I have big beefy hands and have worked with steel most of my life. I also have always had some big bore magnums for most of my handgun shooting. Never heard of rubber grips in the beginning. One of the worst guns I have had for recoil wasn't a magnum, but a Charter Arms Bulldog. With stiff 240 gr loads it hurt. So I started making grips. Once I figured out how to inlet them I started carving and sanding. Fill up most of the area between trigger guard and grip frame helps, but making them fat in the back so the fill your hand and spread the recoil is huge. I also prefer round butt. Hey my little finger is smaller than the rest. If you smack a tapered pin in a tapered hole it gets tighter. If the taper is upside down it pops out. Big bottom targets work that way and if checkered that checkering sands on your skin if gun moves at all.
Along comes rubber and it works IF it fits your hand, if it covers the back strap. Being big handed helps.
I prefer rubber over wood, round over square, finger groves as long as they fit.
I have a 696 with thin wood grips, it hurts worse with specials than my 629 with magnums. My 396 has rubber and isn't as bad as the heavier 696. My 325 with wood has some sting. My 500 has a 8 3/8" barrel and a scope and rubber and its not bad. N frame 45 colts with warm loads are not bad even with regular targets, better with rubber. My cut down 1917 with K frame sized round butt and my home made wood grips is fine.
Match the stocks to the gun and its all fine.