RE: recoil
Being able to handle recoil is a mental state of mind. You have to lean into the rifle and take the recoil if you expect to hit anything with it. You have to mentally tell yourself no matter what I'm going to hit that spot I'm aiming at. Saying that, all manners of calibers can fall into that catagory. I've seen people flinch from rifles that have no kick. They expect to be hammered everytime they pull the trigger no matter what they shoot. It's in the mind at the beginnning. Theres also the other factors of stocks, weight of rifle, and eye relief on scopes.
An ill made gun or low weight magnum rifles can cause some serious recoil. The first 300 winmag I ever owned I bought it cheap at a elk banquet for $300. It was a remington ADL synthetic stocked 300win mag and I tell you it was the most horrible rifle for recoil I've ever owned. It didn't sit long in the safe before it was traded off.
But along those lines recoil has never bothered me more than muzzle blast. Muzzle breaks are not an option for me. On a bench rifle with ear muffs okay but in a hunting situation who is going to be wearing hearing protection or take the time to put it on before they shoot. They would be absolutely dangerous if you couldn't hear someone yelling at a distance if the situation became dangerous.
Most people will not have good results from recoil from light weight rifles without muzzlebrakes. The longer you can hold that rifle steady as the bullet leaves the barrel the more accurate you will be. You flinch you miss. If your going to shoot a powerful caliber make sure it's in a rifle that has some weight behind it.
I don't mind the kick I just like to hear after the shot. lol