The recoil is stout, as you'd imagine any compact/snubby .357 would be. And the Ruger factory grips did a decent job of taming the recoil, so while strong, it wasn't all that sharp/painful or a "spank" or slap. However, the rubber is kind of sticky and will snag on clothes when you try and draw it unless your hands covers/encompasses all of the grip, especially the bottom of the butt. All of my problems were the frame and trigger guard rubbing bleeding wounds in my hands just after 3-5 shots. And flash burns, dirt, and some powder tattooing on my shooting hand.
This was all pre-cellphone era, and before various niche optimized cartridges came out, so I was rid of it on consignment. A complete de-horn job, and some of the .357 loads or .38+p optimized for a snubby that have come out in the past decade that mitigated the cylinder gap flash probably would have helped.
Mechanically everything was great, it was just a matter of "try before you buy" and everyone has different hands. And my particular issues weren't worth trying aftermarket grips just to alleviate the snagging issues.
