Lengthening a forcing cone (and/or overboring) can lessen actual recoil by letting gas escape around the wad and shot. The more 'blow by' the lower the velocity, there for less recoil. It is cheaper and more effective to use lower velocity shells to reduce recoil. Long forcing may reduce the number of damaged pellets and thus reduce the number of 'flyers'. Using the hardest shot available also reduces deformation/flyers. Using a shorter shot column (less pellets) has also been shown to reduce pellet deformation. Simply put... lowering velocity in lighter loads is the most effective way to reduce actual recoil. The best way to reduce felt recoil is a proper fitting gun and a mechanical recoil reducer such as RAD, Bumpbuster, PFS, etc. Merry, Merry. TJ