More of a hard push than a kick. I own 3 .444m and 4 .45-70's. According to the loads, they really aren't all that bad to shoot. Actually with the .444, unless I'm loading it really heavy in bullet weight and powder, it's a fairly mild recoiling rifle. All my .45-70's are fairly heavy so that takes up a good bit of recoil energy. 2 of them are original Sharps so I don't load heavy charges in them. The other 2 are Modern repros and have very beefy action and chambers to withstand VERY heavy charges and I sometimes take them to the limits. THOSE loads dang well let you know you are shooting!