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Unless one has developed the skills to shoot heavy recoiling rifles accurately when fired while holding one to their shoulder, jumping into the .338 Lapua Mag pond will usually be a disappointment. Even 15-pound ones have enough recoil while the bullet goes down the barrel to cause accurate shooting difficulties with even the best long range shooters.
A recent test of several cartridges under test for military sniper use had the .300 Win. Mag. outscoring the .338 Lapua Mag. and others through 1500 yards in the accuracy tests. Several top long range folks tested the rifles. But the US Army had a penchant for the .338 LM and chose it over the .300 Win. Mag. that outperformed it. Go figure.
But the 30 caliber magnums of yesteryear that did so well in 1000-yard prone matches gave way to the 6.5-.284's milder recoil as soon as good 26 caliber heavy match bullets were available in the late 1990's. The big 30's are still popular in long range benchrest matches where they're fired in free recoil virtually untouched by us humans.
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