I had the same experience as greybeard, shot dad's Mossberg bolt action 16 ga as a youngster and suffered with a flinch for years and years!
I defeated it with an SKS and a lot of slow "precision" shooting with it (really) and dry fire, dry fire, dry fire,
Now I'm working my daughters up to bigger and bigger rifles, I'm kind of experimenting to see what they will be able to shoot comfortably if its done in baby steps with no bad experiences. I expect it will reach a point where they tap out, I know my limit.
I think its due to excess room in my skull but a 30/06 with 180s will give me a headache in 10 rounds, brain bounces off the front of my skull I guess. I stick to the .308 and .303, they'll do anything I could ever ask for.
My oldest daughter is 13 and uses a Savage Scout in 7.62x39, and she sure is handy with it. She contributed to filling the freezer this year. We do a lot of dry fire together and I think that's the key.
And muzzle breaks are quite amazing unless you're a bystander!!
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