I had this conversation with Allen Day once upon a time. He was an unapologetic fan of the 300 Win Mag and used it extensively. He owns 30's and 338's of identical construction. He shot them both a bunch and in our conversation confided that the 338 with 225's was an easier animal to shoot than the 300 with 180's. Performance on game wasn't discussed.
This is my experience as well. 7mm STW and the fast .30s pop the crap out of me, .338 pushes bigger but doesn't hit as hard because it's slower coming back. .375 H&H is nicer yet. That's in same-weight rifles, of course. One of the most pleasant-to-shoot "big" rifles I ever owned was a 700 XCR in .375 H&H. With a Leupold 3-9X40, it was nice to pack and nice to shoot. Pushy, but not jabby.
Tom
