Which Elephant Rifle and cartridge?

[FlyGuy]

450 Rigby shooting a 500gr solid

 

[aminkus]

CZ 550 .404 Jeffery with Nikon African Monarch scope

 

[Longwalker]

I've only hunted one elephant so far. If I ever got to hunt another, my "Ideal" would need to be practical and limited to what I have on hand for firearms.
So I'd pick my Merkel 140 AE double rifle chambered in .450-400 3" Nitro Express. Perhaps few experienced elephant hunters would consider it "ideal" but with this relatively mild but quite capable chambering, in a rifle that I know, have some experience with, and like, I feel I could quickly hit what I'm aiming at. It's especially quick, accurate and responsive when fitted with a Burris reflex sight in the Recknagel QD mount. The recoil is manageable, so I don't flinch. That matters more to me than extra power.

 

[wildwilderness]

I've only hunted one elephant so far. If I ever got to hunt another, my "Ideal" would need to be practical and limited to what I have on hand for firearms.
So I'd pick my Merkel 140 AE double rifle chambered in .450-400 3" Nitro

What rifle, cartridge did you take your first Ele with?

 

[Longwalker]

It was a rented Winchester M70 Safari Express, .416 Rem, loaded with Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer solids. Equipped with a 1.5-5x Leupold. Worked OK, but it would fail to feed if three cartridges were placed in the magazine. So it was a "three shooter". That didn't bother me until I had a wounded bull elephant on the ground at spitting distance and an empty rifle in my hands ... that was disconcerting!

 

[Captain Munro]

Heym .89b .470 or Heym Martini mauser ,404J

My choices exactly! I'd take an 89B in 500 and a Martini in 416 as well haha. Inhave no basis on which to qualify these choices save all the books and articles I have read, as well as other media.

 

[Flipper Dude]

That didn't bother me until I had a wounded bull elephant on the ground at spitting distance and an empty rifle in my hands ... that was disconcerting!

Disconcerting………….. Understated, yet apt description.

 

[Khalanyoni Game Ranch]

The calibre choice is alway as debatable as the preferred vehicle brand and best tyre to do offroading....

Being a leathered PH and listening to conversations around the campfires on our safaris, you gather a lot of advice and get to poke a couple of suggestions around and feel the response coming from clients.

Shotplacement is the best choice.....just another opinion , but once you can deliver a very well placed shot with trustworthy bullets, the calibre choice is up to you.

My BRNO .375H&H have proven itself over and over. My Mauser .458Lott is my go to as back-up , but experience and bullet choice cannot be placed on the back burner.

On Elle, a lot can go wrong if your bullet do not have the penetration that is needed. The tusks inside the scull is a major obstruction and the nasal cavity alike.

If you hit the brain with a .375 solid, you will have the trophy on the ground......missing the brain or spine with the biggest rifle , may leave you on a death run or ending up under the tusks or trunk of a wounded Elle.

I use Peregrine VRG3 Bushmaster bullets on all DG hunts with excellent penetration, perfect expansion and proper weight retension.

" HORSES FOR CAUSES " , Budget is also a prominent factor.

In short : Why use the minimum calibre if your life is at stake ? Rather get a rifle that gel with you, not kicking like a mule. A calibre that you can handle and shoot from the sticks and still do a 50-80 yard 5 shot grouping into a 3inch circle. Use good ammo and study the anatomy of your trophy while putting you in every possible position to take a shot...........Your first shot determine the type of funeral in camp.....yours or the Elle's funeral.

The most common mistake on calibre that I have seen, is the biggest, heaviest ass kicking rifle to boost your ego in the gunshop or around the campfire..........We see this so many times , use enough gun, be one with your rifle, use it as your companion and do not let your ego choose your calibre....