Ouch - nothing like a case of "scope eye" to ruin a day at the range. My old Horanady reloading manual has data for the .460 Weatherby cartridge. They mentioned that the only way they could shoot the test rifle enough to develop the load data was to drape a bag full of lead shot over the shooter's shoulder to absorb the worst of the impact. Even then, they said the recoil was tremendous.
I did a pretty good number on my wrist with a Winchester 12 gauge shotgun with a pistol grip I had a few years ago. I was hip shooting it, using 3-inch 00 buckshot shells. The pistol grip was hard plastic, and it was a typical Florida afternoon in late July, so my hands were very sweaty. That damned gun just about jumped out of my hands, and it took a decent-sized hunk of skin out of the base of my thumb, as well as really popping my wrist backward. I had to wear an ace bandage on it for a couple of days
Even the 2 3/4" slug loads are too much for me off the bench. I had to use a sand bag between my shoulder and the butt when sighting in off the bench. Made me happy though, that my cheap smooth bore with Remington rifled slugs, was out-shooting my brother and his friend with their fancy rifled bores and sabot slugs. Out to about 65 yards, anyways, trusty old Mossberg can keep it in the black.
I think the most I could handle, if I ever went on an Alaskan dream hunt for Grizzly, would be the BAR in .338. I'd get it Mag-na-Ported, then it would be sweet. Of course, I'd want an experienced guide backing me up with something nasty and reliable, like the .458 or .416 in a Mauser-style bolt rifle, in case the semi-auto decided to malfunction. I guess a lot of us must fantasize about a hunt like that, or going to Africa for the Big 5. Oh well.......maybe some day, before the old bones get too old...
My guess though, is that it's a whole lot less damaging than that inflicted by a charging elephant or cape buffalo!
Mark