To reduce the maximum recoil stroke of artillery while maintaining equivalent maximum braking force, a magnetorheological recoil control system is established, and its hardware and software systems are studied. First, the kinetic model of the artillery recoil process is established, and the accuracy of the magnetorheological damping force model is verified via fatigue machine testing. Then, the control model is established, and the advantages and dis-advantages of two control algorithms (on-off and closed-loop PI) are analyzed. Simulation results show that the on-off and closed-loop PI algorithms have similar effectiveness. However, the closed-loop PI algorithm requires higher P/I coefficients and model accuracy, while the on-off algorithm is more accurate and faster. Subsequently, the control system is built using a main controller, controllable current source, and other devices. A feed-forward PI method is employed, achieving an actual current response time of approximately 2 ms. Finally, the control system and algorithm are verified in artillery firing tests. Test results show that the control system reduces the maximum recoil displacement by 5.9% under conditions of similar maximum braking force. The tests prove the effectiveness of the magnetorheological recoil control system and algorithm for large-caliber artillery recoil management. Furthermore, this work provides a theoretical basis for further research on reducing recoil resistance to achieve artillery lightweighting when maximum recoil displacement is constrained.