I'm helping a young man do some load development for an 8.5 pound 460 Van Horn (460 Weatherby shortened to fit a standard action). He is on his way to becoming a guide and will use it for his bear gun to back up clients or iron the wrinkles out of bad situations. From standing he handles the recoil well, as do I, but I have to say it's all I want to handle and only in limited doses. From the bench it takes a sissy bag to make it manageable.