Have a friend in Alaska whose 6 year old son just shot a big black bear with his mom's 300 win mag equipped with a recoil arrestor. Kicks about like a 243. Of course hearing protection is a MUST when you use one of those.

I am personally recoil shy and I have a couple of guns on the upper end that test my recoil limits. However, with a slip on SIMS recoil pad, they are tolerable.

My point is recoil doesn't have to be an issue, even with bigger guns..