FWIW from a guy with exactly 1 (one) plains game safari to his credit.

I couldn't have been happier with my .338 WinMag.

My eland was quartering away at about a 45 degree angle, 80m or so away. The 250 grain Nosler hit him about the third stripe back, and proceeded forward and through the bull's off-side shoulder, coming to rest as a bump under the skin. Thru the scope I caught the bull's entire left side cave in when the bullet went through, and I thought he was going to topple and die right there. He caught himself at the last second however, ran 40 yards, ending with a mouthful of dirt from his face-first death skid.

My kudu was virtually the same shot from the opposite side. The bullet exited from the offside shoulder and the bull kicked his back legs in the air. He ran 40 yards and took the nose-first dive into the dirt.

My zebra stallion was looking right at me at 80 yards. When I pulled the trigger, his head jerked straight forward and then he simply flipped over on his back and kacked right there, much to the delight of our
tracker.

My impala was looking almost straight away from me at 100 yards. The bullet entered just in front of his right ham, and exited out his neck just in front of his right shoulder. He went down so fast I didn't see it happen in the scope.

For all these animals, meat damage at entry or exit was very minimal.

Recoil is very manageable, the Federal premium loads with the 250 grain Nosler are fairly reasonable in price and very easy to find, and it obviously has the oomph to get the job done on plains game from impala to eland. The perfect rifle for my "keep it simple, the gun is just a
tool" mentality.

Our last night in Bulawayo, we were out at a couple of drinking establishments with 4 other the PH's from our operator. All asked what gun I was shooting, and when I said .338, all just got a big peaceful smile on their face. The "approval" from these guys was instantaneous and unanimous - which is all I needed to see/hear.