Our perception of recoil is greatly influenced by which part of the human body is subjected to it. For example, take two shotguns that are identical in every way except one has a relatively straight stock while the stock of the other has excessive drop. Firing the same load in both, actual recoil will be the same, but it will appear greater with the gun with the crooked stock because it rises up and strikes the cheek with greater force and the face is one of the more sensitive areas of the human body.

Up to a certain toleration level, the hand and arm can comfortably absorb more recoil than the shoulder. I was reminded of this many years ago while comparing the velocities of .45-70 Government factory loads as well as various maximum-velocity handloads for it in a Marlin Model 1895 lever-action rifle and a Thompson/Center Contender handgun. The Contender had a 14-inch barrel from SSK Industries while the Marlin wore its original 22-inch factory barrel. I was also interested in the accuracy of the .45-70 in those guns, so all shooting was done from a benchrest.

The Contender was about three pounds lighter than the Marlin, and because I had never fired the .45-70 in a handgun, I was somewhat apprehensive about shooting it. I was in for a surprise. As I discovered after firing only a few rounds in both guns, the Contender was far more comfortable to shoot with a two-hand hold than the Marlin from the shoulder. The rifle pounded my shoulder and cheek unmercifully with each squeeze of its trigger, but the pistol would simply rise up from the sandbag, bringing both of my arms along with it. In addition to adding weight to the gun, my arms also served as shock absorbers.

That wasn't the first time this phenomenon had been brought to my attention. Years before I shot the .45-70 Contender, I had hunted elk with a Wyoming rancher who used a Winchester Model 70 in .300 H&H Magnum for all his hunting. At the time, I also hunted elk with a Model 70 in the same caliber. One day as we were checking the zeroes of our rifles before a hunt, my friend offered to let me shoot his Model 70.

The Benelli Super Black Eagle II's SteadyGrip buttstock makes it very easy to control. And the gun's drilled and tapped receiver makes optics mounting quite easy.

We both were shooting handloads with 180-grain bullets at about the same velocity, yet perceived recoil was noticeably less with his rifle. Our rifles differed only by their stocks; mine wore its original factory wood while he had restocked his rifle with a thumbhole-style stock made by E.C. Bishop & Son of Warsaw, Missouri. I found my friend's rifle more comfortable to shoot simply because my hand and arm were absorbing some of the recoil before it got to my shoulder, exactly as I experienced years later with the Contender.

By now you're asking yourself what any of this has to do with shotguns. Well, it has plenty to do with three available from Benelli and Franchi.

Benelli Super Black Eagle II & Franchi 912 With SteadyGrip During recent hunts at Stasney's Cook Ranch in Albany, Texas, I took a Rio Grande gobbler with a Benelli Super Black Eagle and used a Franchi 912 to bump off a huge wild boar. (Both companies can be contacted at Benelli, Franchi, Dept. ST. 17603 Indian Head Hwy., Accokeek, MD 20607; 301-283-6981; www.benelliusa.com; www.franchiusa.com.) Both guns had one thing in common: the SteadyGrip stock. The stock gets its name from its extended grip, a design feature that first appeared some years ago on Benelli shotguns built for law-enforcement use. Lawmen like it because a shotgun wearing this type of stock can be controlled--and even fired--with one hand while the other hand is busy opening a door, operating a walkie-talkie, or some other important task. The stock works equally well on a shotgun used for sporting purposes, especially when the gun is aimed and fired at a stationary target. In addition to making a shotgun more controllable, it also reduces perceived recoil. This makes it ideal for a turkey gun and for a shotgun used for hunting big game with slug loads.