Recoil- 8 Mag vs. 338 Mag
Well, one of the other boys could probably tell you better than I could. In fact I would be curious what they would say. My experience is very limited with the 338. In fact I only have shot one and that was several years ago. I don't remember the gun kicking much harder than the 300 Mag I was using at the time. I've heard others say the 338 is a hard kicking gun, but I guess like anything else it depends on the weight of the gun and the load, etc.
I can however personally testify on the recoil of the 8mm Mag, at least in the Remington Model 700 Classic. This is not an overly heavy gun. With my scope it still only weighs around 8.25 pounds. This gun comes with a substandard recoil pad in my opinion and recoil from the bench is significant. Its not as stout as a Ruger # 1 in 375 H&H, but pretty close. I figure any case that holds as much powder as the 8 mag has to bark a little!!! I know the two are totally different calibres, but the 338 would be appealling to me because it has a large selection of factory ammo, unlike the 8 mag.