I just bought a .338 this past December and have been shooting it quite a bit in preperation for an upcomming Elk hunt. I too, am a large individual, 6' 0" 200#. While the recoil of the .338 is more noticeable than with my old ' 06, I do not feel it is overly punishing. You say you have been sighting in with 225 grain Hornadys and are not happy with their performance? I tried them as well and did not get very good groupings from them. I might suggest trying a different brand/weight of bullet/ammunition. Each individual rifle will have a favorite load. Best groups came from Federal 250 grain High Energy Noslers. I assume you will be hunting Elk, Moose or Bear with such a large caliber so the 250 grain would be a good bullet weight for you. The 250 is also not as prone to wind drift as a lighter bullet giving you better accuracy. I have the BOSS system on my rifle, so perhaps the recoil from my rifle is less severe. Here are a few tips. Make sure your rifle is FIRMLY seated on your shoulder in the correct position. If you need it, Cabelas sells Recoil Pads and Recoil Decelerators (Pg. 582 Fall catalog). I might also suggest not shooting a full box of ammo at the range each time you go out...remember this is a high powered rifle, not some .243. As a last resort, you could also have an aftermarket muzzle brake installed on your rifle. I know you said that you didn' t go with porting/Boss due to noise, but if you can' t shoot your rifle properly, being quieter won' t do you much good! Hope this helps. Good shooting.