Regarding recoil, I have a 30" no-contour straight-pipe barrel for my SRS-A1 in 300 Norma Mag and the barrel alone weighs just over 9 lbs. Without a brake or suppressor,it kicks about the same as my 6.5 Creedmoor. Chassis, barrel, scope all come in around 19.5 lbs.
I contacted DT, and the thickest they say can fit into an HTI is 1.62", I don't know the thickness of the 50bmg barrel (forgot to ask) but it weighs 9.15 pounds. Assuming I did my math right, a straight taper, with no fluting (but I like the fluting...) at 29" will weigh 15.7 pounds. So at most, 6.5 pounds heavier, unless I add barrel legnth, or remove weight for fluting. Maybe that much weight and a different brake will make the difference.
I wonder if I should just go with a different 50, and get the HTI later in 375, for when I can do 1000 yards, and if I get to go to their training course. I might be wrong, but the 375 sounds way better than the 50. And while I could go with a 375 and 50 conversion kit, I actually don't really plan on swapping calibers until it comes time to re barrel. I also plan on replacing my 308 with a 6.5 creedmoore, unless 338 will make that much of a difference in the training course, if and when that happens.
I just wonder if I should base the 50 on fun, but when it comes to ELR, go with the 375. I'll post that question in the ELR section, once I do some more research. But, I'd might as well ask, anyone have experience with the HTI in 375? And if you have experience with it and the 50, is it safe to assume that with 50% the muzzle energy, it'll be about 50% the recoil? Or, is that just a dream? And any accuracy differences? Only downside to the 375 is that the ammo is even less common and more expensive than the 50. And I can't shoot it in the 50 cal club. But since that's once a month, I could probably shoot the 375 any other time...