Abstract: The invention provides an improvement in a conventional recoil system comsing a piston-cylinder arrangement, wherein a piston driven by recoil energy forces hydraulic fluid out of the cylinder through an orifice to dissipate recoil force. The invention provides an additional flowpath for hydraulic fluid, which contains a servo valve for controlling the pressure in the cylinder so that the desired recoil peak pressure/time curve can be achieved for any firing impulse. The invention also includes sensors for measuring hydraulic fluid pressure and the initial velocity of the recoiling parts imparted by the firing impulse, and a controller means including a microprocessor for calculating or determining the desired peak pressure based on this initial velocity and available recoil distance and transducers for measuring any variation of pressure from the desired peak pressure and applying an appropriate voltage to the servo valve to control the pressure and achieve the desired peak pressure during the recoil cycle.