In my humble opinion I don?t think a metal shotgun butt plate feels any less harsh than a metal crescent butt plate. What tames the recoil for me is the weight of the rifle and load configuration. I mainly shoot targets and occasionally hunt with my sharps rifles and whitetail deer and feral hogs have been the largest game I have taken. If I had the opportunity to hunt larger game I would but the opportunity has never presented itself, at least not with the sharp?s rifles. I have rifles with both shotgun style butt stocks and full crescent, and I haven?t found either one preferable over the other, but then I keep my loads in a comfortable range and they are .45-70 caliber rifles and I haven?t spent all day shooting BPCR competition. I always feel the recoil regardless of the style of butt plate when shooting from the bench, but when hunting I never notice it.