In a recent thread we discussed the merits of different solids for elephant. Ray was a big proponent of GS solids and indicated that Johan Calitz (Botswana) used them with great success. Today I talked with the PH in his firm that will be with me when I hunt there this August. I asked him about different solids and he confirmed that they all used GS solids and were huge fans of them. This particular PH uses a 450 Watts (almost identical to the Lott) and has seen great penetration. He says the blunt face on the bullet cuts a nice swath. He says they hold a straight line and hasn't seen a failure with them. On one shot at a bull a client had shot(missed brain shot) he tried for a hip shot to anchor the elephant. He missed the hip but the bullet went clear through the elephant diagnally and was found next to the off-shoulder. Obviously terrific penetration. He said that the bullet just had rifling grooves on it-no deformation-and could have been reloaded.

This would appear to be an unqualified endorsement of these bullets-in other words, Ray was right.If I ever receive my order before I go in late July I will use them on my hunt.

JohnDL,
Glad to hear confirmation of my opinion of them. I will use them whenever I can get them too.

Good luck on your safari. Where will it be? Botswana I presume? The country is not as flat as some would say. They even have some mountains near Gabarone. There are a few kopjes in the Tuli Block that you can climb for some gorgeous views.

The Okavango is flat but full of game. The Kalahari is a world unto itself.

Hope I can do the elephant thing some day.

A bit of trivia from J.K.-H.: the biggest tusker ever taken was by an Arab ivory hunter named Sunussi, from the slopes of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. The major tusk was 226 pounds and the minor was 224.

Those days are long gone.

Keep us posted, please.

------------------
RAB

Ron, I was a bit surprised by the response of the PH. I expected him to say something to the effect that there are a variety of solids which are excellent, or something to that effect. I certainly don't know of any line of work to evaluate solids than hunting elephant for a living!

I will be hunting outside (just!) of Chobe National Park. They sink bore holes (read wells) outside the park to attract and hold elephant. I'm told they see between 20 and 50 bulls a day on average. I'll either come back with a big one or none at all.

I have used the GS solids and found them to work as well as other premium solids. Shot placement on an elephant is paramount. Last year a Spanish hunter shot his 20 th elephant with one perfect side brainshot rifle from his .375 Mauser. His elephant rifle was an expensively scope .416 Rigby from a famous gunmaking firm had no iron sights so he was forced to use the .375 when the scope died on him. The bullet was a Barnes 300grs monolithic. I cannot recommend the .375 for all but in this case it was enough. I love the .375 but if your shot is not perfect you may have some work ahead of you.