Recoil is dependant on a lot of things actually.
The weight of the rifle is the first factor. Heavier rifles are harder to hump, but don't kick as much. Light rifles are easier to carry and kick more if all things are standard.
The longer the barrel, the greater the weapon weight, but also the more pressure builds up as the round moves down range, leading to recoil. Longer barrels offer greater accuracy, so on a hunting rifle you would want a longer barrel than on a CQB style weapon.
.223 has plenty of grain sizes in the caliber that can determine effective recoil. Heavier bullets require more powder to achieve the same velocity, so that will be felt as recoil.
A muzzle break, if correctly built and installed, will successfully tame recoil, but it will greatly increase the sound levels felt by the shooter.
A heavy duty recoil pad, correctly installed, can ease felt recoil quite easily. Most hunting rifles come with a basic recoil pad from the factory, but you can get replacements cheap and increase your comfort with the rifle.
Some people, in the past, have added other recoil taming techniques, like adding a mercury vile in the stock. The theory is that the mercury sloshes one way on ignition, and then hits the end of the vile and tames the recoil before you feel it. Tactical rifles don't get them because you add another moving component that you don't want to compete with...
We have a customer in the shop, who is a stick figure actually, but he shoots some of the more vicious hunting cartridges out there. We built him a .300 WSM that weighed in at just a little over 11.5 pounds, per his request and his components, that I am sure kicks like twin mules, but that is what he wanted. We put a Pachymer Decelerator pad on the stock, the thicker magnum version. We put a purpose built muzzle break that was longer than a normal rifle break to increase effectiveness. He bought a heavy bull style barrel, but we fluted it down to ease the weight. The weapon is a bit front heavy actually, without the scope in place, but seemed to balance out okay when all doctored up. This particular customer goes to Alaska at least once a year to hunt and has been to Africa on at least three occassions, so he hunts everything out there. It all comes down to what you can effectively shoot....
JD
