache of my life and almost puked twice when I got home from it.

A Ruger no.3 in 45/70. and a Contender pistol in 338 JDJ.

1+
Only time I ever had two black eyes at once.

Push feed Model 70 featherweight .338 off bags. Had a headache for two days. I don't get headaches....

Had a co-worker back in the early 90s who picked up a Sako
mannlicher carbine in 375 for practically nothing, he didnt
keep it very long.

Got in a hurry reloading my CVA .54 cal carbine and shot the ramrod out of it with a 425 gr buffalo bullet chasing it down the barrel backed with 80 grains of pyrodex. That [bleep]' really, really hurt! Thank God the gun stayed together.

Another vote for the 3.5" 12 here. Buckshot seemed to hurt the worst.

a 7.5lb 338 LM.... shot it twice. First round hurt like a bastard... second round made my arm go numb for a half hour... It was my fathers and all he did was call me a puzzy afterwards... though he didn't bother shooting it and sold it not long after.

Only other one was a Savage 110 in 243... that POS bruised the chit out of me...

I was about 13 years old and weighted about 135 lb's. Shot a 300 Weatherby off the shooting bench.

A lightweight 505 Gibbs, it made my 416 Remington I shot next feel like a 22..............dj

.500 A-Square. Ordered one for a customer along with a bunch of A-Square 600 gr loads. They didn't have properly stamped brass at the time and were using necked up .460 Wby. brass. The customer, being an anal sort, decided to just shoot up all the ammo in order to have it properly fireformed to his chamber and like a moron, I agreed to help. Over the course of a couple days, I shot about 60 rounds...not fun.

Actually the worst pain I ever experienced firing a gun was with a cheap, Spanish built 12ga hammer gun that someone had cut the stock off to form a pistol grip. He brought it in wanting to sell it on consignment and I had to make sure it functioned ok before I took it in. I took it back on the range, loaded both barrels, cocked both hammers and fired it from the hip. Both barrels fired at the same time and one of the hammers ripped my shirt and dug deep into my side. Blood spurted and I let loose with a flurry of obscenities. Still have the scar.

One of the first rifles I bought for myself as a young adult, A real pretty Wby mark V delux in 460 Wby. I found on the used rack at a little gun shop in Aberdeen. I fired about 5 factoy rounds through it and that was all I could take. At the shot I seen a white flash and was knocked silly for a minute. I traded in a nice 300wby and still gave a weeks pay for that rifle, then took it back to the shop I bought it to trade in on another rifle, the shop owner took pity on a 19 yr old kid and gave me my old rifle and money back.

Was looking at a 6 lb Rem KS in 375 for sale today and then saw this thread. Someone's looking out for me.

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.

A 378 wm, and a ruger 338.

I reworked some Hornady .458 500 grain round nose bullets to flat points to try in my Marlin 45-70 and worked up to the top loads listed for the Marlin. It was slightly less than enjoyable from the bench. Offhand didn't really bother me much with them. They shot awesome by the way but I went back to my Remington 405's at 1750 fps. Much more enjoyable to shoot.

I do remember a round of skeet with an Ithaca 37 Featherweight 16 gauge and the only ammo in town was a box of 1 1/4 ounce 7 1/2's. My buddies shooting with me said my head looked like a high speed bobble doll. I recall I didn't make my best score ever on that round.

The only gun to ever give me a flinch was a Freedom Arms 454 Casull whose owner was loading substantial loads, even by Casull standards. One cylinder full and I was very flinchy with handguns for about 6 months. I had to start over again with a 22 and work my way back up to where I wasn't flinching any more. I still don't shoot a handgun as well as I did before that day.

Mart

tang safety Ruger 77 in 338 WM with a 250 gr. Sierra spitzer or Mossberg 835 with 3.5" turkey load. Ruger's long gone but the Mossberg's still around because it 'reaches right out there'.


270

I can identify with that one! Another 'worst' for me was with my CRESCENT SHAPED STEEL buttplate equipped 54 Caliber Lyman Great Plains rifle. Only the top and bottom 'points' of the buttplate contacted my rather substaintial shoulder. Took it out for its first sight in and loaded up 120grs of 2F behind a 500 and some odd grain conical bullet. OUCH! Those steel tips on that crescent buttplate dug/created 2 brand new armpits for me. Another "Never do THAT again" type of personal revelation.

Marty my freind, you are forgetting your attempt to do in a coyote a few deer seasons ago along the snake river breaks with your then brand new 300 H&H Inquiring minds need to hear that story! <G>

1) .300 Weatherby MKV with the 24 inch lighter option barrel.

2) .450 Alaskan Winchester 71 conversion, cast bullet 80% load.

M77R 338 WM

Make that a plastic stocked, rifle sighted NEF with 3 1/2 inch turkey loads. Damn!

Winchester 1886 extra-light with a stout 45-70 GOVT load. Love steel butt-plates!

378Roy shooting a HOT load of 270's in a Mark V Deluxe. Not fun

While I've never thought of the 338 Win Mag as particularly vicious, and have always liked the Ruger M77, I've seen this more than a few times in this thread.

Interesting.

My diving duck rig is a Browning BPS 10GA. I shoot handloads of 1.5oz (656 grains) @ 1550FPS. It has a 24 inch barrel and the goodyear 1/4 inch rubber but pad.

My worst time was sighting in a dozen or so new Benneli's with ghost rings for slug loads. That go old fast.

All else considered my favorite is my Smith and Wesson 360PD J frame. A 10.5 oz .357 magnum pistol shooting 158 grain full house loads. Shock and Awe. I explain to people what it is like by having them put their hand out and telling them to imagine me hitting their hand with a bat as hard as I can....

I hate to pattern my Ithaca M37 Turkeyslayer Storm that weighs 6lb 12ozs shooting 3" Nito's.Even with a Limbsaver pad and ported barrel it gets your attention. Of course,when that old gobbler rolls up at 40 yds,I am grinning ear to ear

Surely a turkey gun. My mossberg 835 with 3.5" loads.

Testing Rem 870s with 3.5" chambers...

They're the WORST..

Initial signting-in of a new slug gun from the bench. Searching for the brand of slug it liked best and then bringing the scope to agreement with the barrel required quite a bit of shooting (not to mention expense). Day was cold enough that the tears from my eyes kept freezing up on the inside of my glasses so that I would have to thaw and wipe them continually, flying snot froze all over my face, the outside of my glasses, the gun itself, and various surrounding objects, including my shooting partner when he leaned in too close to pick something off the bench just as I let fly. When we finished, I could applaud behind my back using my shoulder blades. I thought that my coats and recoil shield had done an admirable job of protecting the immediate area of impact, but over the next few days I developed a rather impressive technicolor display in the area of my right shoulder.

Thanks buddy for bringing that one up. The recoil wasn't so bad, it was the position I was firing from. Laying down hill in a rock pile trying to get a line on a distant coyote. I was contorted in a truly unnatural manner and what most shooters would consider a less than optimal shooting position. I was forced in this downhill position to crawl the stock more than I should have and at the report felt the warmth on my face that I knew wasn't sunshine. Blood poured down my face from the newly opened skin just above my left eye. While a memorable experience, not my finest moment as a shooter.

Mart

One of three:
Remington 700 KS in .300Wby Mag with stout 180gr handloads
Ruger No3 .45-70
Remington 870 with an M4 style stock

This is a close second behind my 458 Lott with 500gr loads

I had a custom beautiful Ruger # 3 cresent Winchester butt plate, Win sights just like yours. Around 5 plus pounds, unshootable sold it after 5 rounds.

Ugly as coon crap on a fence post as well.

Win 94 in 356 Win shooting 250 grainers.

It looks like the Mossberg 835 3.5" 12 gauge is in the lead. I'll add another vote. I switched to 3" shells, turkeys still die.

A close second in the recoil department was a 7 lb T/C Encore 416 Rigby. I loaded it up with 1 grain below max powder with 400 gr Partition. My trigger finger hurt for a couple of hours from the trigger guard. Of course I fired the second round. Why waste it?

The best I ever saw was a NEF single shot 3.5" turkey gun. It HAD a steel rod in the buttstock for extra weight and recoil reduction. The old boy decided it was too heavy, gone is the extra weight!! He screws his .640" Hastings choke in, drops a 3.5" HV 2oz #4 in the tube, and sits down on a cooler. This cooler is on the edge of his yard and the edge of his yard is the top of a nice big hill. He opens that baby up on a beer can sitting across the way and that little single shot rolled his ass all the way down that hill, cooler and all. I laughed so hard I had to sit down. He fired and all I saw was his feet passing his head over that flipped over cooler and away they went.


Extra weight returned to the little single shot and he found a box of 3" shells, LOL!

I'm really surprised at the Ruger .338's..never would have guessed that one? I've had more problems with Weatherbys?

Same here,wasn't even my rifle! I was helping a guy site the gun in that he won in a raffle.He was on his third box of shells and was all over the paper cause he was flinching like crazy. I got the gun sited in then he says "thanks,i think i'm gonna sell it because it recoils to much".Wish he would have told me that before i beat the crap out of my shoulder!

Yup!! I'm turning 55 in May,went from a 30-06 to 243.You know the little "wimpy girl gun"kills whitetails just as dead as my 06 did.....

+1. Loaded full tilt w/ a Pentax 2-8X (same as the old Burris Signature then) w/ [bleep] for eye relief. One and only time where I felt the scope just ever so lightly touch my brow. Scope was gone in a week, rifle a year later replaced with a Marlin with a receiver sight.

Beautiful little Marlin in .444. Had it for 2yrs. before I shot it. Took it to the range--5 shots- major headache--shoulder feels worse than my .458's pounding--sold it to the range master. He told me later that was the kicking'st s.o.b. he ever owned.
G

+/- 120 posts in this thread and not a single pic of a bleeding eyebrow? How is that even possible?

My old 12 gauge shooting slugs lets you know in no uncertain terms when it goes off.

Taking a picture would provide evidence of buffoonery. That or my head is ringing too much to remember to get a pic.

i've never been kissed that hard....

