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IMO, perhaps short of an RPG, there is no such thing.

Any cartridge that generates enough velocity and that is loaded with a good and hard solid bullet and that therefore has the power and penetrating ability to cause that bullet to reach the brain, or penetrate the spinal column and pierce the spine, will put down and kill a cape buffalo with one shot.

IMO, even a .500, or a .600, or a .700 caliber bullet that does NOT cause central nervous system damage, cannot be depended on to put down and kill a cape buffalo, i.e., collapse him on the spot, and cause him never to rise again, with just one shot.

IMO, short of a CNS hit, a hit through the vitals with any caliber (again, perhaps short of an RPG), will result in the typical mad dash, ranging between 20-100 yards, plus or minus, followed by the final drop and bellow (sometimes the inconsiderate bastards don't even bellow), and then, in due time, death.

Even with a vital and ultimately fatal, but non-CNS hit, I have walked up on a buff who had humped off the usual short distance and collapsed, and who was dead on the ground but didn't quite yet realize it. So, in such a case, because we hurried and managed to get to that buff while he was still breathing, I needed to and did, for the sake of ending his suffering, administer a final and dispositive solid through his spine.

Which is to say, that buff don't just whimper, fall to the ground, and then politely give up the ghost, even when well and truly dead on their feet or when flat on the earth to which they will shortly return, as ashes do to ashes, and dust to dust.

Further to that point, and with EMPHASIS, buff can live for a LONG, LONG time--plenty long enough in any event to kill their killers--on adrenalin ALONE. Shoot one badly (or better, read about others who have) and find out.

After having been initially wounded by a gut shot, or even an ultimately non-fatal shot elsewhere on or through their immense bodies, they can withstand enormous further damage before dying. It would be unbelievable if it weren't true.

When the follow-ups deal destruction and mortal mayhem to their very vital organs, such as their hearts and lungs, to the point that such organs are no more than the shredded and non-functional remnants of their former selves, buff can and do continue to live on and plot and often wreak a wicked vengeance upon their pursuers.

With buff, perhaps as with no other dangerous animal on earth, you MUST make the first shot a death-dealing blow, irrespective of caliber and every-bloody-thing-else besides.

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Mike