"Kicked like a mule"
I don't know how anyone can shoot well with a recoil like that. I know some who can, but I am not one of them. I flinch if I am shooting a kicker. However, it was pretty cheap to purchase a SIMS recoil pad (I use a slipover, but they make some that screw in). Made all the difference in the world. Now I can shoot it many times without much perceived recoil. Try it, you will like it!
It could be lot of things other than flinching. If your gun is like mine, it will shoot from a totally clean barrel different than after that first shot, so I always foul the barrel before loading for the field. I first pop off a couple of caps to clean the oil out of the breech. Then I load about 20 grains of powder, point it toward the sky and pop a cap off. Then I run a spit patch followed by a clean patch (same as I do between each shot at the range) and then load for the field.
Kind of late to be tinkering with your load, but I would wonder if you would be better all around if you lightened the powder load. A lot of times you get better accuracy along with less recoil. My elk load this year is 80 grains of 777, still plenty of power.
txhunter58
venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)