As for my worst experience, strangely enough, I remember it coming from a lowly .30-06--my Ruger M77 MK II loaded with Federal High Energy ammo. That rifle/ammo combo rattled the fillings in my teeth. I'm no tough guy when it comes to recoil, but I've shot some rifles that kick. Not even Safariman's .416 Rigby kicked like that '06 with those stupid High Energy rounds. I had to go shoot about 1000 .22lr rounds afterward to get rid of my flinch.

Turkey hunter who decided to drop down from 3.5" to 3" loads.

Me neither. Actually, I take that back. Once at the range, shooting my .35 Whelen with 250gr bullets, my rear bag wasn't positioned correctly, and rather than take 2 seconds and fix it, I decided to lean down and into the rifle. The Butler Creek cap caught me just hard enough to draw a fine line of blood--almost like a papercut. I wiped it off and it didn't bleed anymore. But, I still remember that it took away my right to brag that I'd never been scope bit. God probably was working on my prideful attitude--which is always a good thing for me...

And FWIW, that Whelen (which I still own and love) never kicked like that '06 with Federal's High Energy ammo!

8 years old and a neighbor thought it would be fun to let the neighborhood kids shoot his war trophy K-98.

If I was 60 lbs then I'd be surprised.

I touched off a German military load and the recoil put me on my butt. My shoulder hurt for a week and I asked the guy if I could fire another one!

As an 8 year old, I got immune to recoil shooting a break open single shot 20 gauge that probably weighed about 4 pounds. With high brass loads, that is still the most unpleasant recoil I've ever experienced.

There are few accounts of the 10 ga. BPS.

The local range officer loves retelling the story of how he "stole" a new BPS from an owner who was getting his world rocked by the gun. The RO gave $250 for it, but never could bring himself to shoot it, & hasn't been able to find a buyer for it.

FC

I have actually......by a .264 WM of all things...I was deer hunting in PA and had a deer come to my right at about 10 yds...I'm right handed but with this situation I had to shoot left handed sooooo I did.

When all was said and done I was bleeding over my eye and nose and had a dead deer in front of me.....ahh the days.....

Army basic training - 1955 Fort Riley, Kansas.
Fired the M1 rifle grenade from the shoulder - never, ever again.

I pattern quite a few turkey guns and they will definitely get your attention. Winchester 3.5" HV loads are some of the worst.

Had a Savage 16 in 300WSM briefly. It didn't have a recoil pad and was quite unpleasant from the bench. Sure felt worse than any light weight 300WM I've ran.

Toss up, between the time I shot straight up at a crow using a borrowed Win. M120 Ranger 12ga pump w/3" mag load (plastic butt plate on collar bone).

Or the time a known miscreant at our gun club, suckered me into shooting his Siamese Mauser, with a "mild, cast bullet load". Shot it from the bench, resulting in a very sore shoulder and the idiot cacklin' behind me like a mad hatter, then telling me that load was "nippin' at the heels of the 458 Winchester".

Okay, I was probably "the idiot" in both cases.

+1.

Winchester XXT12L4, 12 Gauge 3-1/2", MAG DR. Equiv, 2-1/4 oz., 4 shot turkey loads from a Remington 870 Super-Mag.

After a morning of walking in the woods with my hunting buddy, we found ourselves on a ledge. Some pines were growing below one in particular had a top full of green pine cones. The cones were shoulder high and I decided to try out one of those loads to see how many cones I could blast out of the tree.

The recoil knocked me back a couple steps, knocked my glasses askew, and I thought my middle finger was broken by the trigger guard. After recovering sufficiently, I told my hunting buddy �Your turn.� He showed good sense and politely refused.

It was a couple hours before my finger quit hurting. Out of the original box of 10 there are 9 left and they will undoubtedly last me a lifetime!

I have fired a lot of hard kicking weapons but the Mossberg Pump 12 ga with Fiberglass Stock and the Fed 3.5 inch Turkey Loads is about as bad as it gets, they will rattle your teeth.

INteresting reading. I"ve got quite a few of the guns mentioned as bears....

But I'm like Dober, its gonna nail you regardless so you may as well hit with it.

Wife and I have shot everything up to the 460 wtby level, no big nitros, no one owns one around here....

The worst by far was a 378 wtby and 2 rounds of that and I was done... I have a 338-378 thats not bad at all. And have shot the 30-378 same. The full on 378 sucks for us. Just too quick on the recoil for me. Not so much too much, but it hits faster than I could "expect" it.

I"ve got a single shot NEF 10 ga, an off brand single shot 10 thats lighter than the NEF(NEF is a puzz compared recoil wise) and a BPS 10... none of them have ever bothered me. Buckshot loads would get your attention though as would heavy turkey loads but still nothing bad.

I still don't have a clue why the 378 just beat us up, wife and I both. Though she did shoot a squirrel with it before we gave it back to friend that had bought it, and he resold it after he shot it one time... And we've shot all kinds of 375 H/H, 375 wtby, 416 mags etc...none of them seem bad. ONly thing I can maybe come up wiht was stock design, have no clue what that stock was though...

The lighter mags for me, are interesting, the recoil is never bad, but light means they move and torque around on you etc... you have to watch from being scope bit, but I often feel the light guns recoil is mostly movement of the muzzle up in the air, more so than straight back into my body.

The other thing I"ll note, seems fairly consistent too, the bigger the folks are the more they complain about recoil, the smaller the folks are the less it bothers them it seems. I can see the more mass you have to absorb the recoil, IE stop it, instead of recoiling with it, the worse it COULD hurt.

Oh yeah, just recalled, 870 with 3.5 inch hypersonic loads. 3 of those were a bit strong, strong enough so that I don't think I"ll buy more of those.

The Federal 1550 stuff at 3.5 inches though is fine.

I've shot .378s, .460s, lots of .338s of various weights and 10s etc, but the one that I remember as painful was a pre-64 M70 in .375. I reckon the stock and I were just wrong for each other.

I've shot a .378 before, about like an unscoped 870 slug gun, noticeable, but not horrid.

The worst thing that's got me, a Contender in .35 Remington, with 250gr. cast bullets, loaded max+, that a friend had loaded for his gun. I shot it once, couldn't believe it kicked that hard, and HAD to shoot it again to prove it to myself.

I hate Contenders anyway, the stock shape really, REALLY pounds my elbow, for some reason. It doesn't bother my wrists or hands, but it kills my elbow.
Another buddy liked his .357 Maximum Contender. Same deal there, sore elbows.

Contenders just suck, period.

One thing about the Contenders I didnt like was the trigger guard design...a knuckle beater if there ever was.

460 Weatherby! Thought it detached my retina!!

460 Weatherby. A friend had it and a box of ammo with 19 rounds left. That should have been a clue. He asked me if I wanted to buy it but he let me shoot it first. If he still has it I'll wager that there are 18 rounds left in the box.

"Contenders suck period." Yup, shot one of the originals in 44 mag with an Octagon lt weight barrel that was threaded for the choke tube,without the tube using hot 240 gr JHP WW factory loads. 3 shots I quit on it. Memory doesn't work everytime, another buddy got a contender with TC scope in 45-70 1 shot was all that took. Had a hard right shot with a pre 64 308 FWT and the checkered aluminum buttplate gave me a checkered collar bone ,it went away.The 835 Ultimag was the worst with turkey loads, I knew better but had it to do,least wise I was smart enuf to be standing when I did it. My BPS 10 doesn't bother me that bad. I've learned to roll with the recoil with my 50 3 1/4" Sharps. Lower recoiling rounds are definitely getting my attn these days. magnum Man

Remington 870 with federal hi shok 3" slugs. I was 14 and shooting in summer with light clothes from a low bench. Only made it through 3 of the five in the box. My father laughed at me and said "give me that". He shot the last two and one more box to sight in, then told me years later it hurt him just as much, but he couldnt show it.

450 marlin , only took one time.....

Several years ago I was at a rifle range with a couple of
friends and another guy about 3 benches down fired his
rifle with a muzzle brake on it, I think it was a 7 mag or
a 300 mag. The firing line has a metal roof and talk about
startled and losing your concentration for a little while.

Worst I ever owned was a Ithica 12 ga Deerslayer (the original one's) shooting mag slugs. Very light weight and a [bleep] recoil pad didn't help.

ruger boatpaddle .270. have still not shot anything but maybe a slug gun that just plain HURT.

maybe it was the shape of the stock or something. who knows. i shoot a remington 700 .270 and it has never bothered me a bit.

I am showing my age a tad with this one, but a friend had a Ruger #3 in 45-70 that was not factory drilled or tapped. He was shooting a handload behind 405 gr. SP's (lightest bullet then available) that was so heavy (can't remember the powder type), but it was necessary to throw half the charge, tamp it a bit with a wooden dowel, then throw the other half, in order to get the bullet's to properly seat, and as you can imagine, you could not shake the cartridge and hear the powder moving! we went out behind the load house, and I took the first shot. It was like getting hit with 2-2x4's, one on the cheek, the other in the shoulder! My bud was standing behind and to my left (I am right handed). I cracked the action open and handed it to him while looking at the ground. he dropped one in, and did not have his face on the stock properly when he touched it off, and bit off a tad of the side of his tongue!

2 shots and the day was thru - he was off to the doc, a towel pressed to his ought for the blood, and I nursed my shoulder as it turned pruple, whilst cleaning blood and tongue bits off the gun!

I've had a 375 H&H sitting in the safe for 3 years now, before I put any money into it I'm going to get some 235 grainers and see if I can handle it, biggest I've ever shot is a 300. Slugs out of an 1100 are not to bad. Kinda surprised at how many guys feel they need a 3.5 in for turkey in this thread.

Been down the Ruger #3 45-70 route and for the life of me I can't remember what rifle/caliber gave me scope eye. The Long Tom was insufferable. At about 8 years of age my Grandfather let me shoot a 38 revolver at a chicken snake. Never having shot a pistol I of course fired it with bent elbows, which recoiled and beaned me right between the eyes and forehead.

Once I was sighting in a 12ga slug gun. I broke the scope mounts twice in that day and fired 60 slug rounds that day. For a week, I scratched my head by rubbing it on a tree.

