Only three aniamals really "need" solids in my opinion and can actually be taken well with premium softs or X bullets.
Elephant, Rhino and Hippo should br the most likely game you will use solids on. Giraffe and buffalo are very big and giraffe has thicker skin in places than an elephant or rhino. However they have a more fragile skeleton with easier to break bones.
Buffalo only have the reputation for using solids becasue for years PH's were seeing conventional softs come apart and fail to penetrate. Today with the bonded core technology softs are prefered by most experienced PHs. Solids will also limit shooting to a greater degree as you do not want to shoot through a buffalo and kill or wound another animal. Solids from a 375HH will easily exit a broadside shot with enough remaining velocity to go almost through a second bufflao!
As far as Rhino are concerned we hunt ( wide mouth)White rhino almost evey year but not (hook lip) black rhino. There will be permits for the (hook lip) in 2005 but the hunts will be auctioned and we believe they will sell for about 1/2 million USD each.
The 416 Rigby is an unusual gun for an American hunter to own. What do you use it for in the states? It's an unusual gun to use in Southern Africa as well, almost all the folks who shoot a 416 here use the 416 remington. Actually almost nobody uses the 416 they use a 375HH or a 458 win mag or Lott. Few people who live and work here as a PH find the 416 capable of both game crumpling like the 458's or as comfortable to shoot and as accurate as the 375HH.
I think years ago it made sense to have a 416 for hunting the big five when you were in central east Africa and could get into enormous herds of elephants. It gave the hunter a gun that was close to the rifle a PH would pack and still allowed it to function as a hunting rilfe. Today in southern Africa where you can still hunt all the big five, the only shots you will ever take are going to be at the trophy you hunt. There is no more hunting in Kenya and they don't have as many elephants as South Africa. Amazing that the game management of RSA has been so good they allow hunting of elephants and Kenya with a strict no hunting policy is loosing more elepahnts each year then any other country!
In any case if you do not yet have this rifle strongly consider a 375HH, it will do more then you need and with greater ease and available ammo. Also remember that with the new laws you will have to get the serial number engraved into the barrel so that it matches the actions S/N. Many folks with classic or collector rifles will not ruin the finish of the gun by having the serial numbers engraved into their expensive rifle barrels. The Serial number must be visible and not on the bottom of the barrel under the stock too!
