Moloch,
Everybody handles recoil differently, but with the possible exception of the absolute max loads, I would much rather shoot this gun than your 300's @ 1850 in the SRH. Those big DA's HURT me.
Big Yac,
Those pictures are worst case scenario. They are top end loads, and inexperienced shooters. The first is me right after getting the gun and feeling the need to "see what it can do." The second is a friend of my brother's with almost no experience. I've looked, frame by frame, at lots of video of the gun being fired by multiple shooters, and the picture above is the only instance where the muzzle came that far around. He was determined to shoot it, so we spent the better part of a day working him up to it, starting with 38 specials.
Most importantly, there's nothing that says you have to run it full tilt all the time. I pretty much got that out of my system, and most of what I shoot now is a 420 grain bullet around 1100 fps. At 900 fps, my wife, mom and MIL have all shot and enjoyed it.
If you want a Redhawk or SRH, you'll have to stick with the 1.4" Linebaugh (or one of the shortened 500 Smiths,) but you'll hardly be lacking in power. A buddy has a RH in 500 and it is a handful.
I definitely don't lock my elbows. Best way to describe it is a modified weaver stance. Arms slightly bent, pushing with the right hand and pulling with the left. A good firm grip naturally stiffens up the wrist, but you can hold it too tight.
Yes, I've hunted with it. I killed a little whitetail buck last year, and hope to use it to put a doe in the freezer next week.
It's a little out-dated, but there's a short article
here.
Cannon
Besides my .454 Casull I've shot a S&W 500 and 460Mag, I've shot a .480 Ruger and a .445 SuperMag. I didnt feel any of these guns recoiled bad at all. After looking at your pictures I'm wondering if maybe I'd be better off going with the S&W 500. I was thinking it would be cool to have a Redhawk or Super Redhawk converted to 500 Max(if possible) but after seeing those pictures it would be very dangerous for the gun to be a double action considering where the barrel looks to be pointing after recoil. Tell me, how does one hold such a gun? Do you keep your elbows locked and wrists free? Thats how I've shot all the big bore revolvers. Also, have you used that beast to hunt with?
Its still a beauty though. Cannon even had me flinching at the linebaugh seminar with that little beast!!