Three memorable ones for me and it wasn't the two different .458 Winchesters with handloads. The first was a Remington 700 ADL 30-06 with the checkered aluminum butt plate. I was sighting it in for a friend of the family during the summer. He had some old military loads that I think were 172 grain and from a bench with just a tee shirt those hurt. Second was a Ruger 300 Win Mag with Sierra 200 grain handloads. I was sitting at the edge of a road and shooting downhill into a drainage so I was unable to "roll" with the recoil. Last and worst was a straight stock Marlin 45-70 with 400 grain Speer flatpoints and a max load of 3031. Again, shooting from the bench sighting in. It had the .125 inch thick rubber pad which I think just gave it more traction! That one brough tears to my eyes. I love my .280.

H&R 3.5 in. 12 ga. with 2.25 oz. turkey loads. I find most people that try that combo decide it doesn't take so much to kill a turkey.

I've only been "bumped" but not cut. I sent all the scopes with too short eye relief down the road.

Not on me but with one of my rifles. Had a reall comando, ninja 5th degree black belt type ask me if he could shoot my old 300 Wby built on a FN by Wby in 1954 for an uncle of mine.

I said sure but when you start bleeding please don't drop my rifle. He smirked and proced to open his head enough that it took over 20 stitches to close. Saw him a week later and one eye was still swollen shut and everything above his cheeks to his hairline was black and blue. He didn't drop the gun but had blood dripping off of his nose before I could grab it out of his hands.

That old gun has pretty substantial recoil, but it really jumps when you crank it up with 180's.

I tried to warn him but I think he believed the 5th degree black belt made him bullet proof?

Another vote for 45/70, 405 grain remingtons with a very stiff load of something I can't remember, I will be selling that rifle in the very near future.

.378 Weatherby in a wood stocked mark v. The guy had the rifle and 17 rds of ammo ,he's still got the rifle and 16 rds.

Fired about 24 shots from a .470 nitro at an akward position one after noon. Shoulder was so swollen, and bruised the next day I couldnt go to work! Looked like a damn horse kicked me. It was really bad.

One was a Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun loaded with cartridges approaching .458 Mag. velocity. I wasn't told and wasn't ready for the recoil.

The other was a cheap 5 1/2 Lb. Spanish 12 Ga. double trigger O/U loaded with 3" OO buckshot. It would cut your finger with the front trigger if you didn't wear gloves. Made me flinch too.

Worst one for me was my cousins 70's vintage M700 adl in .308! It just plain hurt after you pulled the trigger! My 45/70 GG or my 375 H&H never hurt us like that rifle did..

I once bought a rifled slug barrel for my 870 and bought four different kinds of 3" mag slugs and headed to the range to see which one my barrel liked best. After two of each brand shot off of a bench, I dedcided that I did not like any of them and sold the slug barrel.

A sadistic H+R single shot 12 gauge shotgun, plastic recoil pad, 3 inch slugs.

Custom stocked .338 WM. Bad angle to the pad. S.O.B. would hit you so hard in the cheek it would raise a welt.

Yeah, another one was a single-shot Baikal 12 ga 3 1/2".. Dang thing weighed about 4 pounds.. Friend of mine owned it and his kid (big boy -6'2, 200#) wanted to give it a try.. Stuffed a 3 1/2" shell in it and touched it off..

It took over six weeks for the quarter-sized piece of meat to grow back on his cheek.. THAT was enough of THAT..

I'll add 1 more : T/C Encore 12ga Rifled slug barrel. Brought it to the range to sight it in for my slug only town. Remington Buckhammer fired 1 time and it cracked my synthetic stock right at the pistol grip. Pinch my hand when the crack closed. T/C gave me another stock for free and I sold the Buckhammers. That Hurt !!!!!

Ken

For me it was a 10 gauge shooting 3 1/2 inch turkey loads, 2 1/2 oz of shot from a over/under 10 gauge. I was trying to do a bit of patterning and 4 shots in a row was all I was interested in!

Shooting a Browning 1886 with a metal cresent buttplate and stout 45-70 loads when I was 12 and about 90 pounds. Gave me a flinch I'm still trying to correct.


ddj

Know another guy who picked up a custom rifle with a very
light trigger in 270 Win. Next day at the range after he
had sighted it in, he was trying his luck offhand at 100 yards
as he was chambering a round and bringing it up his shoulder
it went off and gravel flew everywhere about 15 feet in front
of us. It just about jumped out of his hands from the recoil
and he jammed his finger bad. Later on after he cooled off
and did several function checks, the gun was not the issue and
he admitted to having his finger on the trigger while bringing
the rifle up.

I have not found any slug to equal the recoil of a Buckhammer.

Got bit between my thumb and trigger finger when shooting
1911s in the USArmy.

Lightweight Ithaca model 37 12 gauge riot gun, with slugs.....no recoil pad. That bastid was unpleasant!

Ken

NE arms Turkey gun. 3.5" 12, 20" extra full, 5.5# fricken ouch!

My cousin has an H&R 10 gauge he bought for turkey huntin', but he's scared to shoot it now.

I don't get that at all. I've killed two turkeys with one shot at 30 yards, with 2 3/4" shells. What more could a person need? Either you can call 'em in, or you can't........... Long range sniping isn't shotgun work......

460 Roy from a bench, 10 ga. SP10 lying flat on my back shooting geese.

As a kid (75 lbs soaking wet, shooting in the summer with a tee shirt), tried my new Marlin 1894 44 mag with full house loads, 240 grain bullets. After the pain of that, missed everything I shot at with it and bought a 243 the next year.

Shot my Great Grandfather's 1892 44-40 with 240 grain handloads the following summer. That crescent butt plate really hurt (wish I could find the SOB that walked out of my Uncle's with that rifle!)

As an adult, an 870 Upland Special, only gun I had with me at the time and was invited to hunt deer with dogs. Figured it was like hunting rabbits so it was a good choice and stuffed it with 3" 00 buck, touched it off and when I got back to my feet saw it had the same effect on the deer!

338 WM Kimber Montana in the safe now for over a year, just don't have the desire to try it any more...

Threads like this one remind me of why I like my .221 Fireball, my .204s and my .22 Hornets (along with various rimfires) more and more every time I shoot them.

454 Casull. Slippery grips, sharp edge on back of frame. First shot opened a cut on knuckle of thumb. Follow-up shots the sharp edge hit the same open cut. Wasn't my revolver but I might have tried to smooth out that sharp edge if it had been mine. At least tape up the thumb. No long gun ever really hurt me as bad as moving a washing machine for my wife.

Never been scoped and I can't understand how that could ever happen unless you were firing left handed while hanging upside down from a deerstand.

However, 3" magnum OO in an 870 did make me a bit uncomfortable. We'd set up tactical courses at our range and sometimes run shotgun courses. Had a handfull of said loads and thought they might help knock down steel plates. Just about tore my shoulder off after 3 rounds. It took everything I had in me to finish that run. Whoo!

10 ga BPS w/ Fed Premium turkey loads

I've shot a .416 Rigby on a TC Encore frame that wasn't in the same ballpark... heck, not even the same freakin' sport... as that shotgun. Simply mind-numbing...

Mine was a sighting in session with a 300 Weatherby Vanguard in a synthetic stock. Sixteen rounds of 180 grainers and my shoulder was first black & blue then green and purple weeks later. I'm a stout framed guy but that was enough. I bought it when our lease was clearcut. Every shot I had with the Weatherby was under 40 yards. My 30'06 killed quicker. I sold it the next season. Cartridges were way too expensive too.

20 12 guage sabot 1 oz slugs leaving the muzzle at around 2000fps, from a bench.

Enough for the day...

The worst one I've ever seen, was when a client mistakenly put a .270 cartridge in 7mm Remington magnum. Suffice to say, that was pretty ugly.

A 10 gauge single shot with 3.5" turkey loads and a Ruger #3 45-70 with stout reloads kicked like mules.

Yep, I've made that mistake! I have a heavy 10 ga double, and I found I couldn't do a sit up with it on my chest. Only fired it once from that position, but even as slow to learn as I am, it taught me not to do it again.

I believe that it was Colonel Charles Askins talking about the .460 that said "even in the face of a charging buffalo, I always thought about the recoil and how much it was going to hurt before pulling the trigger".

Memorable events:

- When my 5#14oz sidelock 20 ga doubled with one ounce field loads. I got the pheasant!
- Sighting in the Williams peep sight I put on an 870 to use as a back-up gun when bowhunting on Kodiak. Those 3" prior mentioned Federal slugs just about won out. I gave the gun to my buddy years ago! Brutal and a headache plus bruised shouolder from shooting it.
- Shooting 200 rounds in one day out of a Browning 12 ga sporting clays OU that bit my cheek every shot. It was gone shortly too. My 391 is great!
- Shooting more than a cylinder full of full power loads from my S&W 329. My palm goes numb. The 500 grips helped, and I really enjoy it with 1,000 fps cast bullet loads. Wish I could use it as a backup while bowhunting here in BC. Somehow bear spray doesn't feel near as good in the tent at night with grizzly sign all over the mountain.
- Sighting in a .270 Remington M721 from prone. It had the "crooked" factory stock with a metal butt plate, and was not fun!

Me too..............
Only a sample of one, the tang safety 77 in .338 Win mag had some recoil but not painful or excessive.

500 Jefferey loaded with a 525gn pill.

I was about 12 and we went out to the pit at a town called West Linn . A guy out there talked me into shooting his .300 Weatherby from prone.

Yup, it kicked.

A client once, who emptied his 7mm Remington magnum on a grizzly bear and didn't have any other shells in his pocket, so I handed him my .375 H&H magnum. He fired one shot and then handed it back to me, saying; "You go ahead and finish him, I think I just broke my thumb".

When I first started turkey hunting (mid 1990's) I owned a lightweight 12 gauge M1300-XTR Winchester with plastic buttplate, Mad Max .655 turkey tube, 2 ounce, 12 GA, 3" magnum turkey load. Wow - had no idea what I was getting into - my control was much better on the second round!

9.3x62

My friend is 6'-4" so he has a sako that is set up for 6-4. I am 5-5. I was offered to shoot this rifle and jumped at the chance. Despite grabbing tighter and tighter and concerning myself with accuracy less and less it scoped me between the eyes on 4 consecutive shots in just as many minutes. Luckily I was wearing eye pro cuz it probably would have split me open otherwise. I was left with a nice lump between the eyes and a new appreciation for well fitting rifles.

