Any of you People think this is a bad idea ? will use woodleight 320 grains for the hunt
Also have a 500A2 so the hunt will go on anyway if this is no good

Been doing the job for what....about 110 years now? Personally, I am not sure you need the 320 grainers.

JMHO

May not be legal caliber in some AFrican countries for ele.
I personally wouldn't go after ele with this,
450/400 would be my min.
I think you need to have some level of stopping power, and IMO
The 9.3 hasn't got it.

Nick

For bull in open country ok but not for cows or early season is my opinion

I took my bull with my 9,3X62, worked just fine.

One ele bull is not much of a sample to evaluate though.

Here are a couple of threads that had a discussion regarding suitability of various calibers for DG.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...4711043/m/4921032791

http://forums.accuratereloadin...4711043/m/2051046891

quote:

I took my bull with my 9,3X62, worked just fine.

I would classify the 9.3x74R as an ideal caliber for shooting driven boar; not saying it wouldn't do the job on an elephant, but just won't lobby it.

I have seen many an Elephant fall to the 9.3 x 62 loaded with 300 grain or 286 grain monolithic solids. Penetration has always been good. No reason why the 9.3 x 74 would not do the same thing if properly loaded with proper bullets. Its about shot placement and penetration. If you shoot the rifle well and you are confident in the rifle , use it. I'd rather have my hunter shoot a 9.3 or 375 with ease and accurately than mess up with a 500.

Question for those more experienced than I (and I think the answers will add to responses to the original query):

I've always used bigger bores on elephants. It just made me feel better to have a .40+ caliber in my hand, particularly when in and amongst a bunch of cows and calves.

That said, I can certainly agree a .366 caliber bullet of 286 grains (or more) at 2100+ fps is fine for brain shots in most occasions, but...

... what if your only shot is for the heart? Brain shots are the best way to go, but I'm not going to let a 80 lb. elephant walk if I can't get the perfect pop to the noggin'. I know a heart shot works with the bigger calibers.

I certainly am not an expert, but of the elephants I've shot in the chest, I know I felt a bit better about it because I had .450 N.E. or larger in my hand when I did it.

Two of the three I've heart-shot fell to the ground immediately (and stayed there after being popped again) and one collapsed after 60 yards or so.

I guess there is a reason that .366 or .375 are minimum calibers. Are they marginal on heart shots?

JudgeG,

In my experience it is just the opposite, in that elephants are very easy to kill with heart lung shots even with minimum calibers. Many have been killed with the 303 on that shot. In fact the old timers recommended that if you were going to hunt elephant with a caliber under 40 then always go for heart lung shots. The only place that bigger calibers are an advantage is on head shots that miss the brain. The larger calibers are more likely to stun the elephant than a smaller caliber, at least that is the theory.

465H&H

I have only shot 3 Elephants - one with a 375 H&H,one with a 470NE, one with a 416Rigby. Missed a brainshot on the one with the 375 and put one in the lungs. It ran to another hunting area and I lost it (it later died) the 470 was hit in the lung/heart area and bullet recovered on far side under the skin (woodliegh solid) the 416Rigby was shot in Heart/lung and ran probably 3 miles before he died. His tusks were nice ,I'm looking at them as I write. It is my belief that unless you brain an elephant you are not about to stop him immediately with anything. My 375 brain shot was close enough that it put the elephant on he ass immediately ,of course be got right up and I believe had this been a charge the results would have been the same. The other two had the 'safe' shots taken and were killed but still covered quite a distance. Would I use a 9.3x74r the answer is a resounding yes and I bought a Chapius specifically for the purpose but after I shot it a while I decided I had never shot a more brutal rifle on my cheek so I sold it then I bought the Merkel 470 and after I killed the elephant I found I had satisfied my dream of killing an elephant with a double rifle in Africa which was a dream since high school. BUt I really WANTED to do it with the Chapuis.

quote:

Originally posted by 465H&H:
The only place that bigger calibers are an advantage is on head shots that miss the brain.

Its my understanding that Mr. Bell found larger calibres more suitable not in order to make up for poor shot placement,
but for when more penetrative ability was required.
eg:,... For the vast majority of brain shot angles on elephant, the 7x57 solid, more than sufficed.
He preferred the larger 250gn .33cal for better penetration it offered, for when performing going away shots on the brain,
where penetration through the neck was required before reaching the brain.
Bell also found that 7x57 chest shots[on downed bulls], resulted in the bullet reaching the backbone, but unable to breach it.

Gail Selby took her ele from 80yd[heart shot with 7x57 solid], it ran some 40yd before collapsing and dying, which is near abouts the distance
Mr. Bell noted that his bulls typically ran before expiring from a heart shot with well placed 7x57 solid.

Bell also wrote that he successfully downed & temporarily stunned elephants with near misses to the brain, whilst using 7x57.
Seems the 'stun' time the 7x57 offered,was ample for him to then be able to then finish the job on the downed bulls.

Trax,
When you see parts of an elephant charging you through the thickest of Jesse only to be stopped meters away (still only partly visible) by a 470 or similar, then you may understand. As you often quote others, you may remember the likes of Ian Nyschen saying that even the 404 was not suitable for Ele in those situations.