Here I will point out, once again, that one of the most experienced leopard hunters ever, who also eventually became a well-know PH, eventually decided the .243 Winchester with 100-grain bullets was the best baited leopard round.
The guy was John Kingsley-Heath, who was obsessed with leopards, including killing black (melanistic) leopards. He killed a LOT of leopards himself in several countries (some of which haven't been open to hunting for decades) before becoming a PH.
He liked the .243 because it recoiled lightly, so hunters didn't tend to flinch, yet penetrated enough even on big leopards to drop them with a precisely placed shot. He also liked it because the light, fast bullet did a lot of damage inside, but didn't tear up the hide like larger cartridges, especially magnums.
During his hunting and guiding career JKH saw far more leopards killed than almost any of today's PHs, and FAR more than even the most experienced safari hunters. Yet many of today's hunters (and even some less-experienced PHs) are convinced he was wrong--despite never having seen a leopard shot with a .243.
