GETTING KICKED
Hard-kicking guns have been a source of pain and amusement for as long as hard-kicking guns have been around. Big-bore guns are often the hard-kickers ... but not always: Lesser guns can pound your shoulder, too.
No doubt you’ve seen Internet videos of folks getting the snot knocked out of them. Sometimes, it’s a surprise, but sometimes, it’s an intentional joke. You might’ve even orchestrated such amusement (I know I have!).
Back in my law enforcement days, we were messing with the department’s new inertia-driven Beretta 1201 FP shotguns. These shotguns would smack you like your mamma used to, especially if you didn’t hold them tightly. One guy was bragging about how he was unaffected by recoil. (Yeah, well, there’s always one of those, right?)
We were shooting hand-thrown clays, and before I handed him the shotgun, I slipped a 3-inch magnum in the tube ahead of a couple of low-brass shells. After the first round of low brass, he turned and
