Yes, but they do have pretty decent recoil pads on them. And I bought a slip over one that has the gel inside it. They are still a 12 guage and will kick if you feed them some good loads. I bought mine for turkey and it was managable. The porting does an excellent job at reducing muzzle flip. I'm pretty small and even with turkey loads the barrel stays pretty level after the shot. This could help with recoil as well since the gun is moving more straight back than back and up? I have shot 20 guages that kicked harder than my mossberg did, but they were lighter as well.

There is a noise difference however. The porting is bit louder. Not as bad as a high powered rifle with a muzzle break, but loud enough that hearing protection is a must if you plan on shooting it more than once.

The twin beeds are nice as well. I ended up putting tru glo fiber optic sights on mine. They clamp to the ribbing.

I bought two extra chokes for mine.

Extended Modified choke tube

Turkey choke

Paul