there is scientific statistically calculated recoil, and then there is perceived recoil  here are so many factors involved in "perceived recoil" that it is hard to make anything but the most general statements of personal opinion.

consider that shooting the very same load in the very same rifle offhand, off the bench, kneeling, and prone can very well create four different sensations and reactions to the recoil----and yet statistically they should be the same.    Likewise one can take that specific rifle and mount the barreled action in a different stock and fire the same loaded round from any specific position and again sense two different recoil sensations.

dsm wrote on Jun 7^th, 2015 at 10:21pm:


Given the same initial positions (standing, seated):
It should take a smaller fraction of the total available amount of applied force (recoil) to overcome the (at rest) inertia of a lighter body (person) and place that body in motion.
And since the recoil is not applied in a direct line with the center mass of the body, but is offset (distance from center mass to the shoulder or arm of the person), the remaining portion of the applied force is increasingly deflected as the body rotates away from the line of the applied force.
A larger fraction of the total available amount of applied force (recoil) would be required to overcome the at rest inertia of a heavier body, and... 
The heavier body (or body with a "heavier build") should experience more "felt recoil" than the lighter body.

my initial post:


I think that might be true if the recoil was directed at center of mass.
As we are all about the same from head to shoulder, I think any difference is minimal.

I think BP said it better.

According to a friend and fellow shooter, recoil is all in your mind.  He'd like to just once read an article that didn't complain about recoil.  I don't agree and he doesn't seem to have much to say when I tell him that black and blue spot is on my shoulder, not on my mind. Personally, I don't mind recoil at all, as long as it's being applied to someone else.

JS

I used to be pretty tolerant to recoil.  Three years ago I had shoulder surgery in my right shoulder.  The surgeon placed a stud in my shoulder to tie off the stitches and I have been sensitive to recoil ever since.  I am slowly building up my tolerance as time go by but after shooting 100 rounds of 20GA at sporting clays yesterday my shoulder still feels it.

Cat,
The 458 Win Mag is tough.

The US government supplies indigenous Alaskan Natives (Eskimos) with 458's to help them hunt. (lot of big game up there)
The 458 at the time was only chambered in the Supergrade stock as it has an extra recoil lug. It's expensive.

When we first started using composite stocks, I was asked to put one together on a 458, the thinking being it wouldn't crack or split.
It was much lighter than with the Supergrade stock.
I shot it , 25 rounds, it hurt . 
I was wearing the best Past shooting vest with pad and an additional pad on top.

I called the head of engineering, a hunter and fairly big guy. He shot it and flinched a bit, he thought it was viable.
We called the head of marketing in to try it.
He took one shot, winced and said nothing.
He didn't return to work for 2 days.