Daryl,
First of all the gun has a very good recoil pad on it, that helps to take the bite out of it.
Second, this gun was built as a NfB rifle and the load is not the full .577 nitro with a 750 grain bullet at 2050 FPS., this one shoots a 650 grain bullet at 1850 FPS., that is quite a reduction in felt recoil. Still this gun recoils enough that I almost lost control of it a couple of times while regulating it. Part of the problem back then was that the forearm was too large to get a good grip on it. The one that is on it now is sized down to a smaller version of the old one, that is much easier to hold on to. Bob