You mentioned cheek slap , in general a heavier gun shooting a bunch at the range is better on the face and shoulder than a lighter gun . Not sure what your new gun weighs .
I didnt see this post , but I recently bought another o/u in 20 guage for upland hunting , much lighter than previous guns , a dream to walk around with in the field behind a pointing dog ( which is addictive ,yes), but a little bumpy shooting 50 rounds at the trap or skeet range .
No perfect boat, no perfect gun , evrything is a trade off , unless your loaded and can have multiple boats and multiple guns for every situation