I have a NEF in 45-70. No problems at all with the gun. I have used 405 Grain cast bullets in it for deer hunting. Anchors deer on the spot. As for recoil, I tried the 405 loads at 1900 FPS and it was brutal. I backed it off to 1700 FPS and it was tolerable. Lately, as I have aged a bit, I find that 1600 FPS will still drop deer and give my shoulder some relief too. I really wouldn't worry about recoil with the NEF Whelen as bullets will be about 1/2 of the 45-70 405 grain that I shoot. Using a recoil calculator, at 1600 FPS and a 405 gr bullet the 45-70 NEF with a scope will have a recoil energy of 31 Foot pounds. The Whelen with a 250 grain bullet at a much faster 2100 FPS would only generate about 26 Foot pounds of energy. Have fun with the Whelen.