I own a tikka in 338 mag and it is a very nice rifle to carry . It is very accurate,as are all my tikkas...The nice thing about the tikka is , that it's clip feed and how smooth it is...NOW AS FOR RECOIL ??? Yes it recoils hard but the only way to over come that poblem is to shoot lots and get use to it!!! Being that you and me are both from SASK... For an easy to shoot load try 65gr of reloader 15 and a nosler 200gr balistic tip. It bucks the wind pretty darn good and can be used on deer to moose... If your going after elk or sharp tooth critters a top quality 250gr like the good old partition and 67.5 to 71.5 grs of H4831. I go with 72grs in my rifle and it will put a stop to any animal in North Amarica!!! Remember 72grs of H4831 is .5grs over max so what ever gun you buy don' t start with this load but work up slowly till you find your rifles sweat spot!!!