Recoil is a funny animal.
10 people can shoot the exact same rifle and load and you will still get 10 different answers/

A 338ME shooting 200gr bullets could very well have acceptable recoil. Whats the MV on a Marlin Express anyway.

My 338-06 will shoot a 200gr around 2800fps and doesn't it turn my shoulder to mush, to me it's similar to a 180gr 30-06.