Easy on the shoulder, hard on the critters. I like my 264 very much. My load isn't hot, I shoot a 140gr Berger VLD with 60gr of H4831SC for 2914fps. It isn't fast but shoots extremely well and I just haven't been able to talk myself into messing with it. I have a turret built for the load and practice quite a bit out to 700yds. I figure I won't be to hard on the barrel at that speed and the performance has been great.