I'm 6'3" and 230 pounds of pure flab. I find a 3 dram 1 1/8oz standard target load tolerable if need be, but I surely prefer a 1 ounce load for a day of clays. Call me a wussy.

My pheasant load is a standard 1 1/4 at 1260 by the chrono. Recoil is overshadowed by the effectiveness of that traditional load and I don't shoot 50 of them. If I were to, a modern O/U with some heft would be my choice.

Let's compare with a standard online recoil calculator....

My load 26.5gr. WSF, 1260 fps, 1 1/4oz shows 25.5 FP free recoil energy. I'd call that a 3 1/2 Dr. EQ. load wouldn't you? This is calculated in a 8.4 pound O/U.

The above mentioned bulk smokeless load with 46 gr. of powder shows, in a 7 1/2 pound gun, 35.7 FP free recoil.

Now assuming that really IS a 3 1/2 Dr. EQ load, the difference is 10.2 FP or 40% more than my modern load. To equal the modern load in FRE, the bulk smokeless load would have to be slowed to 1,000 FPS.