3 1/2 12 ga turkey loads
300 RUM

both were nasty, but probably the worst and most humbling
was getting tagged in the eyebrow from an improperly mounted scope on a 308

Shooting my Dad's Savage 12 ga. double gun as a youngster. Of course, I had to use full powered, high brass loads.

DF

I have two. A .450 Marlin guide gun with a 1-4x Leupold on it from a low bench position. I crept the stock a little and thought I went blind in my left eye until I realized it was my newly relocated nose in the way.

An older SxS 12 ga. with narrow steel butt that doubled with buckshot.

A close third was my 1886 extra-lightweight with some Elmer Keith approved 425 gr. loads at around 1850 or so. Learned not to wrap my thumb over the stock with that one.

Winchester .458 mag with 500gr bullets.

Not real pleasant to shoot.

10 gauge Browning BPS and a S&W 357PD with full power loads......both had me questioning why?????

45-70 in a marlin lever action.......WITHP 405 gr BUFFALO BORE bullets. JUDAS!!!!! It fixed any ED problems one would ever have as it would knock your d*ck stiff!!! AND would keep your dentist in business as it was a mule kickin sob.

oh.. yeah.... just remember handguns too. S&W 329 PD.... not bad at all with .44 special, but a ball buster SOB that makes your hand hurt for a week wtih full house 44 mag loads!!!

At one point I was going to buy a single shot 10 ga 3" for duck hunting. Asked the seller if I could shoot it first.
Seller said Okay ...if I paid for the ammo. So I got to fire 2 rds.
Gave the seller the rest of the 10 ga. ammo box...and passed on the shotgun.

I was in middle school and borrowed my Dads 54 cal TC Hawken. Got a shot at a huge buck in the snow. I missed and the hammer bloodied my mouth and nose. I was way to little for that thing!

1. 378 Weebee pushing a 300 Gr nosler digits short of 3000 fps
2. 10 guage BPS shooting 2 0z high vel. turkey loads

these are some light, hard kicking shotguns!

.340 Weatherby fibermark....absolutely brutal, fast and hard. I'd rather pull both triggers at once on my double rifle.

There were two. First was a #3 Ruger in .375 Win with full power loads. The curved butt plate was responsible. Because of the way the butt plate was fitted it would have been a major job to install a recoil pad. Mostly shot reduced cast bullet loads while I had it and they weren't bad.

Second was a model 24 Savage 22 LR over a 20 gauge barrel. The stock was set up for a scope (high) and when factory shotgun loads were used the stock recoiled into my cheek. I thought it was going to be carved off my face. It sat in the safe for a long time but eventually it went down the road.

Jim

The first time I saw a photo of Ingwe in a leopard print thong! Damn near cracked my head open!

I had a 460 Wby for about 12 years. Kinda enjoyed it back when I was younger. It had a set trigger and would shoot nice groups. The 600 grain Barnes were a bit much, though. A young lady watching me shoot it one day commented it made every part of my body shake.

More recently, I had a 7.82 Lazzeroni Warbird. Off the bench with 180's, it would pivot the rifle verticle.

Besides those I've had 375's, 338's, various flavors of 300's and, living in Iowa, more than my share of slug guns. Never had a scope eye.

Also had many magnum handguns including Casull's, and 460 and 500 Smiths. But the worst kicking painful SOB ever has been a 12 oz 357 with full house loads. Never again!

An un-brakes .460 weatherby will teach ANYONE a thing or two about recoil...make sure your hands are sweat free as well...grins

To the person who asked why a BPS 10 gauge, well if you have to ask.....it is the best tool for the job. Those who have them understand. Small ducks at long range need both pattern density and enough jam to kill. That only comes from larger shot sizes and payloads due to crappy steel shot ballistics.

As to the .357 with full power loads, why not exactly? A gun at home does no good. A 10oz Jframe pistol goes real nice in the pocket and is never left at home. .357 hard cast rounds for 4 leg critters and .38's gold dots for 2. NYPD has filled up a couple arks with them.

You don't have to shoot full house all the time, but if you bought one and NEVER shot it with .357 you should turn in your man card!

378 Bee with no brake.

Lightweight 300 Win Mag. It would kick me in the face so hard that I literally thought i was going to get a concussion. A few rounds and I had a headache.

The 45-70 Marlin lever was no picnic either though...

I was flipping through a reloading manual the other day and just reading the little blurbs about each cartridge, and they commented that the 378 Weatherby pretty much took the cake for vicious recoil, even against the big .45 cal stuff. Ouchy.

My first memory of recoil was a short barreled pump that was stocked to short for me wit a thrown clay pigeon.... nice bloody nose from my own knuckle. The other is my Cabela's Hawken with some great plains bullets and a stout charge of BP, that thing smacks the heck out of my cheek bone!

I took a scoped combo 12ga/308 gun to the range. I planned on sighting in the 308 barrel on the bench then the 12ga slug off hand. Problem is......I settled the gun in the bags, held the gun "bench rest" style and mistakenly had the barrel selector on the 12ga barrel. Well, it knocked the snot out of me and left a pretty good gash over my right eye. First and only time I've been scoped....thus far.

Shooting a round of sporting clays with a hangover.......testament to the 14 pints of home brew stout I had the night before.

To make matters worse, I lost my money playing cards with my mate and his wife - Memories!!!

Gus

Damn this thread is funny!

My worst is actually an innocent looking sub-nose rovolver. A 10oz scandium frame titanium cylinder S&W .357 shooting full load 125g Federal Hydroshoks. My buddy and I have cleared many a gun range popping off that monster. Most I have gone is five rounds with a bloody web and a serious flinch after the first round.

Just thought of my worst long gun experience. Weapon qualification last year when the department accidentially ordered magnum load 12gauge slugs and we had to qualify using 16" barreled 870s. Thank god I am ambidexterous as two of the five people on the line couldn't finish the string. They just gave up and put the guns on the ground. At least I had two shoulders...

Had a buddy of mine shoot a turkey with a NE single shot lying prone. Broke his collar bone. Had a bad time getting out of the woods. Me, i detached the the jelly from inside my eye with a dang Mossy 935 3.5 inch mag while trying to get it to cycle right. Couldn't see good for a couple days. Shot it about 15 times. Had a light winnie pump that another buddy was going to take turkey hunting. Gave him 2 shells to pattern the gun over the hood of my pickup. After the first shot his nose was bleeding from being smashed by his thumb from the recoil of that POS. He gave me the other 3.5 turkey load back and said that was enough fun for that day. From the recoil data that I have seen, there is nothing much that matches a light 12 ga with 3.5 turkey loads.

i once had a interarms mark X in a 458 win mag , i really liked shooting it with 350 grain bullets then bought a box of 500 grain hornady's loaded 10 of them up and shot 3 still have 7 left

Didn't think about handguns. The most impressive (although not really painful) was with an SASS single shot on a 1911 frame.......in .308 Win.

When I first got this conversion unit I sort of expected that it would "buck up a bit" (as my daughters used to say) due to it's light weight and powerful round. What I didn't consider was the muzzle blast that would occur.

I mounted a scope on the unit and set up....as I always did.....on the kitchen table with sandbags. The table was 15 feet INSIDE the room with the back door open to shoot out in the back yard. I'd done this many times before with various rifles and handguns......but never with a 15" barreled .308!

I settled in and squeezed off the first shot. The pistol recoiled above my head, as expected. Then the muzzle blast hit the room.

There was a "storm" of paper in the air as notes were blown from the fridge, a calender flew from the wall and paper towels were ripped from the roll on the wall. Spice jars were blown from the shelf, a coffee cup sitting on the table was thrown to the floor and a dust cloud drifted around the room....thrown into the air from every shelf and cabinet that wasn't dusted recently. My hair was blasted up and stood straight out like an Albert Einstien imitation.

My wife, who was in the living room and didn't know I was about to shoot, ran into the room in a panic. Said the concussion from the shot was so strong that she thought the windows were going to crack and the lampshades wobbled....IN THE OTHER ROOM! She honestly thought the stove had blown up.

All further shooting was moved out in the yard. While the recoil was......vigorous......it was the blast that got my attention. The only thing that ever came close was the time I shot a .44 magnum revolver at a rabbit outside the passanger side window while sitting at the wheel. The muzzle was well inside the truck cab......not a good idea.

My worst recoil experience was the first 8 rounds through my then brand new Rem 700 in .375 Ultra mag. It bruised and opened up my right cheek, pounded my shoulder more than any gun that I had ever shot, and the bolt knob even recoiled hard enough to cut the skin on my trigger finger. My range session ended early that day, and I didn't fire that rifle again until I made some major modifications on it.

A year later that rifle was in a new laminated stock that fit me, complete with a Limbsaver pad and a mechanical recoil reducer in the stock, and a KDF brake on it's muzzle. It's recoil is reduced to not much more than my 12 ga field loads. I've since shot hundreds of rounds through that rifle without any issues with recoil. On my last hunt with that rifle, I didn't hesitate to shoot 3 antelope from prone positions, and I hardly noticed the recoil.

Tight choked Italian O/U with OO Buck. It was brutal!
A close second was an Ithaca Deerslayer with a 20-inch rifled barrel with sabot slugs. It shot just under 2 inches (center to center) at 100 yards though.

There was a guy in my CCW class who showed up with one of those, & the instructors started teasing him immediately - as in, the day before we had to qualify. He didn't finish his first round of shooting before he begged them to let him trade-out for his 9mm. They were most gracious, and allowed it.

I have a buddy who had a small-frame S&W .357 with small wooden grips. Quite pretty, they were, but the edges were squared-off enough that they cut the crap out of my hands after only 3 rounds.

Even a properly weighted handgun can't overcome tons of powder. I fired 2 rounds from a guy's Desert Eagle, & handed it back to him. I hit exactly where I was aiming, but my hands, wrists, elbows, arms, and shoulders were shaking, and I think I may have had a small "kiss" from the hammer... in my forehead...


FC

I shot a 454 Casull revolver just once and it gave me a headache from the shock wave.

Sherwood

Ruger No. 3 in .45-70 open sights w/stiff loads. Not far behind was a Winchester high wall Legacy, same caliber, with that dumb crescent butt and the Lyman tang sight. It was accurate but the pain was not worth the effort. Ithica Deerslayers with heavy buckshot loads were not fun either. jack

Marlin Model 917 in 17HMR... Three shots off the bench is all I could do. The shear recoil from that gun would shake the ground under your feet. After that the gun club band the 17HMR from ever being shot there again.....

