I just bought a 25-06 and went out to shoot it yesterday. I was shooting 117 grain hornady SSTs. I ran 30 rounds through it and can' t even tell I was shooting today. It is a handi rifle with an ultra barrel synthetic stock with standard recoil pad. If I tried that with my 30-06 with white line 1 inch recoil pad shooting 165 grain Hornadys, I would be bruised today. Amazing what a difference 37 grains makes. I was wondering if my 30-06 with 125s would be the same. Anyone ever compare 25-06 with 120s or 117s to 30-06 with 125s? Just wondering if recoil is similar?