it is true that once an elephant was killed with a 22 rimfire. so why do we need anything else oh yea i forgot you can't buy 22 ammo or reload it

Butch, ya drinkin' agin?

I can assure whoever spread that story is lying.

I have shot many elephants, and have seen them being cut up.

There is no way in hell a 22 rim fire is going to get to the heart.

This story ranks right up there with what one past gun writer wrote.

I am not sure about his name - may be Alexander Lake??

Anyway, he said he was shooting baboons, as there was a price on them.

He was using a Lee Enfield 303 - with open sights.

He found a bunch sitting several hundred yards away - may be 700??.

He shot the biggest male, and when he got to it apparently he was very surprised that his bullet hit a couple of inches lower than he aimed!!

sorry guys - this was just my of poking the ribs of those guys wanting to shoot big animals with little bullets

quote:

with a 22 rimfire

long rifle or Magnum .... ?

I have heard the same story, sort of. Not sure if it is true.

The story goes that an elephant was shot with a 22 mag using FMJ bullets. It was shot right under the arm pit where the skin is thinnest.

I can believe a 22 mag with FMJ could penetrate that skin. Could it make vitals? Not sure. Maybe if they were lucky.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I have heard the same story, sort of. Not sure if it is true.

The story goes that an elephant was shot with a 22 mag using FMJ bullets. It was shot right under the arm pit where the skin is thinnest.

I can believe a 22 mag with FMJ could penetrate that skin. Could it make vitals? Not sure. Maybe if they were lucky.

IIRC the story comes from Capstick.....he said the bullet hit the major artery under the front leg and the ele bled to death.....not a shot to the heart as Saeed said.

As the story goes, the shot from the rimfire was simply a sting to get the ele to move out of a woodlot it was hiding in so the hunter could get a legitimate shot at it....but the ele died as it was exiting the woodlot of loss of blood.

The PH that did this later killed another ele intentionally knowing that a shot to this artery can be fatal......supposedly licenses were available to cver both dead ele.

If I'm not mistaken it was in Zimbabwe and was widely reported there in the newspaper. The elephant was raiding a native garden and the woman came up behind it and shot it under the front leg. I have read where natives used to pierce this point with a spear to kill them. Have no idea of the veracity of the report as I was not there

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I can assure whoever spread that story is lying.

I have shot many elephants, and have seen them being cut up.

There is no way in hell a 22 rim fire is going to get to the heart.

This story ranks right up there with what one past gun writer wrote.

I am not sure about his name - may be Alexander Lake??

Anyway, he said he was shooting baboons, as there was a price on them.

He was using a Lee Enfield 303 - with open sights.

He found a bunch sitting several hundred yards away - may be 700??.

He shot the biggest male, and when he got to it apparently he was very surprised that his bullet hit a couple of inches lower than he aimed!!

It is in one of Capstick's books that he had done it as an experiment.

Well, if it's already been done with a .22 RF, who's the first to do it with the .17 HMR?

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
sorry guys - this was just my of poking the ribs of those guys wanting to shoot big animals with little bullets

Well we all well know that severaL greats of Africa made extensive careers of taking some hundreds in some cases thousands,
of very large game with 'relatively' small bores.....theres no mythical or bizarre reason why it worked rather well for them.
But as some of them wisely suggested, it was not something they suggested the novice-unskilled person attempt.

But I still remember the fact that a 14yo Gail Selby was confidently guided on to bull ele by her father
with her using the humble well proven old school 7x57- 175 solid.

I would like to see if AR was around when young Gail was going take her ele ,
and what advice the AR part time rec hunters here would have given her.
by why would she have bothered? ...better just listen to your PH father telling you;
,...'lets just go grab Bells old workhorse 7mm Mauser - and go get er done'

I don't recall any of the skilled greats losing their life or someone elses, to DG during their extensive use of small bores.
But i do know a modern day walking disaster celebrity hunter has shot his PH with .458 trying to ineptly prove himself on DG.

quote:

Originally posted by 333_OKH:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I can assure whoever spread that story is lying.

I have shot many elephants, and have seen them being cut up.

There is no way in hell a 22 rim fire is going to get to the heart.

This story ranks right up there with what one past gun writer wrote.

I am not sure about his name - may be Alexander Lake??

Anyway, he said he was shooting baboons, as there was a price on them.

He was using a Lee Enfield 303 - with open sights.

He found a bunch sitting several hundred yards away - may be 700??.

He shot the biggest male, and when he got to it apparently he was very surprised that his bullet hit a couple of inches lower than he aimed!!

It is in one of Capstick's books that he had done it as an experiment.

Then I KNOW it mwas not true.

As much as I enjoy reading Capstick - he was instrumental in me going to Africa, and I am very thankful to him for that.

He does tend to be rather generous with his vast imagination.

That was the kindest description of the man's writings, that I have ever read.

quote:

Then I KNOW it mwas not true.As much as I enjoy reading Capstick - he was instrumental in me going to Africa, and I am very thankful to him for that.He does tend to be rather generous with his vast imagination.

I good writer has to have a good imagination.

I think Capstick (borrowed) a lot of his stories. Having a fairly good sized African library, I will read something and think " Wow, just like Capstick "

All this Afrocentric elephant talk makes me wonder about how well-read the members posting here actually are....


http://www.bangkokpost.com/lea...lling-probe-heats-up



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Apparently this frivolous thread got traction, how I'll never know it is ridiculous.
And started why? because the OP doesn't like people shooting deer with .223's and .243's or elk with 25/06's and .257 Roberts?
I see no comparison even remotely to shooting elephants with a .22 rimfire but I'm sure the case will be made soon..