beenthere, you might try a PAST recoil pad. It really works.
Today I went out to the range and finished sighting in my Marlin 45-70, something I'd been postponing for nearly a year. I also sighted in my old Ruger .270 which had been dropped recently when its sling broke.
Iwas really surprised that the .270 stung more through my PAST pad than did the 45-70. I still got a good push from both of them, but the push from the 45-70 was slower and although it was stronger it hurt less, and I'm only moderately sore now.
Also interesting that with factory loads the 2 shot groups I was shooting did about as good from the Marlin as from the .270. (This is significant as my older Marlin 336 tends to string out when it gets warm but the 45-70 doesn't.) I'm talking about an inch and a quarter between consecutive centers at 100 yards, so this is pretty good for a lever action. Of course, the groups themselves tended to wander about the paper as I haven't found a good spot weld on it yet.