Can only answer from experience. Since recoil never bothered me with any of the handguns I owned, not even the meanest, baddest handcannons, I may not have the opinion of others though. But by design and weight, the bolt pistols are more pleasant to shoot in the heavier recoilers from my experience. All of my XP-100's, Wichita's and a Weatherby bolter were mid grip though. The only rear grip bolters I remember having off hand was a custom Sako in 6TCU, and Anschultz Exemplars in rimfire/Hornet making all of those very tame. I prefer mid grip in a bolt handgun, so never even considered a XP-100R, or any others that have come down the road like it. Would expect a mid grip to be more forgiving than a rear grip though FWIW.