my wifes 7mm-08 is a sweet shooter light recoil IMO, I have taken deer and hogs with it myself and only 1 deer needed a follow up when a kdi put in a bad shot. Im about to get one for myself just not sure on platform yet.

You can use a recoil calculator to compare recoil. But in general, a good 130 to 150 bullet kills most things in Texas. IMHO the cup and core bullets perform better in the 2600 fps to 2000 fps range. Slower shooting guns start in that range and hang there out to 500 to 600 yards. Hig



https://jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmrecoil-5.1.cgi

One thing a recoul calculation won't account for is stock design and how well or poorly it fits the shooter. That can make all the difference in the world when in comes down to how t feels to the shooter.

I completely agree on the slower velocity performing better with cup and core bullets. Have found the same to be true. Much better and more consistent bullet performance penetration.

I have never found a 7 mag to be much of a kicker. If I had to guess I'd says that comes from my preference in stocks and typically having a rifle that is about 10lbs. Get a stock with a comb high enough that your cleaning rod barely has enough room to go in and that will get rid of a lot of what is perceived as recoil.

I have a 7mm08 and a 7 mag, both are very lightweight. I find the 7 not bad at all with 162ELDX but mine runs a 6" can and that drastically cuts felt recoil.
Should note, both are in McMillan carbon stocks

Really don't find that much difference with a 308 running 150 to 178g bullets either personally.