I havent even finished reading your post and I feel the need to interrupt. Yes of course its my hunt and my kill BUT you missed my point entirely. I never said I planned for otheres to shoot. What I said was that the realities of a hunt (especially a Dangerous Game hunt) was that you will have a PH and a Game Officer present and armed.

On my last Lion Hunt the PH had a Merkel in 500NE and the Game Office had a Win Model 70 in 458mag. Both guns were in good condition. I was carrying a 470 double and no I wouldnt have wanted one of them to shoot, EXCEPT under the most serious of conditions. As it was only ONE shot was necessary as we moved and waited till we were within 20 meters. Anything much further away take the DANGER out of Dangerous Game.

Here in the states our DG (?) is limited to Brown Bear, some might add Black Bear or even Wild Boar. Of the three I havent been close to a Brown and I killed my Black Bears with a single shot BUT the boars have occasionally taken exception with bad hits/poor ammo selection. The charge was exciting and the reload too. Frankly THATS part of why I enjoy the hunt.

I do like doubles they are a passion of mine but I also like "classic" single guns and doubles too. Im not afraid to use a single nor a muzzleloader. Nowadays Id guess that more DG is hunted with a bolt gun than a double and venture that the possibility of a short stroke of the bolt is just as likely as a fumbled reload on a single shot. Is a DR a good choice, sure BUT its far from necessary for dangerous game. All of this and we havent touched on muzzleloaders

Today a Double Rifle is like a Rolex. Both great items of quality and class but neither a requirement for a hunt or to tell time.