Depends. In the range you are talking about there is no free lunch.
Bullet weight becomes key in recoil at those levels. 325's at 1350 fps
in .454 are, IIRC, at lower pressure then the equal .44 load, but not by much.
The SRH is not a small gun, and it absorbs recoil well.
Also how well your hands fit, and match to recoil is a big deal, probably more so then the difference in recoil.
Also keep in mind that full house .44 magnum loads are 40k pressure.
Full house .454 loads are 60k, or about that, so that 'medium' load .454 load maybe at 45K or 50k.
I'd also start looking at reloading tables to get some idea of how powerful even minimum loads are in .454, with common powders.
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
4227 and H110 are my favorites.
Minimum loads for 4227:
240 GR. FA JHP Hodgdon H4227 29.0 1512 22,300 CUP
260 GR. FA JFP Hodgdon H4227 28.0 1421 19,000 CUP
300 GR. FA JFP Hodgdon H4227 27.0 1541 41,100 CUP
325 GR. CPB LFN PB Ho H4227 24.7 1389 30,300 CUP
325 GR. SFT HP Hodgdon H4227 23.0 1323 42,600 CUP
335 GR. CPB LFN GC H4227 23.0 1306 30,000 CUP
360 GR. CPB LFN GC Ho H4227 21.0 1205 31,000 CUP
Keep in mind the highest pressure, maximum load for the .44 on Hodgdon's
website is 40,000 CUP, and that's with a very fast burning powder.
The FASTEST .44 Magnum loads for 325 grain bullets are:
325 GR. BTB LFN GC Winchester 296 20.0 1264 30,800 CUP 22.0 1368 38,100 CUP
325 GR. BTB LFN GC Hodgdon H110 20.0 1264 30,800 CUP 22.0 1368 38,100 CUP
With 355's:
355 GR. BTB LFN GC Hodgdon H110 17.5 1168 29,300 CUP 18.8 1245 38,000 CUP
There is real merit, even now, in Linebaugh's comments that the 45/454
takes over where the .44 leaves off, and does it with less pressure.
However the .44 magnum will do nearly everything the .45/454 will, but at slightly higher pressure, and with slightly less powder.
I suspect with equal bullet weights you aren't going to be able to tell much difference in recoil, unless you move the .454 into the over 50k pressure range.
My recommendation is you have a better deal on the .454 SRH then a .44 magnum.
As for reloading costs:
The .454/45 Colt can be loaded with ultra cheap .45 ACP bullets for plinking. This usually makes it cheaper then the .44's to reload, in my experience.
All depends on what your going to load. Why don't you do some of the leg work yourself and look up bullets you are likely to use in either caliber, and get specifics, rather then asking for a general
answer to a specific situation?