You can fool the mind for a short time. Lots of guys CLAIM they aren't bothered by heavy kicking rifles. And for a certain number of shots it appears they are right. But I don't care how big or tough you think you are you reach a point where your brain says NO! All of us will shoot better with less recoil.
Absolutely. The more recoil, the sooner the flinch shows up. I have been having a terrible time getting the accuracy I want, out of my 35 Whelen's, and I am convinced it is due to recoil. I prefer to shoot ten shot groups to determine accuracy. It does not take too many 200 gr, 225 gr ten shot groups before I am bucking and kicking like a donkey, before the trigger breaks.
This little bugger is too light and the recoil is punishing.
I have removed the long scope on this Remington, because of insufficient eye relief. The eye piece regularly smacked my shooting glasses on recoil! Incidentally, when I had a 35 Whelen built around a Dumoulin Mauser action, I specified a 14 1/4 stock pull, precisely because I wanted more clearance between my eye, and the scope.
After shooting maybe 50 to 100 rounds through several 35 Whelens, the recoil from a 30-06 is positively light.
Even with 22 LR's, I have to work on the flinch, each and every shot. I recently lost third place, at a Small Bore regional, with this rifle due to the flinch reflex.
On the last target, which was the 50 meter target, I dropped a low nine and shot a 1597 when a 1598 would have earned me third. I was not concentrating on trigger pull, the trigger had not broke, but the body thought it had, and the body pushed the shot low. This 22lr with sights has to be close to ten pounds, the recoil, the blast, is minuscule, and yet, I'll flinch.
The worst recoiling long gun I own is an H&R Topper, 12 Ga, single barrel shotgun. Shoot that thing with buck or slugs, and it will bruise my shoulder.