I finally got a copy of Any Shot You Want and on a quick skim, read up on the T-rex.

Saeed has done more then anyone in the world to bring this round to many shooters conscience, but not from field use

Question is, I've never heard any reports about it being used in the field. I'd be curious if anyone could provide input on whether the round has been used in Africa or not.

Wouldn't that make a great video? Call it morbid curiousity, but it would be neat seeing how it would perform on buffalo or elephant.

Canuck

If Saeed had his regular cast of shooters their, the animal would probably look at the shooter with the rifle rotating through the air, and just shake its head before ambling off.

Maybe there could be a prize for anyone that got up off the ground before the buffalo?

hehehe,
Canuck

Every time I watch some cherry firing that beast, it reminds of a rifle drill team spinning their rifles

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

useless is more like it. will post more details tonight.

How many of you guys or gals would fire that beast after seeing the video clips? A 12 gage single shot with some of my oldest brothers "hand loads" is the hardest kicking gun I have ever fired. I would like to give the T-Rex a go just to say that I did it. Just think of the blood shed if there was a scope mounted on that bad boy.
Bryan

Paul,

I am afraid what Mr. Alpin has written in that book about the 577 does not make sense to me.

I have heard of only one hunter using this cartridge on an elephant, and it was a total failure.

He shot an elephant cow which was charging them. He hit it twice in the head, missing the brain. The cow did not go down as we always were lead to beleive it would if hit with a large caliber, despite missing the brain.

The bullets did not penetrate very far either.

I think I will stick to a 375, and make sure the bullet goes in the right place.

Oh, of course, what he says about his Coil-Check stock reducing recoil so much is also not true.

We have the videos to prove it

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

thanks Saeed, for giving the details.

it was a text book charge not provoked by us,it was just caught our wind and came running full steam ahead. this was my first elephant and charge so i was glad i had my t-rex with me. i think i would have been better off with a 45-70. my ph killed the elephant with his .450 ackley. i shot it twice in the head and it pretty much kept comeing. the first shot was at 28 paces the second at around 23 near as we could tell. all this knock down power talk is b.s. i was there did it, shot it, watched it and can tell you with 100% confidence that Mr. Alphine dosent have a clue what he is talking about. both bullets were recovered one in the base of the skull one in the throught. they penetraited 20-24 inches is all.

after Saeed arrived to camp we all went out to the range-even walter, and chronographed the ammo that Mitch loaded for me. Mitch knowes what he is doing so Mr. alphine cant use that excuse. i think it was 2350 fps. i cant remember for sure Roy wrote it down so i'll verify that later.

the next elephant i shot a couple days later, a bull, was knocked out cold despite missing the brain by 3" again. he was walking towards slowly and droped in his tracks numb. not a twitch or anything. when i put the finishing shot in him it was obvious that the first shot only knocked him out aaah the value of K.O. power. Mr. alphine is right we need a reliable caliber because K.O. power is important SO i listened to Mr. Taylor and used my 375 H&H.

sorry for the spelling i missed that class i was hunting that day..............

Eric, There's something here that just doesn't add up. All things being equal, a well-made solid of good sectional density should penetrate wonderfully, whether from a 577 or 375. I have noticed differing performance from solids in the same rifle. Two trips ago I shot a buffalo with my 450 Dakota (Grand Slam 500 grains at 2450 fps). It went into the front shoulder, penetrated lengthwise diagonally, then went through a 6 inch tree. On my last trip I was using 500 grain Trophy Bonded Sledgehammers for solids. I was surprised to see that a sideways finishing shot on a buffalo didn't penetrate completely. I found it "fishtailed" in the spine. I have to wonder if this bullet (and yours from the 577) were properly stabilized. Perhaps the twist-rate on your T-Rex was not properly researched by Mr. Alphin and the bullet never "went to sleep". This story does go to show that one cannot simply look at bore size, velocity, and muzzle energy, and assume that all is OK.

Somewhere i read this:
�An 80 kg Englishman picks up his 16 pound 4 bore (or .577 T rex) rifle and fires it at a 6 ton elephant. The elephant goes down and the Englishman goes down. Whoever gets up first is the winner. If neither of them gets up then their possessions are divided according to the law of the jungle�.

I added the .577 t Rex...

Husky

john, i agree i was suprised at the outcome too. it dosent addup. the rifle is the same as Saeed's t-rex. we couldnt tell by the wound channel the bullet was stablized or not. but from a practile standpoint usally anything 20 paces out should be fine at that range. when shooting paper never seen any signs of this, key holes etc. the gun is very accurate as well. you are right it dosent add up. i think that the lesson here isnt a matter of ballistics its that all that hype about size is just that....hype. havent we been telling that to the girls for years?

as a side note i had the same thing happen with 2 finishing shots in a lion from 7 paces with my 375 with 300 grain x bullets, only 6 to 8 inches of penetration. the petals were hardly open, and it was clearly a case of the bullet not being stablized. as far as the t-rex the world shall forever wonder....

Eric,
Whose bullets were you using in the T-Rex? Were these handloads or (A-Square) factory ammo?

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

george, they were hand loads that Mitch loaded. he used barnes solids. i'll post the load later-i need to look it up. i remember that it was going around 2300fps on the chronograph under the same conditions.

Damn! That combination should have worked fine. I take it that bullets appeared undamaged (no riveting, fishtailing, fracturing, etc.); perhaps you got one of the "hardheaded" elephants (Loxodonta africana obstinatus)

George
P.S. You would NOT have been better off with a .45-70!

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LV Eric:
Hi Eric,
I'm baffled by this one also. How far was the brain missed by and what was the actual path of the bullet? The 577 Nitro Express has been knocking them down for ages at 2050 fps. When my hunting partner Chris and I were in
Tanzania he shot a Zebra that refused to take notice the same way your Elephant refused. His first shot was straight on the chest about 2 inches up from the brisket bone. The follow up shots were two in the chest broadside and then one up the rear as it was going away. This was all done with a 375 Weatherby shooting 300 grain Barnes X bullets. It doesn't make any sense he should have been down after the first shot and his rug has all the holes to varify the shots. It comes under the heading of _hit happens.
470 Mbogo

sorry 470 mbongo that i didnt answere your question i must have missed it somehow please accept my apologizes. i'll answere it tomarrow i 'm to tired now.

[ 09-20-2003, 10:35: Message edited by: LV Eric ]

I am shocked also to hear how the hype isn't true. Wow Eric you are fast with that cannon also. You fired it, worked the bolt, reaimed and fired all in the time it took a charging elephant to cover 8 to 10 yards That must have been all of a second. I am impressed. I cannot come close to that speed with my 500 Jeffery I take my hat off to you sir.

Kent

I used a 585 nyati on buffalo and elephant. All were at 2250 fps. Here are the results:

1. Broadside heart shot on elephant with 750 grain Woodleigh. No exit.

2. Tail shot on elephant with TCCI monolithic solid (like Barnes, but good quality control). No exit.

All of the following were with TCCI solids.

3. Finisher shot into the top of the spine above the chest. (elephant was down on its side) Exit. (5 feet of penetration or so).

4. Into the bottom of the chest, straight up and toward spine. No exit.

5. Broadside shot at buffalo, breaking shoulder and going through the heart and lungs. Exit.

6. First finisher shot at buffalo, into the top of the spine from above the chest. (buffalo was on its side). No exit.

7. Second finisher just like #6. Exited.

There is really no doubt in my mind that when you increase the cross sectional area of a bullet, penetration tends to suffer.

500 Grains:
You are kidding, right?
gs