I agree that a 6-1/4 pound gun will have noticeable recoil with 1-1/8 loads. But then, I never use 1-1/8 loads for forest grouse. I use a 16 gauge a lot and load either 7/8 or 1 ounces of #7 or #7-1/2 and that does fine on ruffs and even sharptails. Federal one ounce loads seem to be milder than Remington, too.