The reason people believe 54r has terrible recoil is the shape of the rifles which commonly fire the round. To minimize the waste and cut of the butt of the rifle, they go straight back. Which means the bulk of the recoil impulse goes straight back into your shoulder. The felt recoil is significantly higher. Significantly higher. I grew up shooting my father's British Enfield .303. At around age 10 I could shoot a box of ammo through it and have a sore shoulder. That's it. As an adult, with my Mossin 91/30, I fired 60 rounds through it at the range. My shoulder was black and purple for two weeks. And I had a hard rubber butt installed onto it which replaces the steel plate. When a rifle has a nice curve on the butt, below the line of impulse, it facilitates the recoil into barrel rise. This takes the barrel further off target, but it significantly redirects impulse away from the shoulder and into the rise of the barrel. Nice rifles are designed to find a sweet spot between the two. The Mossin offers no compromise here. It is into your shoulder and only your shoulder. Barrel rise is minimal. You get the full impulse into your shoulder with every shot fired. Take a look at the British Enfield Rifle's butt vs the Mossin's butt. Huge difference. Huge difference in felt recoil. I pitty the guys who had to fire hundreds if not thousands of rounds of 54r through a Mossin. The recoil difference between 54r and 30-06 is really all about felt recoil and the rifle designs. There is a difference. A huge difference.