This 7 3/4 # 458 Win mag shooting 510 gr. soft points. Not much fun.

Shooting prone, downhill and the heel of the pad slipped off my shoulder and under my armpit. The scope came back and bit my forehead and nose. The damage wasn't too severe because it was spread out over a wide area!

Did exactly the same thing as 280fan, only shooting uphill, and the rifle was a .25-06. Sharp edge on the scope cap drew enough blood for such a little rifle though!

I concur! I have the same gun and the same results. Must be a goofy stock design or something because you feel like you have been punched in the cheek after a few rounds.

Bosses Ruger #1 Tropical in .458 Lott. No muzzle break. He sent it to the range to have them sight it in and they sent it back after a few shots. Macho me shot it a couple of times from the bench and it kicked me right square in the bewtocks. Cut my eye on the third shot and I gave up. Might be ok if a Cape Buffalo were charging and I was standing up. I would have to be a semi-automatic in that case.

Ever tried the original 3" Brenneke full sized 12 gauge load. 1 1/4 oz. of pure love there!!

My ALMOST worse experience:
I was doing range officer duty at the local club. A member showed up with a new .458 Lott which he was very proud of. He offered to let me shoot it after he had it "dialed in." I watched him shoot it at the bench - at each shot his shoulder looked as if it was trying to jump backward right out of it's socket and he'd practically fall out of the stool. You could just about hear his teeth rattle inside his head. He'd compose himself and get settled back into place after each shot. To his credit, he touched off about 8 or 9 rounds. After that he turned to me to give me a chance to shoot it. I said, "No, thanks." My IQ is low enough to risk having my brains scrambled any more than they already are.

Add another victim to the Harrington & Richard 12 gauge. My 300 win was easier to shoot, my 338 was easier to shoot, my 375 was easier to shoot. my marlin 45-70 was easier to shoot. my 416 rigby was easier to shoot. my 458 lott was easier to shoot. The only way I could shoot that shotgun was to fold up a hand towel and rubber band it around the butt stock giving 3 inches of padding.

.577NE was pretty bad. I only shot it once and it darn near put me on my butt.
Freedom Arms .475 Linebaugh cut the crud out of my trigger finger. My uncle saw it and said "weird, it's never done that to me" Then he shot it for the first time without gloves and it did the same to him. I'm pretty sure he had some edges rounded out after that.

if you're shooting it, your a Masochist, just saying.

Shot heavy handloads in an 80's vintage Winne Featerweight 270 that would make you wince a bit too

'Nother H&R victim! Mine was into the test bbl @ the gun shop where I worked. A 3.5" model with a pretty laminated english stock. 2 1/4oz turkey loads. My right hand went numb for about 30min.

On the rifle side I shot a Wby Euromark in 416Wby and no brake off-hand. That's too much for me to do with any regularity and I'd hate to be the SOB that would actually have to sight that thing in. The same rifle in 378Wby (again no brake) was just about the same amount of "suck" to shoot.

Factory loaded 340Wby in a sporter weight MK V is about my recoil limit, and I don't enjoy it at all.

I have had two experiences that I will never forget:

First was a Ruger M77 in 458 Win Mag no muzzle brake, not sure what the ammo was, but I shot 2 shots from a bench. My shoulder was black and blue for about a week and a half.

Second was a 460 Weatherby in a Mark V rifle no brake, one shot off the bed of a truck and that was enough for me.

I shot a 375 H&H and yes it hurt but not as much as the two listed above. I shoot a 300 Win, 338 Win, and a 270 Weatherby consistently with no complaints.

I have an H&R 10 ga. with 2 1/4 oz. of shot from a 3 1/2" shell. That gun will HURT YOU.

Herein lies proof of a ruffed grouse nut. I was walking up to a clup of alder when two grouse flushed. The front bead ligned up before he gun engaged my shoulder and I squeezed the trigger. It is the only time I have been butt stroked on my chin by a twelve ga full brass. I do not recommend it. I did retrieve the grouse and it was a head neck shot. Unfortunately it was witnessed and the event was used as an object lesson the next days church service.

Mine goes along with getting "scoped" for the first time. Went to sight in a scoped 12 guage with 3" slugs. Gun was new to me and I put on a 4 power scope with not much eye relef. I had no place to rest the gun so I layed down, facing forward, on the knoll of a small hill and shot at a target on the other side of the hill. Laying prone with a 12 guage, short eye relief scope is not a good idea. I did not have the gun securely locked into my shoulder and when I fired, the scope smacked the heck out of my forehead. It broke my glasses and sliced a nice 1/4 circle right between my eyes. Before I realized what happened, I had blood dripping down my nose. One of many lessons learned as a young hunter. One I won't soon forget.

Easily my Mossberg 3.5" turkey gun. Brutal.

Three years ago I was running a stage at a CAS shoot. I was in a hurry that morning and grabbed a box of 12 ga. shells for the Stoeger SxS. Of course, carelessly rushing the stage, I touched off both triggers at the same time. I lost a hold of the shotgun and severly cut my trigger finger. The shot dazed me to put it mildly. It turns out I had grabbed a handful of 3" mag turkey loads. 6.5 lb. gun, no recoil pad ... it was almost a religious experience.

Ruger #3 in .45-70, 6 pound rifle, no recoil pad, just a hard plate, 400 grain Speer at 2200 fps at the muzzle.

I've run into some other kickers but that one stands alone way ahead of the rest of the pack.

When I was around 8-10 my dad let me shoot his 30-06 at the range. It had no recoil pad and hurt a lot. I've never shot that gun since.

You haven't lived until you've been 'scoped'. Myself and may others have received that half-moon, bloody, eyebrow. Sure rings your bell.

I've not been truly cut and bloodied, but I got whacked by a scope on a 700 XCR in .338 RUM hard enough to require an immediate trip to the chiropractor. It hit me hard enough to knock the atlas joint out triggering an instant headache so bad I had trouble not puking before I could walk to my truck.

Another time I was shootin' digger squirrels with a buddy's .458 and cast bullets. No prob. He slipped in a jacketed 510 grain factory bullet. Prob.

Another bad one I got ahold of was a SS Ruger #1 in .375. Somehow I got the point of the stock on top of a tendon near the base of my collar bone and when the gun went off I felt something crunch. I managed to keep the gun up on the bench but I hit the ground on my knees trying to heave. Couldn't shoulder a rifle for about 3 weeks afterwards.

Another real bitey one was a drilling I owned, 12x12x.35 WCF, about 7-1/2 pounds, with a steel butt plate. It wasn't any fun.

Funny thing, I don't own any of those guns anymore. Imagine that.

378 Weatherby!!!

Shot a Cape Buffalo with a .416 Remington mag. It was a very hot day and I was sweating real bad and when I shot with sweating hands the scope gave me a good cut between my eyes. All the pictures show blood running down my nose but I didn't care.

That would hurt...

Daughter #3 wanted to shoot one of my .45-70 460g/1812fps "Rhino Blaster" loads. I started her with the light kicker .45-70 loads and let her work her way up. Removed the scope from the Marlin 1895 before handing her one of the "Rhino Blasters". One was enough to satisfy her curiosity...

Worked those things up in a tee-shirt with the factory hard plastic buttplate. Ran about 40 through it that day. Oof.

my ex wife.

Years ago I had a .300 Weatherby.. shot it a few times and decided my ole .308 wasn't bad.

Mossburg 695 shooting 600 grain brenneke's.

I was shooting a Beretta 455 .470 NE and it doubled. Knocked my shooting glasses, earmuffs and hat off, but I did not drop the rifle. The Beretta Gallery gunsmith, Todd Ramirez, said there was a burr the caused the doubling to occur, too much dry fireing without snap caps. Sonehow I never really wanted to shoot that rifle any more.

Thompson Contender SSK barrel 375JDJ, recoil was straight back.
The 45-70 Contender barrel would hop up a little at least, not the 375

Browning A-bolt , plastic stock off sand bags , 220 gr. 325 WSM that belonged to a friend , first 2 shots almost touching next 3 opened up to about 6 inches as I began to flinch , danged thing kicks a lot worse than heavy load 30-06 220 gr. out of my model 70, about a week before I got full use of my right shoulder, he never shot it just sold it and as far as I know the next 2 owners were still working on the same box of shells that I opened and not 1 head of game taken , still don't know why it kicked so bad unless ity was a bad batch of factory ammo or the barrel was a little on the tight side but dang it hurt jrh55

Same here. I owned a S&W 340PD and it was easily the hardest recoiling firearm I have ever shot. I also owned the .44 Mag version and it wasn't nearly as fierce. I would compare the recoil of the 340PD to catching a fastball barehanded.

When I was 14 I shot a double barrel 10 guage pulled both triggers it made me take 2 steps backwards to keep from falling on my butt.
my tolarance now is below a 300 wsm it hurts.

Barrett 50BMG. the concussion coming back off the muzzle break knocked my cap off.

Next worse was a Remmy 700 in 338 ultramag. It hurt.....

1895 gov 45/70. P+ 300gr 18.5" barrel.

Worst I ever had was an H&R 12ga with the hard plastic buttplate. The 1 1/4 Federal Super Slugs were brutal. The 3" Magnum 00 Buck loads were even worse.

My worst experience with recoil was about three years ago just before Christmas.

In a couple hours one afternoon, I put twenty rounds through a laminate stocked Ruger MK II in.........260 Rem with 120 gr Nosler Bt's at respectable fps.

The problem though, I had a fully seperated tendon in my right rotator cuff. YEP, I was in the Orthopedist's office the next day begging for an MRI......and something a little stronger than Advil.

H&R 12ga with slugs. Never again.

"Another time I was shootin' digger squirrels with a buddy's .458 and cast bullets. No prob. He slipped in a jacketed 510 grain factory bullet. Prob."

I USED to have friends like that. I don't trust them that much now.

