Reply #5: Get thee to a gunstore...

[benEzra]

and buy a heavy-ish rifle that throws a smallish bullet at high velocity, and then fit it with a high-efficiency muzzle brake (which will drastically decrease the recoil, and will drastically increase the smoke, flame, and muzzle blast you miss). I'm thinking something like a 100-grain bullet at 3000 fps; some .243 or .270 loads might be in the ballpark, but I didn't stop to look it up.

Or go get a heavy-barrel AR-15 clone or Armalite AR-180 and fit either with a muzzle brake. Negligible recoil (especially compared to hunting calibers), but plenty of smoke and blast and uber-cool looks to boot. :) Or if you are partial to eastern-bloc aesthetics, get a SAR-2 (civilian AK-74 lookalike, chambered for the very-light-recoiling 5.45x39mm, and many have muzzle brakes).

If that's too much, invest in a P.A.S.T. shooting vest with built-in recoil pad.

If you really, really want to shoot a shotgun, get a 20-gauge and shoot the reduced-recoil loads, OR if you have to have a 12 get a heavy autoloader (action cycling softens the recoil) and have the barrel ported.

(That's assuming recoil proves to be indeed a problem.)