Many people "Feel" a lot of what they want to feel. As far as "Actual" measurable recoil the wt of both wads & powder would also figure in. However as the shot wt & velocity are the major factors of recoil then (1.125 x 1350) ÷ (1.25 x 1100) = 1.1, so the faster load even though lighter shot wt would have approximately 10% more recoil. Note 1¼ is 11% heaver than 1 1/8 but 1350 is 23% faster than 1100 so more than offsets the heavier shot wt.
The 1¼oz load @ 1100 fps is the "Low Velocity" load of which Burrard in his famous work "The modern Shotgun" spoke of so highly with shot size suitable for the game at hand. For use on birds the size of pheasants, mallards etc he spoke of it with Brit #4s (US #5 equiv) in glowing terms for use in the 2½" British game guns. Recoil was almost identical to the standard British driven game load of 1 1/16oz @ 1300fps.
