" They also had an 8-bore double...that thing was a real big boy, too. I can't imagine using any of those huge rifles. No way I could lug one around for any length of time. Guess that's why they had porters and gun bearers in those days."

Well, yeah! The huge black-powder (and the oversize NE) rifles were never meant to be a standard hunting weapon. They were designed as the life insurance policies of the time. When things went south, you traded your Farquarson .450/400 for the big gauge rifle with your very trustworthy gunbearer and shot your way out of trouble. Romantic notions bedamned. No self-respecting bwana marched for weeks through the bush carrying such a beast!