Arra the 7 mm the 338 and 308 norma mag are all basically the same case...........dont know why you would bother buying a 338 when you seem to already have doubts about its recoil....the 7mm mag puts em down in thick bush or any open country you have....people talk about fast cartridges being "not so good" in thick bush, well! i have never had a problem and i have downed a couple and cant see in any of those hunt scenario`s where a "bigger is better" would have done any bloody better at all.......dead is dead to me,yep heard all the stories about this and that but believe me a sensible sambar hunter DOES NOT need anything much bigger really than the `06 7mm 270 class and i still say a 338 is not for a new chum deer hunter ........why risk the big one apon jumping up after all that hunting only to be put off by the hidden thoughts in the recesses of the brain of (this thing bucks) if you are not used to it?Ah yes some may say but when the game appears all such thoughts are gone! Ah not so for some!
Mate confessed after a few years that the reason he was going to `06 was that his 308 Norma mag was starting to get on his nerves...his hunting suffered but he has knocked 3 or 4 bulls since..it does happen even on Nitro express forums hahaha.