Leopard with CEB raptor, particularly in 416?

[Backyardsniper]

Starting my prep for my 2026 hunt. I already have pretty much all my gear and load plans nailed down from the last hunt. However, I will be hunting leopard on this one, which I did not do on the last one and have never done before.
I have 2 rifles I'm picking between for the leopard/incidental plains game portion of the hunt. My trusty 416 Rigby from the last trip or a much more "modern" read "tactical" 338 lapua. I hear that fast opening bullets are desired for leopard so has anyone shot a leopard with a CEB Raptor in 416 or would a 350gr speer hot cor soft point be a good choice. Should I just roll with the 400 gr A frame that I used on the last hunt. I killed a hyena at 50yds with it and he never even kicked. I would think for bullet performance purposes a hyena and a leopard are built similarly. I don't see him limping off from a well placed 400 gr A frame. That way I'm also covered for any other DG if I need to use my 416 instead of the double. I'll be running a Nightforce 5.5-22x56 for the leopard. I have QD mounts so I can pop a 1-4x on it later. I hate to bring a gun that is too small for DG in case I have an issue with the double, but I haven't ruled out the lapua.

 

[Altitude sickness]

My wife missed her leopard last month. So unfortunately I can not tell you how the Raptors performed on a big male leopard.

But I used the same rifle on her bait animals. 6 Impala (2 were shot with a .375 &TSX) 8 total

The raptor worked very well on Impala. I’m guessing that the leopard will be dead at the bottom of the tree.

Of course the others will work also.