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The recoil action of a shooting gun is best explained by Newton's third law of motion, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When a bullet is fired from a gun, the explosive force that propels the bullet forward creates an equal force acting in the opposite direction on the gun itself, causing it to recoil. This principle illustrates the interaction between the bullet and the gun, highlighting that the force exerted on the bullet has a corresponding force exerted on the gun, resulting in the recoil effect that the shooter experiences.

The other principles mentioned do not pertain directly to this phenomenon. Newton's first law relates to the inertia of an object and its tendency to remain at rest or in motion unless acted upon by an external force. Newton's second law involves the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration, describing how the acceleration of an object depends on the net force acting upon it and its mass. The law of universal gravitation describes the force of attraction between any two masses, which is not relevant to the specific action of a gun recoiling when firing a bullet.