I will add. My first "religous recol experience" was when I, five years old at the time, was asked if I wanted to shoot dads 12 gauge, Beretta AL-2, when he and my uncle were shooting claybirds. Having only shot my BB gun at the time I aimed the shotgun the same way I aimed my BB gun. Head down, right cheek bone on the back of the reciever. Even with dad holding the stock into his shoulder to help me hold the gun up I was still knocked to the ground and had a great black eye story to bring back to school....Smoked the clay though.....

Guess I've been lucky and never really got surprised...

Have slowly worked my way up to heavier kicking stuff.
I always thought I wanted a 450NE or 458 Lott, but
currently have a Ruger 1-H in 450-400, unscoped with 400 Woodleighs. With full power
loads, I think I've reached "enough". Funny thing is, it's
a pussycat around 1900 fps. 2000 ain't bad. But 2170, off
the bench, it makes my joints ache for hours. May get around
to scoping it and having a decent pad put on it.

Mossberg 500 synthetic turkey 3" loads 18" barrel

Another candidate comes from a friend who was an Oregon state police officer assigned to game detail.

He said they had to qualify with the 12 gauge with pistol grip. One of their fun training things was hip-shooting clay birds. Using low-base target loads, they got a little sloppy. Apparently he "forgot" and canted the shotgun a bit when he was firing a 3" load of buckshot and the square rear above the pistol grip came back and hammered him on the hip bone.

Click the link below for Nitro Ammunition. Scroll down and you'll see the specs for 10ga 3 1/2" 3 ounce loads at 1200fps from a 24" barrel . I ran the numbers for recoil energy out of a 9 lb pump years ago but don't have the formula handy. It was scary. Friend of mine back in Alabama used these with 5 x 7.5 nickle shot in an Ithaca semi-auto. According to him you could shoot thru thick brush with them and they'd just cut a tunnel to the turkey. Nitro builds some wicked ammo.

Nitro Ammo CLICK IT

I had something similar to those, some reloads about 1000-1050 fps I think it was, and a H&R single-shot 10ga. I had never shot it. My father-in-law kept ribbing me and saying "you don't even know if it shoots" I kept saying "when we see a turkey, we'll know if it shoots". Finally we both agreed to shoo it, me first. I used the trick of having him behind and to my left (I am right handed), and leaned hard into the gun, gripping it very tightly. It moved my head around so hard it hurt the pinched nerve in may nexk and made my nose run. I winced but was able to hide the look as I handed it over. he popped a shell in, stood casually like he had a .22 in his hand, and let go. the forend jumped a foot or more out of his hand, and his face went all red from gettign SPANKED in the face by the buttstock comb. he looked at me dazed and I said, "Oh...did I foregt to tell you to hold on?" And blinked.

He cussed me all the way home

Was given a 378WTB in new shape with a box of ammo with 19 loaded cartridges and one empty case.
Now there is 3 empty casings .

I haven’t read through all of the comments and don’t have any big thumpers but my worst recoil experience was shooting a 12 gauge 3” turkey shell a couple of years ago. The bird came in from the opposite direction than expected. I shouldered the gun lefthanded with bad technique and let it jump into my shoulder/sternum. That definitely got my attention for a minute.

Mine is a brand new Benelli sbe3 lh. 3.5” Turkey loads . Took it out to pattern . I only shoot 3” now. I ve shot just about everything in rifles. This one took the cake ! Hit my nose with my thumb . Saw stars for about 10 min . Shot about 10” high also.

Cz over under 12ga. Using sport/ clay pigeon load #8 it Kicks like it has 3.5” magnum slug in there. I don’t dare to shoot anything bigger out of it. Lol.
I did pull both triggers once when I was younger and dumber. I shot it from the hip/on my side. Flew throug my hands and got scuffed up on the gravel. That one Still hurts Today.
Couple buddies who shoot, confirm this mule.

Original mosin 762x54R with metal butt plate is no fun.
But My 9.3 with 286s will get your attention. I’ll shoot 300WM Over it any day

I’ve fired various big bores and Barrett 50BMGs, but I still say a 7# 12ga and 2oz+ turkey loads suck worse than the rest….I did pull both triggers on a SxS with 1-1/4oz game loads on a dare as a teenager…..trigger guard busted a blood vessel in my finger. Just a witness, but I called up a turkey for a guy that had a recoil double in his O/U with 3.5s….broke a finger AND his nose…..killed the hell out of that bird though.

12 ga iver Johnson single barrel with a 36 in full choke, acquired it from the kinfolk when I was about 12 or 13 .should have known it was trouble when I need both hands to thumb back the hammer,stock had about3 inches of drop and was to long didn't matter what load you tan thru it you were going to get hurt..

A 500 Jeffery built on a Mauser 98 action using 525gn Woodleighs. I was standing of course, the recoil jolted my ear muffs across my face much to amusement of a group of onlookers standing closeby.

A Browning A Bolt in 300 Win. Mag..".I've owned 45-70's, 338 Win. Mag.and done a lot of duck hunting with 12ga 3" Mags. but that A Bolt off the bench was nasty.

300 RUM Light weight rifle.

I know a guy that said the same thing. He had a Sako 75 in .338WM that he'd much rather shoot than that A-Bolt 300WM.

Boat paddle 7mm Mag at the age of 13. It took many rounds of .22 to beat that flinch. And to this day I will not own a 7mm or a 300wm. I probably should though

I have my first gun I purchased at 16, a double Stevens 12 gauge. For some reason both barrels go off when you pull the right barrel trigger. I paid 60.00 for it in 1969. I bought it at a Globe store. It give a good jolt when both barrels go off when you aren’t expecting it.

I bought my first double while in my late teens…. a exposed hammer gun. I made the immature decision to cock both hammers, place two fingers into the trigger guard, thinking that this was a faster way to get off two shots with the double…….boy was I right! 😁 memtb

My worst recoil experience was a cumulative effect. In a moment of enthusiastic stupidity, I decided to sight in & shoot four rifles in one sitting:

Ruger #1 - 303 British
Ruger #1 - 9.3x74r
Winchester 1885 Octagon Safari - 375 H&H Magnum
Winchester 1885 Traditional Hunter (metal butt plate) - 405 Winchester (with handloaded 400gr Woodleigh Weldcores)

I was having fun during the middle of the pandemic / ammunition shortage so every time I pulled the trigger it sounded like a cash register ringing $$$. I'm not sure how much money I burned through that afternoon but it was cathartic. My shoulder was a nice color of purple the next morning. It actually felt pretty good in a weird sort of way.

Maybe it was just the day or what, but a Benelli Nova 12 gauge 3-1/2" gun shooting a 3-1/2" turkey shell with a 2-1/4oz payload just about loosened teeth in my head! Lol! One of those shells, in that gun, was more than enough...

TC Cherokee in 45. Something about the stock design and my facial structure. Stock hits me square on the boney part of my cheek/face directly under my right eye. I've had it since I was a kid and it hasn't gotten better with age.....

The only magnum I've ever shot is a 7mm. However, to go along with the theme of boat paddles, I used a Ruger M77 .30-06 boat paddle. That thing kicked worse than a rented mule. I'm in the same boat (pun not intended) that it took many smaller rounds to re-learn not to flinch.

Easily my 300 wby Mark V

Teammate and I trying all afternoon to get a Barret M107 dialed in. Hurt to shoot my M4 the next day!

12 gauge 3" magnum with rifle slugs, 2nd was an1886 Winchester 45-70 shooting 500gr cast bullets

Remington 870 Express with 20" slug barrel and open sights, firing rifled slugs. 3 shots from a bag was a guaranteed headache.

Worst recoil experience with a handgun would be shooting 5 of M_Stevenson's handloads through his shortened (4"-ish) SuperRedhawk in .480 Ruger. Damn...

A 458 Win in a lightweight synthetic stock, it had a peep sight and no scope it weighted about 6-1/2 lbs.
I shot it off of a bench and on the first shot it jumped clear of the sandbags and I barely managed to keep the fore-end from hitting the bench. It was like being kicked by a mule - of course I figured that all I had to do was hold it slightly differently and it wouldn't be so bad. Wrong - the second shot hurt worse than the first. So I can say that I have had a grand total of two shots through a 458 Win, I don't want to kill anything bad enough to ever do a third one.

drover

.470 NE. Guy at the range maybe 20 years ago. Light gun. Way too light. Too short for me to boot.

Shot a few (owner didn’t want to), laughed it up, but it was more than a handful. Did not inspire confidence in terms of saving my life. It was just too hard to handle.

I've shot a bolt 50 BMG without a muzzle break on a Mauser magnum action. It wasn't the worst. Maybe because I was holding her tight, and the rifle was heavy.
I think shooting a double 3" Magnum in a light double barrel might have been the worst. Maybe because I wasn't expecting both barrels to go off simultaneously
My 416 Rigby Ruger 77's stock did not fit me well. It caused headaches rather quickly; I was shooting close to 416 Weatherby power loads in it though (no muzzle break).
The friend who had the 50 BMG also had a 460 Weatherby, especially ordered without a muzzle break, shooting heavy loads in that wasn't something I'd like to do all day.

10 gauge slug out of an old H&R single shot... one shot... never again. Glad that thing wasn't mine is all I can say. Fugger about knocked me crosseyed.

1st gen mossberg 835 with federal 3 1/2in 2 1/4oz #6 turkey loads. I've read in the past those loads were about equivalent to a 458 winchester....and all to kill a bird.

I talked to a guy who turkey hunts with a 10ga single, said he belly crawled up onto a railroad track once to snipe a bird on the other side. Said he woke up 30 minutes later after pulling trigger.

I can only imagine.

3 1/2” 10 ga Rem SP-10 was bad enough and it’s a lot heavier than the SS version.

DF

Have a 405 win on a TC Encore that is not so much fun. It is however more accurate than my friends thought it would be. They declined the opportunity to shoot it however. Big holes going in and out of Ca deer.

This.

Never shot a 10 gauge that was even close to the recoil of these or a Benelli 3.5" auto.

Those things flat out kick.

I can literally see that playing out in Elmer Fudd cartoon fornat in my head 🤣

This guy was maybe 5'6'', worked for a insect exterminator co, looked like a long haired hippy. He was a turkey killing fool but it caught up with him, got caught poaching and got in trouble. State had him also pay for bird to be mounted, which my buddy got to do.

4 bore.

