I've been getting PMs about mt 338 Edge and making excuses for why I couldn't shoot it yet. Well, Dadams was the latest and it was more than I could take anymore. He finally broke me and I finally went out and shot the beast today. I borrowed some dies, assembled the rifle using a factory recoil lug that I will be replacing with a higher quality one later, and cheated and spent out of my gasoline budget to buy the action bolts from the hardware store. I started with a 338 RUM load of 98 grains of H1000 and a 250gr SMK just to see what the recoil would be like. In my rifle that weighs about 16 pounds, recoil was pretty stout but not unmanageable. It hit about as hard as my 8 pound 338-06 with heavy 225gr loads. I do NOT have a brake on this gun and it has only the thin Sharpshooter pad on it at the moment. I could probably put 5-10 rounds over the bench before I start to flinch. I was rather pleased with the recoil level. I didn't shoot it over a chronograph or even set up a target. I was only looking for felt recoil impressions.

Things that I will need to do before I am ready to call this rifle project finished are...
Devcon bed the stock
Replace the recoil lug
Install a better recoil pad
Add several more coats of Tru Oil to the stock