I've shot 45-70 quite a bit in Contender and Encore. The recoil from my 300gr JHP at 1900fps load isn't bad. I was working up a 400gr JSP load which was not fun but that had more to do with the Pachmayr grip and shooting conditions. I tried loads increasing in half grain increments starting with the minimum and stopping at what was listed as the halfway point to a max charge. I was shooting six different loads/powder charges with 4 rounds per load. Minimum charge loads averaged 1343fps and the last load averaged 1464. That shouldn't be horrible recoil.

I was shooting off bags on the bench to find the most accurate load. I normally like my Pachmayr grips but I think with this load they made it worse. With the heavier recoil of this load, they seemed to compress and "stick" to my skin. Offhand this load probably wouldn't be too bad but 24 rounds off the bench with the rubber grip causing traction on my hand wasn't fun. Still a pretty mild load compared to some rounds out there.

A lot of people look at the 300gr Hornady JHP as a "deer" bullet. I haven't taken game with it but I tested it and was very impressed with its performance. The materials I used were multiple layers of particle board, glossy catalogs and water filled milk jugs. The 300gr Hornady penetrated 25" and held together very well. For comparison a 375JDJ firing a 270 Hornady (which has been used on some very big animals) only penetrated 18" and had jacket/core separation. I posted the results here a few years back.