Here is a picture of a friend firing the same rifle with a light charge of powder (no, I am not kidding) What I zeroed the gun with was a charge 45% more than what this man is firing.

4 bore in action by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

JFC... why not just take a cannon and put a stock on it? 🤣🤣🤣

Was that actually used hunting? Given you sighted it in, I am guessing there was some intent there... at least until he fired it 😂

A friend bought a Ruger #1 chambered in 416 Remington. The recoil was nasty. He sold it pretty quickly.

Nothing like resurrecting a decade-old thread.

Everyone loves zombies now and then 🧟‍♂️

Or starting a new one on same subject like is done every day!!🤣🤣🤣

For X-mas at age 12 my father got me 350 Remington 600. With an 18 inch barrel and 250 grain hand loads it kicked like a mule. Over 50 years later that thing is still no fun to shoot.

Some people just aren’t very bright??!

PennDog

Weatherby Mark V, German manufacture, 378 Wby. Factory 300 grain. Very light rifle. Actually saw stars because of the recoil. Shot a 470 double same day. That 378 was the worst by far.

first deer rifle my parents bought me was a savage synthetic stocked 270, 4 shots was about all I could handle with my shoulder turning purple. Just getting into deer hunting and guns I swore off long action rifles for years due to it being uncomfortable to shoot.
2nd experience was hot 45/70 405 loads my buddy recommended it was book safe but pulled the trigger and that hard plastic butt pad made my arm numb. I unloaded the 15 remaining rounds.

There is a chance I replied to this thread a decade ago, but I'm not going to read 16 pages to find out so this may be a repeat.

An 870 Super mag firing a 3 1/2" turkey load. If that is what I need to kill a turkey with, I don't want to hunt turkey.

WAAAAAY back in 1976 I picked up one of the recently re-introduced Marlin 1895's used. This version was only made one year so not many have seen it. That version had a straight grip with the 22" barrel and 1/2 mag tube. The front sight was in a dovetail instead of a ramp and the buttplate was curved and made of hard plastic.

The guy I bought it from gave me a few 500 gr handloads. I was 19 and thought I was tough, but those loads, in that rifle, nearly made me cry.

I was 14…pointing a single shot 10 ga of my neighbor’s with some sort of turkey load….was sitting on a five gallon bucket….pulled the trigger….and then I wasn’t.

Also tried some 3.5” buckshot in my SBE….only tried it once and gave the balance of the box to a friend.

I'm like JMR40, I may have posted many years ago. I had only shot a BR rifle other than rimfires and a friend gifted to me with a Weatherby Mark 5 in 300 Weatherby. I put it in the bags and shot it like my BR rifle-free recoil. Put a very bad cut on my eye that needed 4 stitches and of course the rifle fell to the concrete floor surrounding the bench. Not the hardest recoiling rifle that I have shot, but first and last hunting rifle free recoil.

Full factory load 458 Winchester Magnum in a Model 70. One shot only. Not my rifle it was a dream gun of a friend of mine. Same range trip he fired it twice and put it away. He never shot it again and sold it 2 years later.

Model 700 Classic in 35 Whelen shooting hot 225 gr loads off the bench. First time bleeding from being scoped.

Bdl ss in 375 ultra with no scope got my attention. Maybe 7.5 pounds with full house hot loaded 300g A frames. Seriously wonder how many rounds before my retinas would detach. Fast sharp hard recoil. Made my 375 ruger seem easy.

As a kid it was a single shot H&R 12 gauge with no recoild pad and 3" lead 1&7/8th ounce Winchester super XX magnums. I got my first goose with that 5 pound single shot and 3" lead xx #2s. They were directly overhead and the recoil knocked me the rest of the way over but the bruises healed and the goose smoked up nice for Christmas.

My friend teased me about it until he borrowed the gun and it did the same to him. I'd convinced him the Active rounds would kick less than low brass because they were no brass. They were still 3" mag 1&7/8ths lead. He still acusses me of having reloaded it. In his mind the power is still always determined by brass lenght. Full length old brass cased rounds scared him to death.

Bb

A Remington 7400 in .270 that I bought for my dad. Did not fit me. Three 3 shot groups from the bench. Nine rounds total. I had a recoil head ache that lasted all afternoon. Same time, I had a Savage 7 rem Mag that I could shoot all afternoon with zero discomfort...

Benelli SBE3 with 2.5 ounce tss turkey loads is a handful. Even with a steadygrip stock.

My 7600 carbine 35 whelen with full house 225 grain loads is a handful and a half. That's a light rifle.

I don't load my .45-70 hot enough to worry about anymore. I used to load 425 grain casts hot enough it would rattle the teeth in my skull and almost put me on my butt. I'm surprised I haven't blown that Marlin apart.

12ga 3.5” turkey load in a mossberg 500 pos pump.

Mossberg 12 gauge 3” plastic stock turkey gun. Never shot a rifle that kicked as much.

Both triggers at once in a 20 gauge double barrel. First time I ever shot a shotgun. And I wasn’t very big. I don’t remember any pain. But it was an experience.

I had an 1895 Browning lever rebored to make it a 35 Whelen. I put about 2 boxes of ammo through it one day at the bench. I had a bruise the size of a dinner platter.

I eventually sold it and replaced it with a BLR in 358 Win and haven't looked back.

Dan

.300 Weatherby always kicked like a mule, I had a tall, long necked friend who shot one. Every time he shot that rifle he ended up with a bloody lip, it kicked so hard that the knuckle of his thumb busted him in the mouth.

Browning BPS 10 gauge with 3 1/2” 1 3/4oz rifled slugs seated off the bench. Ouch.

That’s felony child abuse in 37 states

Lahti L-39 20mm. Shooting WWII ammo, the first shot didn't go off, which really ratcheted up the suspense...

When I first started hunting deer with a handgun in Iowa I thought the .454 Casull was the answer to my question. And it worked great on a few deer for me. I used 320 gr. cast bullets with max loads. Didn't have a chrono at the time. IIRC it was 28 gr. of H110 behind that bullet. As a pistol it wasn't absolutely brutal, though I ended up going to a .357 Maximum in a successful effort to reduce recoil. Anyway, one day I decided, because I was young and dumb, to see what that .454 Casull felt like set up with the buttstock on it. Bad, bad idea. Thing kicked like a damned mule! The only other worse recoil experience I can think of is when I decided to put a 3" shell with a maximum load of #2 lead shot in it through the single shot H&R 12 gauge that I started my wingshooting experience with. That was a monster also. The most powder I've ever burned was working up loads for a friend's .338/.378 Wby and also my first experience shooting a rifle with a muzzle brake. I dreaded pulling the trigger the first time, but the brake worked a treat and it felt like I was shooting a .308 Win, with a bonus shockwave and gas blowback from the brake, but I got used to it quickly.

Sako 375 H&H Carbine full stock. Shot it four times off the bench with some "leftover" Safari 300gr handloads. I swear it hurt me between my shoulder blades it kicked so hard. I stood up after those 4 and said never again.
#2 Mossberg 3 1/2" 12ga. turkey load. One and done.

Four and a half pound Contender Carbine in 45-70. After each shot the rifle would be pointing up and to the right after having bounced off of my face.

I have an original 1895 Winchester in 30-06 with the crescent butt. The first time I shot it was with some factory 180 gr bullets. It was hot and I only had a tee shirt on. I didn't know about putting the butt high on my arm and had bruises and bloody spots on my chest. I still shoot it a couple of times a year, but with cast bullets at around 1800 fps and padding on my arm.

I think for me is my 45-120 Shiloh sharps with steel recoil pad

Single action 44 magnum, those smooth wood grips are not made for 44 mag recoil, felt like the gun was gonna jump out of my hands.

Twisted up on a hill taking a running shot on a deer with my 458 when I was a kid. Pulled the stock off my shoulder and let a 500 grainer rip a full tilt. Deer stopped to see if I was ok and then bounded off.

#1 don't remember the make of it, but when I was in high school a bud had a single shot 10 gauge he said was his "goose gun". That thing hurt.

#2 another pards Rem 600 in 350 mag. No recoil pad. That was pretty testy off the bench.

# Ruger #3 in 45-70 with full house loads.

Remington 700 300 RUM, totally was not expecting how vicious that thing was.

I had Rossi 12ga coach gun that wasn't fun at all. It had a steel buttplate and with magnum shells it hurt. Didn't keep it very long. Partner had a single shot 50 bmg that wasn't a lot of fun either. He shot a grizz with it up the Talkeetna river one time and got scope bit kinda bad. He sold it shortly thereafter.

Mine is a toss up between a .416 Rigby and a .458 Lott....

I can't explain it bud another guy's 270 with 150 gr winchester silver tips in a marlin xl7 I think it was... Now I've never shot huge calibers but this thing kicked more than any 12 Guage slug, 45-70 or anything else.

H & R break open single shot in 10 gauge. Brutal recoil. - Sherwood

Baikal single shot 308. The stock was a weird euro style that was very good at putting all the recoil of that barely 5lb rifle right into your face. Owned it for about 4 days. I learned stock design matters with that one.

Benelli Super Black Eagle (Series 1) with 3 1/2” #5s. It was tolerable and expected recoil when shooting properly BUT….I got caught slipping up on a Tom and quickly dropped prone inside of a two track lane. Both my elbows were about head height and my shoulder down in the dirt. I called the bird up to 30 yards and when I pulled the trigger, I saw stars. I thought I broke my clavicle (probably cracked it) it hurt so bad.

Very similar to above... BPS Upland Special with a 22" barrel

I STILL remember it and where I was 30 years later.

Me too. BDL LSS 300 RUM, I toughed it out for a couple years as my deer rifle until while checking zero one year the knurling on the bolt somehow took the skin off my trigger finger. Never shot it again.

Winchester 370, 12 gauge, 36" bbl., full choke.

Dad bought it, believing it would be the perfect "turkey shoot" gun for the weekend competition at his VFW hall.

It wasn't. Only tight patterns it made were the black and blue ones on my shoulder.

I have a 370 .410 that I got for Christmas back in '68 or '69, I don't even know how many squirrels that thing has killed. Pleasant little gun to hunt with.

Most brutal was a 3" 12 ga. single barrel I bought about '73 or so.

My Guide Gun with original Marlin stocks and 425 grain bullets at 1800+ fps is first runner up.

