What would a 16-bore rifle have been used for?

Back in the day, IMO and from armchair readings of vintage books, the rarer 4-bore and more common 8-bore were considered "elephant rifles".

Haven't read much about 10-bore rifles, like the one I have, but people have said, yes it could handle elephant. It will get a go on buffalo one day.

12-bore rifles were not considered elephant rifles. I have seen written historical accounts criticising their use on buffalo, gaur etc as being too light. No doubt they could kill buffalo, but interesting to see they might have been considered too light for buffalo by some historical writers.

The introduction of nitro cartridges changed the perception of bore size ranges and what was needed for what sort of game or situation. What we consider very large bores today were often medium game bores in the days before nitro cartridges.

I am currently reading Grogans, "Cape to Cairo" again, and it is always a bit shocking to read about their lack of success in killing bigger beasts, eg lion and buffalo. He writes about using a double ".500 Magnum", I presume a Black Powder Express? His shooting results would definitely be hopeless if it was a .500 NE.

Watson, what are your plans for this rifle? Deer. bear, perhaps a bison?