I never could figure out why something so heavy should kick so hard. I did kill a grouse and couple of squirrels with mine 30 some years ago before I put it away and just started carrying my Ithaca M37 again.
They are solid shotguns though. Elmer Keith said they had a couple at the armory he worked at during WW2 that had thousands of rounds of buckshot (test firing random rounds from batches/lots of GI buckshot) and the only thing that had ever been replaced on them was the firing pins where the tips wore out.