With the caveat that felt recoil is highly subjective, I find the recoil of the R9 to be less than the J-Frame S&W with .357 Mag. and about equal to the J-Frame with .38 Special. I can run 60+/- rounds through my R9 at a single range session before hand fatigue develops. Of course, you should allow the pistol to cool down a bit between strings of fire. After all, the R9 is the smallest and lightest pistol ever developed for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge. If you want to run hundreds of rounds down range in rapid order there are such pistols as full-sized 1911s, Sigs, and Glocks for that. They, of course, cannot be carried in your pocket.