The most dramatic kill I have witnessed was a cape buffslo I shot at about 25 ft with a 470 Nitro with 500 grain North Fork Cup Point solid. It was broadside when I shot. It slung its head back like a brain shot elephant and collapsed. High Heart shot. Bullet exited. The PH said he never saw anything like that before.
The worst kill I have witnessed was a buffalo shot with a 45-70 in a Contender. He was using Hornady DGX. It was not a bad shot. They tracked it for two days and by chance we bumped in to it while hunting and were forunate nobody was injured. We met up with the party that was tracking it, found the buffalo and the PH I was hunting with and myself put about 5 or 6 rounds of 470 Nitro in it to put it down. The bullet did not expand on the initial shot and caused little damage. To this day I believe the same shot out of a 458 Win-470 Nitro class rifle with a proper bullet would have put it down. He was also handicapped with a single shot firearm. I will add he took another buffalo later with the same set-up with one shot.
All shots are not perfect. All opportunities are not perfect.
The 375 H&H or Weatherby is a great round. Light recoil, shoots flat, has killed as much or more game while hunting than just about anything else. There is a reason so few PHs carry them in Dangerous Game areas. The Professionals know bigger will work better in less than perfect circumstances.
