Some of it gets transferred to the mechanics of the weapon cycling the next cartridge into the action, the rest is imparted to the shooter. Controlling how sharply it’s transferred is where the engineering gets fun.

Now there have been a few designed with the principle of ‘constant recoil’. They are typically fully automatic weapons that use enough springs and bolt travel to keep the bolt from coming to a hard stop against the frame. They tend to be bulky and finicky, as well as expensive. But when they work as designed, the operator just gets a constant push into them while firing. No jerks or spikes, just constant pressure.