One way of diagnosing a recoil problem is to take turns with your friend loading each other's rifle. Each time put a round in the magazine and close the bolt, but once in a while hold down the cartridge and close the bolt on an empty chamber, making sure he does not see what you're doing. Then watch where the sights end up when you snap on an empty chamber. It can be a revealing experience.

A folded towel under your shirt at the shoulder can go a long way to relieving pain from recoil. Also, you want to hold the rifle firmly against your shoulder so as to prevent its getting a "running start" before it makes contact.

Our high school physics teacher used to demonstrate this principle by placing an egg on top of a four inch square made of 1/4" steel place, which he let fall to the ground from shoulder height. The egg invariably broke.

When he repeated the demonstration with the egg taped firmly to the steel plate, the egg remained intact.

Just imagine your shoulder as that egg and the rifle butt as the steel plate, and try to keep them firmly together when the shot breaks.