The recoil is legendary. Many consider the Mosin to be equally dangerous to the shooter and the target.
Seriously, the recoil is about on par with a .30-06 or .308. The 7.62X54 has a power about equal to those two rounds. I have a 9 pound model 91/30 Mosin that I have never fired without a recoil pad. But, I tend to be recoil sensitive. I would put a pad on it just because it has a steel butt plate.
Doug