Mag fed from the left side. Recoil is a little less than a 12 gauge from what I can tell. I spent the money on a magpul PRS stock with a pachmayr pad , http://www.tactilite.com/Magpul-PRS-Sto ... p-0034.htm , that really help keep the recoil down. Looking at a SSFA SS 16x42 scope (http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-16x42-Tactical- ... -P501.aspx) for this build. I built this early this year and been itching to try it out. We had a ball shooting this monster along with the other rifles we brought out.