Recoil is only part of the reasons I shoot low pressure loads in doubles. Low pressure/low velocity loads more correctly duplicate the loads these old guns were intended and designed to shoot. A 1300 plus fps load had not been invented yet or more correctly the powders for them had not been invented. Loads were 1100-1200 fps, one ounce to one and a quarter ounce, mostly towards the lower end on both.
Recoil is a function, or result if you want, of action of pushing shot down the barrel and reaction of the gun moving in the opposite direction. Nothing related to pressure at all. If you push a load down the barrel you get recoil. Total recoil generated has to be almost exactly the same if you do it at 1100 fps with a fast burning powder or a slow burning. You might get slightly more or less depending on powder burn rates but total recoil force has to be the same for our purposes.
Doubles were designed for the ammo of that time period. Barrels and wood were made to handle that ammo with safety. Now a hundred years of oil soaking wood does make it weaker but not hopelessly brittle. So as long as I use ammo it was capable of handling when designed it should be ok. I tell people it is not the height of the brass, not the velocity, not even the pressure alone that we must deal with. It is the combination of everything. If your load does what you need at substantially less pressure and recoil what more do you want? A dead bird or broken target is the goal.
