Over the years and tears Boomer I have come to the conclusion that felt recoil has a lot to do with "time of recoil" the higher the velocity, the sharper and more unpleasant the recoil. Just like muzzle energy figures, recoil increases by the square of the velocity but in direct relation to bullet weight. When one starts pounding out energy figures upwards from 7000 ft lbs the recoil is in a direct relationship to the muzzle energy, however if one does it with a 500 gn bullet @ 2550 it is a sharper recoil than if one does it with a 650 gn bullet @ 2200 fps or a 750 gn bullet at 2050 fps. This is why the 577 seems much more pleasant to shoot than the 378 or 460 Wby.........that plus the double I shot likely weighed 13 or 14 lbs while the bolt guns were probably closer to 10 lbs.
My 470 is pretty much right on design ballistics and spits it's 500 gn out at 2160 fps for just shy of 5200 ft lbs. That's the problem with doubles is once you hit regulated speed any increase in velocity and your accuracy goes out the window as far as your right/left groups go. For the uninitiated the 470 seems a little wild but really it's a big pussycat, moves ya around a little but certainly doesn't hurt. When my boy tried it he quite liked it and had never shot anything bigger than his 375 Ruger prior, it wasn't anything like he expected he said.
My 450 Ackley is still the most obnoxious recoiling rifle I've ever owned, however the most painful I've ever fired was an original Rigby light rifle in .416. It weighed about 8 lbs and had a horn buttplate about 1" wide and 3 1/2" long and WAY too much drop in the stock. Both shoulder and cheek took a while to heel after 4 rounds from that baby. (Ya I know 4 rounds, stupid and 18) The most recoil I've encountered was from a 4 bore, not painful just massive and difficult to hang onto under recoil.
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