Ray's post is as close to the gospel of hunting as I've ever seen. IMHO the real trick is to use the biggest caliber you can shoot really accurately and quickly. The test is simple you can use any caliber which you can fire three shots rapid fire and stay on a pie plate at 100 yrds( from a standing/field position). I can do that with a 500 a2. I can't do it with a 585 Nyati or my beloved .600 OK. Never shoot a gun your afraid of. I saw a guy in Tanzania shoot a buff 10 times with a .600 NE. I've only had one one shot kill on Buff and that was with a .416 Rigby ( as Ray said it ran off and died). In fact most of my Buff experience has been with a .416 Rigby and a .470NE. In my view the .416 Rigby worked as well or better. Most people can't even hit a pie plate at 100 yrds offhand with a Lott reliably.-Rob