Shot a friends pistol grip 12 gauge once, not enough control for me. I always laugh when I see people firing shotguns in movies, never any recoil, like they’re shooting a bb gun. Also, soon after purchasing my 1st 12 gauge I discovered the Remington limbsaver, for anyone using a shotgun, I would recommend trying one. Very cheap and can absorb up to 70% recoil.
When I was younger, I'd try out any sort of "hard kickers" just to do it, but now that I'm a tad brittle and my retinas aren't what they were, I am a lot more diffident.
I am down to one shotgun these days, and it is a general-purpose "house" shotgun deliberately kept simple, short and light. As such, it does smack me with even medium loads; I put a good "R3" pad on it and that does make a big difference. Still, when I recently took it out to practice with, I could not find any reduced recoil buckshot and the full power stuff rang my aging bell pretty good; I need to revise my technique to reflect my new limitations.
Mr. niteowl77