I bought a slightly used Mossberg Cruiser in 12 Ga. Being an old cop, I knew the recoil was going to be horrendous and it was. I fired 3 shells of birdshot out of it, put it away and ordered an adjustable Mag-Pul plastic stock for it. Didn't shoot it again till I had the stock on it.

A friend had 2 Magnum Research single shot pistols, one in .223 and the other in .30-06. I fired the .223 and it was about like a full .357 magnum load. Fired the .30-06 and felt like it loosened my teeth in the gums. He was laughing as he told me I had just fired a full governmant ball .30-06 round in it. I held onto it OK, but didn't want to shoot it any more. It was NOT comfortable!