Very interesting reading. Having just returned from an African plains game adventure in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, I would like to share my experience. I agonized over what rifle/caliber combination to take. I settled on a Remington 700 Custom in .338 Win Mag. I knew it would be "overkill" on some of the smaller species, but adequate for gemsbok and kudu.
I ended up taking 10 animals from impala to kudu and couldn't have been more pleased with the results. I handloaded Barnes TSX in 210 grain BT and every animal died within zero to 50 yards of the shot. The only exception was the gemsbok, which I accept the blame on the initial shot placement, and it probably went 100 yards. With Africa's policy of "if you draw blood, you bought it", you do not want to wound an animal and not be able to find it. I'm very pleased to say that that never happened.
I'm not poo-pooing 7mm's, but the .338 worked very well and every shot was thru and thru with minimal tissue damage.
