Agreed -- magnum is just a word, and the meaning has changed over time. But if you're asking my take on it, I'd say once muzzle velocity is 2700 fps for a bullet with a sectional density of 0.240 or better, I'm done. Maybe a bit faster and less SD for antelope, or smaller critters I expect to be shooting at longer ranges. And I was plenty happy with 2150 fps for elephant using heavy FMJ solids. But for everything I shoot now, a 168 Barnes TSX launched at 2775 fps kills absolutely everything. And everything is a long list. Lion, leopard, cougar, moose, elk, whitetail, mulies, black bear, grizzly, eland, bushbuck, impala, waterbuck, warthog, klipspringer, springbok, blesbok, caracal, nyala, zebra, black wildebeest, blue wildebeest, ostrich, and on and on an on. Please understand that's not coming from a place of "hey, I've shot all those things". Rather it's coming from a place where I've learned over time that ballistic masturbation is meaningless in the hunting field. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, counts as much as actually being able to hunt and to place a reasonable bullet at a reasonable velocity into a reasonable spot. It simply does not matter if you're shooting the latest and greatest wundercartridge. It doesn't. I myself learned the hard way that if you really want to become a good game shot and bag a ton of critters, you start by purchasing a decent scope, put it on a .308 Winchester, and put all your money into as many crates of surplus ammo as you can afford. Wear out that gun and replace the barrel. Then do it again. Then when you settle on your hunting rig and have some find tuned handholds for it, there will be no stopping you. But that approach to shooting and hunting doesn't sell much product, so you seldom see it being promoted.