Arctic - I'm used to shooting big bores so the recoil wasn't uncomfortable. It just that I was used to shooting the 275 gr bullets and these 460 grainers recoiled substantially more. Its just that I wasn't expecting that much more. It was a 'funny' surprise. After the first shot I had no 'surprises'. Sabot did warn me that the recoil was stout but I forgot all about it.