One observation I've made a few times here and there that always drives a certain number of people batschidt comes from a conversation with the African PH I know best. He was one of the most experienced African hunters I've ever hunted with, having made his living at it since age 17 when he hired on with the then-Rhodesian game department. Among other things, he was a Selous Scout and a game culler for one of the biggest ranches in Rhodesia.
By the time I hunted with him, he only used three big game rifles, a 7x57, .375 H&H and .458 Lott, all top-notch but very simple 98 Mauser-actioned rifles. For backup on most plains game hunts he carried the 7x57, since he'd killed thousands of animals with one, including a number of eland. For elephant and some very tight-cover buffalo hunting he carried the Lott.
But for most dangerous game hunting he carried the .375, and joked he was often out-gunned by his clients. But he finished off a lot off buffalo they failed to kill with their larger rifles.
The statement he made that drives some people really nuts, though, came from when I asked what bullet he preferred in the .375. He said he didn't prefer any, instead using whatever ammo his clients left behind, because "all of today's bullets are good."
Since he never had to shoot anything over 50 yards, and most of the time the range was half that, any slight variation in point of impact didn't matter. A well-known rifle and plenty of experience did the job, every time. He's now enjoying a well-deserved retirement, after having killed far more buffalo than many of us can imagine, at least half with a .30-06 and 180-grain Partitions during his culling years.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