Mine was a friend's Ruger boat paddle chambered in .270, as well. It wasn't particularly brutal, but that gun definitely punched above its weight.

A Savage model 10FP .30-06 with the cheesy plastic stock, I've never shot an '06 that was even close to it in recoil.

Easily the most painful gun of any caliber I've tried.

Having a Stoeger coach gun 12 gaugle double fire with slugs

Buddy of mine shot a turkey with his Mossberg 835 using a 3-1/2" shell with a 2-1/4oz payload. Bird came in from behind and slightly above him. He turned, and twisted, to make the shot not realizing the butt pad was now on his bicep instead of his shoulder. He got the bird, he also got just about the prettiest bruise, from his shoulder to his wrist, that I've ever seen! Blues and purples and yellows...

Yup! Late 60s, 68-69 M77RS 338 WM. I'm a Ruger guy, but that sombitch hurt!

Synthetic stocked, lightweight 458 Lott. 510 grain bullet at 2300+fps.

Thing weighed less than 8 pounds.

Oddly, it never bothered my shoulder much, but after about 3 shots I'd have to have the chiropractor twist my head back into position!

I re-barreled it to something else.

Current toy is a nine pound-ish 375 RUM. 300@2800fps is a pussycat in comparison.

Savage 210 bolt action slug gun
Winchester 3” partition gold slugs

BPS 10 seems to get quite a few mentions. LOL

I will never forget the sound that sucker makes when racking one to the chamber though. Like no other.
One time my dad was in deer camp alone and late at night there was a bunch of hollering and messing around going around in the woods, probably teens or something. Stepped outside and racked that old 10 gauge twice and it became silent night.

Interarms bolt action 30/06 with 180 ammunition. Buddy of mine had it and was commenting on how hard it kicked and I told him I had shot several 30/06’s and didn’t think they were bad. Well when I shot his it was all you could do to keep ahold of it. The only thing I could think of was the shape of the stock. Shot the 870 and 835’s in 3.5 inch shells and they will make your eyes water too.

This is also my worst. Wasn’t my gun or idea, but I tried it…..once.

Easily a 835 with 3 1/2 inch #4’s . My back was against a Live oak. No roll. No movement. Just cold blooded recoil. Thankfully the first shot killed the gobbler. For a second I wondered who got the worst end of the deal.

GreggH

I had the H&R 10 gauge. That was pretty fierce

Without a doubt its my BPS 10 with Nitro Hevi Shots 2 5/8 oz loads @1200 fps. I normally only take one target shot per year but damn its rough. I always hype myself up and thnk that i am ready but there just no way to prepare yourself for that.

35 Whelen, prone, 2 5 shot groups with a Rem 700 classic in the summer wearing a t shirt.. The rifle was very accurate.

My worst was a H&R handi rifle in 45-70 with hot handloads. Thing weighed maybe 6 lbs and 405 gr. at 1700 fps was a headache machine

378 Bee #3 barrel contour Jap made no brake

.45-70 steel crescent butt plate marlin lever; cheek slap was brutal; that slick, curved plate helped the forend rise if rifle wasn't held securely. non-rifle: H&R single shot 10 gauge turkey gun, even with the butt loaded with shot ...

Savage 99F in 308 with a scope mounted on it Felt like Mike Tyson was punching Me in the cheek every time I fired it.

Shooting ounce and a half "baby magnum" duck loads out of my father's 12 ga. Ithaca Featherlight M37 pump. As a 12 year old. ( back in the lead shot days) That was painful and actually a little scary. I sure as heck didn't kill ducks any deader with those shells than standard duck loads with 1-1/4 oz of shot, which also kicked bad but were "manageable". Loved that old Ithaca but it was not a good fit for me or the purpose I used it for.

My TC Encore with a 12ga slug barrel shooting 3" Beneke Magnum Crushes. I've been scope bit many times.

2 years ago they changed our laws so that now you can use a straight wall rifle cartridge. I've had enough of that and bought a 350 Legend barrel for it. I'll probably never shoot that 12ga ever again.

My first rifle was a Rem 700 BDL in 308, purchased in 1978. That rifle kicked like a Mule. I have since learned it was that particular run of stocks for that era.

A 338 Win Mag Ruger Tanger a “friend” brought over for me to check zero before deer season. That rifle kicked like a mule. I told my friend to never bring that rifle to me again. He sold it soon after……..

A light Mossberg 500 shooting a slug. I stupidly had my thumb across the stock grip. At the shot, my thumb nailed me right across the nose. Killing both my nose and thumb.

I once owned an 8 pound all up 375H&H and it was not bad to shoot at all, even with 300 grainers. I normally used 235 or 270s though.

My most recent was a Tikka in 30-06 with the hard wedge shaped recoil pad they put on. I shoot steel butt-plated 300 H&H and 45-70s that didn't hurt as bad. The 45-70 came close though.

Not my worse recoil experiece but one I observed. Back when the Marlin Guide Gun was introduced in 45/70 I happened to be at the range when a guy showed up with one. He was shooting from a sitting benchrest position trying to sight it in He proceded to put two boxes of factory ammo through it fairly quickly and when he got through he was literally "punch drunk", he had trouble standing and steadying himself and his eyes looked glassed over. I have never seen anyone look so stupified as he did, that ended any idea that I may want one someday.

drover

Hey, now! Maybe the original thread was started by an absolute baller, & deserves to persevere.



My Dad had a similar experience... in his late 80s... The purple & yellow bruising lasted for weeks.

There have been so many turkey-centric responses here, I'm beginning to wonder whether those sunsabytches are tougher than elk.


I can identify on this one, though maybe not quite to the Mike Tyson level. FWIW, the .308 went down the road, whereas the .300 SAV will never leave the safe.

FC

Guess I’ll add another. I don’t know if it is my worst, but I got my son a cheap little auto 20 last spring and decided to turkey hunt with it. It’s fine with dove loads, but with that kiddie sized stock I’ve yet to manage to fire a turkey load without my thumb knuckle making firm contact with my cheek bone. Was a real nice surprise when a 3” TSS shell managed to end up in my sporting clays bag while I was breaking the gun in. That was a pricy and jarring miss…

Mossberg 835 with 3 1/2 inch magnum turkey loads. 2 oz of shot launched at 1300 plus fps. No rifle I have ever fired is even in the same ballpark of recoil. I have shot a Ruger 1 in 375 H&H and it was like a BB gun in comparison.

I have shot quite a few heavy recoiling rifles and revolvers.

.470 Nitros, .458 Win, 416s both Rigby and Rems,.378 Weatherby, .460 Weatherby, .500 Nitro, .475 Linebaugh, .500 Linebaugh, .454 Casull, ect.

The most recoil was Ross' .585 Nyeti but it had a well designed stock. 750 grs @ 2300 fps in an 11lb rifle is a handful.

The worst thing I ever shot was a simple Ruger Red Label 12 G with normal 1 1/4 hunting loads.

Hit me in the face from the drop at comb/heel and was just impossible for me to hit anything.

My worst recoil experience happened about a month ago, when a red-faced, fat, balding pic of Burns appeared here on the fire. Dislocated an eyebrow.

Hunting geese. They took off up-valley from me and came over. headed for the Inlet. I shifted my feet to shoot. Or tried. Feet stuck in mud- I went flat on my back, but shot anyway, twice with a 12 Ga. DB. Missed twice.

Not a good move....

The worst recoiling rifle I ever shot was a New Mossberg 7 Mag. given to me. 10 shots, and I sold that sumbich and remaining 1/2 box shells. Never much cared for the 7 Mag since.

My first shotgun when I was probably 14 was a h&r single, 22 inch or so Barrel with changeable chokes, and chambered in 3-1/2 inch. It weighs less than your average 1000 fps pellet gun, and will let you know you pulled the trigger. The 3-1/2 #4 are no joke with that full choke, makes the 835 ive got feel pleasant, with its thumbhole stock

Browning BAR .30-06, short barrel and concussion from the muzzle blast bad combo. Created tunnel vision.

An M700/8mm Rem Mag.

Screw dat.




GR

340 Webby in an 8 lb rifle owned by some guy on 24HR 😊

Any centerfire with a Ruger stock, T/C Hawken with it's beautiful brass butt plate, and a NEF single shot with slugs. Honorable mentions goes to a Chinese SKS with it's horrible ergonomics.

I had the same gun as a kid and I wasn’t smart enough to not pull the trigger. My dad took it away from me until all the bruises went away. 1-7/8 oz Remington nitro mags.

I've only owned 2 long guns I got rid of due to recoil....

The first was a 1970 semi automatic 12 ga Ithaca model 300 featherweight.....a recoil operated semi that kept my shoulder black n blue.....have owned gas operated semis ever since.

The second was an early 90s Remington 700 ADL 3006 that treated me the same way. No way I could ever determine how accurate it may have been as I dreaded bench shooting with it.

Weatherby Mark V 300 WM. Absolutely violent. I’ve shot up to a 458 win mag and it wasn’t nearly as bad as that Weatherby or any long Weatherby magnum in any platform.

My 45-70 guide gun with hot 430gr slugs @1800fps will get your attention.

I have a old howa 06 with a cheap plastic stock that is uncomfortable to shoot, but it shoots an inch so I've left it alone. One day I need to re-stock that one, it's way worse felt recoil than my 338 WM with 250gr slugs.

Exactly my load in my GG. it will get your attention….but, certainly not horrible! Now with a short eye relief scope…..that really gets your attention! 😉 memtb

300 WinMag in a Interarms wood stocked rifle. Prone position in August with a Tee shirt on and I thought it broke my collar bone. Traded it in for a 243 LOL!!!

Remington 870 supermag with a pre-released Boyd’s thumb hole stock, shooting 3” slugs. I thought I had broken my nose and cheek bone at that moment blood and all.

I fired three rounds through a .458 Lott about 10 years ago. I was the only one to fire three as all the other blokes would only fire one. We were standing up but it still bit two of them. The claret started flowing.

470 chapstick with 600 grain bullets. THAT gun had broken 3 Stocks .It was a custom model 70 win .It broke every scope they put on it .The other was a 375 jdj carbine in tc contender carbine .It blew open the action and bent the scope mount and blew me out of the chair