.375 h&h
Let us be honest: although I do not need a new rifle, I feel like getting one. My current rifle battery is as follows: Winchester 490 in .22LR; Mauser 96 in 6.5X55; German Voere Shikar in 30-06; and T/C Encore in .50X209 muzzleloader. The Ruger #1 tropical in .375 H & H has caught my eye. I do not plan on going to Africa; although one never knows what the future may have in store. That new rifle would be for moose hunting. Hence the question: is it too much gun for that application?
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One reads about "no such thing as too much gun" in some of the posts above...
Of course it is more gun than is required, but it simply is such a pleasure gun to shoot, with very manageable recoil. Penetration is way, way beyond what you will need.
I hunted with a Sako Hunter in this calibre for many years and often worried about wounding unseen game after a particularly expensive shot that went through my Eland bull and broke the neck of a cow which was about 70 yards behind him in the thick bush. Where it went from there is uncertain. That cow cost me many bucks as they were already in calf and then you paid for two full grown eland including the bull.
Many North American hunters come to South Africa with real big rifles which they find too hard to shoot after a few initial shots. I am a firm believer of 50 practice rounds for every one shot on an animal. With a .375 H&H you can do that, but not with the 460+ magnums. So instead of being able to put a 300 gr. solid into the brain of an elephant no matter what the angle with a .375H&H, he flinches it with his .378 or larger Weatherby or G&A.
I even hunted Impala with my .375 H&H, it causes much less meat damage than smaller, faster soft points. It is a lovely calibre.
Slightly off-topic, but if I may state my favourite calibres for African hunting:
For big game except elephant and buffalo: anyone of the following: 30-06 Springfield / .308W / 7x57 Mauser / .303 British / 6.5 x 57. There is no animal that dies better or worse with any of the these.
For plains game (Springbok, Blesbok, Oryx: 7x64 / .270W) These calibres are simply too fast, with heavy meat damage, for the short distances of bush hunting (hardly ever more than 100 yds, and typically 70 yds).
