W.D.M. Bell, who killed over 800 elephants with a 7X57mm Mauser round, and a couple of hundred others with things like the .303 British and 6.5mm Mannlicher!!!, once said he thought the ideal elephant cartridge, at least for the kind of elephant butchery he performed, would be the .308 Winchester loaded with the Hornady 220-grain solid at around 2200 FPS. He said 2200 FPS would give extreme penetration, and the short-cased .308 would allow for a very short bolt stroke, so followup shots could be made quickly. Most of his followup shot were at other elephants close by the first one he killed. He often killed four or five elephants with one magazine full of ammo!! Also, a fellow named Harold McCracken, early in the 20th Century, killed one of the biggest Alaska brown bears ever (around 1600 pounds live weight) with a Model 95 Winchester in .30/40 Krag caliber!!

Keep yore powder dry!!

Edited by - eldeguello on 02/06/2003 08:14:52