Not a fan of brake on 338 Win Mag. Have shot 338 Win Mag for years and find the recoil complaint slightly overblown. You can load the 338 Win Mag with 160-200 gr loads from 3,100 fps-2,900 fps and mimic .30 magnums in trajectory. 210, 225, 230, 250 and 275 grain bullets take you anywhere you need to go. While the Whelen is darn good, it doesn’t come close to the 338 Win Mag in field versatility. A 338 Win Mag 250 grain load at 2,650 fps, which is about 100 fps shy of book load maximum is easy to shoot and a full 150 fps-200 fps faster than the Whelen or 338-06 (another fine cartridge in its own right). The 338 Win Mag’s existence is predicated on dropping large NA game at long distances and taking deer size game with bullet weights delivering .30 magnum trajectories. Bullet wise the .35s don’t carry the BC or SD the .33s do. Can’t see a Whelen being more of a one gun than the 338 Win Mag. Only one man’s opinion.
