Tight choked Italian O/U with OO Buck. It was brutal!
A close second was an Ithaca Deerslayer with a 20-inch rifled barrel with sabot slugs. It shot just under 2 inches (center to center) at 100 yards though.

There was a guy in my CCW class who showed up with one of those, & the instructors started teasing him immediately - as in, the day before we had to qualify. He didn't finish his first round of shooting before he begged them to let him trade-out for his 9mm. They were most gracious, and allowed it.

I have a buddy who had a small-frame S&W .357 with small wooden grips. Quite pretty, they were, but the edges were squared-off enough that they cut the crap out of my hands after only 3 rounds.

Even a properly weighted handgun can't overcome tons of powder. I fired 2 rounds from a guy's Desert Eagle, & handed it back to him. I hit exactly where I was aiming, but my hands, wrists, elbows, arms, and shoulders were shaking, and I think I may have had a small "kiss" from the hammer... in my forehead...


FC

I shot a 454 Casull revolver just once and it gave me a headache from the shock wave.

Sherwood

Ruger No. 3 in .45-70 open sights w/stiff loads. Not far behind was a Winchester high wall Legacy, same caliber, with that dumb crescent butt and the Lyman tang sight. It was accurate but the pain was not worth the effort. Ithica Deerslayers with heavy buckshot loads were not fun either. jack

Marlin Model 917 in 17HMR... Three shots off the bench is all I could do. The shear recoil from that gun would shake the ground under your feet. After that the gun club band the 17HMR from ever being shot there again.....

This 7 3/4 # 458 Win mag shooting 510 gr. soft points. Not much fun.

Shooting prone, downhill and the heel of the pad slipped off my shoulder and under my armpit. The scope came back and bit my forehead and nose. The damage wasn't too severe because it was spread out over a wide area!

Did exactly the same thing as 280fan, only shooting uphill, and the rifle was a .25-06. Sharp edge on the scope cap drew enough blood for such a little rifle though!

I concur! I have the same gun and the same results. Must be a goofy stock design or something because you feel like you have been punched in the cheek after a few rounds.

Bosses Ruger #1 Tropical in .458 Lott. No muzzle break. He sent it to the range to have them sight it in and they sent it back after a few shots. Macho me shot it a couple of times from the bench and it kicked me right square in the bewtocks. Cut my eye on the third shot and I gave up. Might be ok if a Cape Buffalo were charging and I was standing up. I would have to be a semi-automatic in that case.