Yes, brutal is the word I'd use on the Forum. I've used worse. This is the only rifle that almost knocked me out. The Sako scope mounting system wouldn't allow me to move the scope forward enough because the rear scope ring contacted the bell on the Leupold 2.5-8X36mm scope.Nevertheless I decided to give it a try, in the eagerness to shoot the "new" rifle. I was standing upright and shooting offhand. I didn't want to shoot it prone until I'd gained some familiarity with its recoil. I remember seeing multiple stars (sparkles) against a black background. As I came back into consciousness, I was still standing with the rifle at my shoulder. I didn't know where I was or why I was there initially. Very strange. A few seconds later I crossed back to the living. Very fortunate I was wearing some plastic glass frames with a wide web between my eyes. The edge of the eyepiece of the scope left permanent indentations in the plastic eye frame. The only thing that kept me out of the half moon club was the eyeglass frame. No better way to develop a flinch.
Never shot it again until the local gunsmith milled the rear scope ring slot another 1/3" forward on the top of the Sako receiver for improved scope to eye clearance. That was 30-35 years ago. Been tapped lightly since then but nothing bad.
Installed a muzzle brake on it about 1 year ago. Now it's a powderpuff, in comparison.
