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I have found the mid .40cal is neither fowl or fish. The .416Rigby is a good cartridge but...its not a stopping class caliber here one would need more bulletweight and caliber. Itīs not an ideal caliber for plainsgame either. One doesnīt need that much power to bring down animals up to eland size. The .416Rigby has longrange potential because of its case design...but big game are not shot at long range..itīs shot at close range where I see a heavy double is better. For long range plains game shooting a .338win, 270wea etc is better choice. Yes the .416Rigby can max itīs longrange potential with a 300grain spitzer bullet loaded up to .416Wea performance...but the 300Win mag will do the same on any antilope....and with a lighter rifle. The .416Rigby is versatile because bulletweights from 250-450grain is offered. However if I had to shoot 250grain bullets I wouldn`t use the .416Rigby I would use the .338...and if I had to shoot 450grain bullets I would go for bigger caliber because then it would be needed.
If I were today to have a mid .40cal rifle a .404Jeffery would become my choice. It can be made on a stand length Mauser action and build lighter.

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I find your comments could also be the same for the .375H&H...maybe isn't perfect for anything but will work on anything as well

Personally have used the .416 to stop a pissed off tuskless elephant at 16 yards in 2008..have used it on impala, bushbuck, warthog, kudu, eland, several cape buffalo, lion, and elephant..on the smaller game I was expected a massive damage however was not the case..bullets being used acted like a solid..small hole in and out.. cape buffalo were bowled over like being hit by a truck.. elephant took one shot to the brain, lights out...

As you stated there is very little to no long range shooting in certain parts of Africa which is what I found in Zimbabwe. Longest shot I have ever taken there was 262 yards..shot a bushbuck with my 416 Rem shooting 400 gr Swift A-Frames.. worked just fine..most all other shots I have taken over there have been 100 or less..

As to using a 270W for hunting plains game in Africa..I say good luck, but best have your affairs in order just incase..you maybe hunting plains game, however there are other species out there that fail to recognize that..buff, elephant, etc..that 270 looks really really small when you come face to face with a buff at 30 yards..or a pissed off tuskless cow elephant with a calf...Each to their own, but based on my experiences over there I will never hunt with anything less than a .375H&H period... plains game or not..

Appreciate the points, but personally, will stick with the .416...As Steve stated in his post, others will disagree, and that too is 100% cool.. after all , it keeps Steve in business..

Ripp