Mossie,
I have to disagree on the recoil of a 308 vs 243. I had to find a gun that my 12 year old daughter could shoot so i tried quite a few different guns and cartridges before deciding on a gunwith recoil being a major decision factor.The 243 seemed to have less recoil in fact I thought it had a great deal less that of the 308.
That being said, rifle weight and rifle fit play a huge part in felt recoil and that may contribute to differences in opinion. The 308 that i shot felt much more like shooting a 270 than a 243. As far as the 7-08, I never have fired one of these so i can't comment there.


Just for grins I just looked at a recoil table for the 243. It shows around 8lbs. If your estimate of 17 for the 308 is correct then I would say that the 243 in a similar gun with similar weight and fit would produce a heck of a lot less recoil