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I'm still waiting for my Hunter magnum model to arrive at my FFL. I did some quick calculations of felt recoil for two of the Corbon loads. The 275 gr load will produce a felt recoil energy of 23 ft-lbs in the 82 oz Hunter. This is similar to firing a 240 gr PMC .44 Mag cartridge in a Model 629 with 4" barrel. No problem...even single handed. The Ruger .454 Casull in 7.5" barrel produces 38 ft-lbs when firing a 300 gr Hornady load at 1500 fps. That's 1500 ft-lbs of muzzle energy. The Corbon 400 gr load produces 48 ft-lbs of felt recoil in the Hunter. That is a lot harder slap in the hand than the Hornady round in the Ruger .454 Casull. When I first shot that round in the .454, my palms felt like they had been smacked with a baseball bat. They were stinging. The Hunter with the 400 gr round is going to be a real experience.

I think that top-end loads even in this heavy, ported gun, are going to be like nothing you've ever experienced in a handcannon. I recently read a Taffin article on this beast, and he was not down-playing the recoil from top loads at all. The worst "handgun" I ever fired was a Thompson-Center Contender chambered in .45-70, built by J.D. Jones, with a 14 inch heavy barrel with a Jones compensator. After that, I decided that I would ONLY shoot .45-70 in a rifle! I have a Linebaugh-built .475 Linebaugh chambered Ruger Bisely Blackhawk; and that thing is awesome when loaded and fired with top-end 395 grain hard cast BRP flat nose bullets. Its a bit more manageable when loaded with 300 grain Hornady jacketed bullets, those intended for the .480 Ruger Super Redhawk. Still, these things make really big holes, which is the name of the game.