Mosin's recoil is mild at best. I can ususally shoot about 60 rounds through it before my arm starts to get sore, and I get tired of messing with it. That, and it gets very hot
, so I put it down to cool for the remaining hours I'm on the range.
My Spanish Mauser (rebarelled for .308) kicks like a mule, regardless. Seems that the shorter the barrel, the harder it'll kick (hmmm, I wonder why that is?
).
I've heard that some of the hardest kickers are the M38 or M44 Mosins with some "full house" loads, no buttpad. Steel plate=no comfort on the shoulder, trust me.
However, if you're shooting prone, many milsurps will become painful, due to the difference in the displacement of recoil. For me, it puts my Mauser or Mosin closer to my collarbone than my muscle, and gets painful quickly. Comes in handy for those 500 yard iron-sighted shots (I was 10 inches off at 500....how are you supposed to adjust for that?)
Long and short of it---the most recoil will depend on your position and the power of the load. If you really want an ass-kicker, buy a .375H&H, shorten the barrel, and put on a steel buttplate.
Or shoot a 3.5" Magnum Slug through a Benelli Nova with no pad and no recoil-reducer. Heheheh.....lightweight gun+PSYCHO RECOIL=pain.