Ray, what do you think about this: - Is the extra power beyond i.e. .416 Rigby really necessary? And for what, elephant in thick cover perhaps? I watched a video of Johann Calitz hunting ele i Botswana with clients, pretty hairy... What would you choose for such hunts? I belive Johann uses a double i .500NE.

Is bigger than 416 Rigby necessary, the answer is no its not...

Is there a difference in killing power, absolutly...The 500's are visably better stoppers, killers any way you cut it.....

I use the 40 calibers because I can shoot them better and they are adequate under 99% of the circumstances....

the 375 and 9.3 are marginal, but effective when properly applied, but are not charge stoppers in the true sence.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Ray,

I heard a story recently of an elephant cow charging a hunter and his PH.

The hunter had an A-Square 577 T.Rex. He hit the elephant in the head but too low, she continued coming, he fired another shot at her and hit her in the head again, but more to one side, she still came on, the PH hit her with a 450 Ackley, at which point she turned away from them.

Another shot in the head dropped her.

One would have imagined a bullet in the head from a 577 would have been enough to at least stun her. More so this one being a cow.

I have shot an elephant bull in the head with a 375/404. I missed the brain by a couple of inches, but he just dropped down, and I had to give him a finishing shot - I always do taht with elephants anyway.

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

Saeed
I think you are correct. I know of one bull elephant that took two shots in the shoulder from a 577 double and managed to get away.
I have run into these kind of reports through the years. You still have to hit them correctly with any caliber, and most hunters simply do not shoot the larger caliberes well enogh. I know of one PH that has used a 505 for a while and has now gone back to a .458 lott and says it will do anything that one needs.. I myself do not see the need for anything larger than a .45 caliber stopper. But I have and still do use
a 416 for everything, but I shoot it better than anything larger that I have used in the past.
George

If it is said using a .577 TR, next question must be, at what velocity? Hunters with such big bores are not able to manage the full power of such cartridges and load them down to low velocities. That dramatically decreases the penetration and is often the reason of such mishaps.

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I think the big bores show up better on elephant with heart shots, I doubt that head shots make much difference as to caliber..a solid in the brain is a solid in the brain, and you cannot depend on a near brain shot to put an elephant down every time, if fact most of the time it will not in the opinnion of some of the most experienced elephant hunters that I have talked to....

I believe that the bigger a bore is the better it kills Buffalo and the faster it kills Buffalo, most of the time...at least that is my experience, but like I said, I shoot the 416 and 404 better, the rifles are lighter and pack easier, and that makes a big difference with me. The 40 calibers are more than adequate..

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com