I love things that give you value, and not just monetary value, but power value or what ever.
Take the full length 550 Magnum for a study. I am asking the following because although I am
convinced it's CLOSE, I just don't know how to work the numbers like michael458 and some of
you other guys do.

You're elephant hunting, you're 10 - 15 yards or so when you pull the trigger. You miss the brain
by a little. Does the 550 Magnum affect the BULL to the same degree as the 600 OK and 585HE.
Assume the BULLS are clones of each other, and the bullet strikes are identical, as is everything
else accept for caliber choice. So does the BULL get knocked down and stay for at least a couple/
three minutes with all three. If YES, now let's add the 2.65 inch brass version of the 550 caliber,
the 550 Express. Does IT also knock down the BULL for a few??????????

If all FOUR of the above pass the knock down test, WHICH CAN BE BUILD AT A "ROCK SOLID"
QUALITY LEVEL, (USING A SYNTHETIC STOCK AND, WHICH EVER IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE
ACTION FOR EACH,) FOR THE LOWEST COST?

OK, go to it men...

http://www.shakariconnection.c...magnum-season-2.html

It dropped this one.

D R,

If there is one thing that has been demonstrated quite well in the Terminal Bullet Performance thread it is that when all things are equal - meaning same bullet design and construction delivered at the same impact velocity - the largest diameter/heaviest bullet will deliver the most trauma from bullet impact.

RNS,

Good article, thanks!

CAPOWARD,

Hi, thanks for the post, and No doubt as to your assertion.
So a 1.000 cal at 2150 FPS MV missing elephant brain by 4"
does more tissue damage than 600 OK and on down. It's not
my question though. I'm asking, can we miss the elephant
brain by 4" with a 550 Magnum and the shorter 550 Express
and still cause enough of a concussion to the elephant brain
to knock it down for a few minutes, essentially equal to what
the 600 OK and 585 HE would cause in the same circumstan-
ces? Or does the 550 caliber really belong in the .510 caliber
"zone" as opposed to the .585 diameter bullet "zone"? Re-
member what Pondoro wrote about the 500 NE. Many saw it
as a space to skip. If your 450 Cal, or 470 Cal or other 480 to
500 grainer was not enough for your situation, best to jump
up to .585 or .620 stuff with their 750 and 900 grain bullets.
So I again contemplate, which "bunch does the .550 belong in,
the .510 bunch or the super big caliber bunch?

I'd put it up there.

Reason being, Geoff from Woodleigh
made upt he 530 Mcdonald (460 case)
and 505/530 Woodleigh (505 Case)
as a dedicated stopping / killing
rifle for PH's.

The fact that it is superior to
say a 505 Gibbs or 500 Jeff from
what has been shown in the field
says a lot.

So I would put the 550 up there.

Good comment 505G

When you have certain gents with the means eg Ulrik on this site in particular hitting everything with a 577 Trex running at nearly 12000ftlbs. And there is no great difference from using a 458 at less than half the power, you are not left with much case there is going to be a great difference between other lesser cartridges.

I don't think there is a lot of difference between bigbores on game the size of elephant. I think where you see the most difference is on medium/large game being able to drop them on the spot.
Even cape buffalo is out of this league though.

The fashion on this forum of course swngs back and forth over the last 15 years on the effectiveness of going to a bigger bore or not. I remember a vote for head shots on elephant in 2002 or so and the 375 came up tops. This is when we all had quick internet streaming for the first time though and the flavour of the month was watching Saeeds hunting clips with a 375/404.