Having a gunsmith mate who regulates doubles is a big advantage: a couple of .577s, .500 Nitro, plenty of .470s, .465s etc (plus an assortment of bore-guns), one mate with a .505 Gibbs, another with a .460 Weatherby. Because the gun-weight increases with the power of the cartridge, it is very difficult to measure recoil subjectively.

I have sighted-in an 8-pound plastic-stocked .458 guide-rifle that clocked 2120 fps with 500-grainers over my chrony, THAT was interesting! Eight shots from the bench, all but the last one were touching, I held it together OK, but it took a LOT of will-power!

The rifle I remember that bit me the hardest was a BRNO .308 belonging to the son of a friend of mine. He proudly offered it to me for appraisal. The first shot belted me in the chops. Damn! Mustn't have held it right. Mounted it very carefully for a second shot. Blam! belted me in the chops again! Lousy stock fit of course. As I handed it back, that young fellow was quite upset by my suggestion about where he could store his firearm in the short term!