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ELEPHANT GUN?
BUICK1939
Member Posts: 108 ✭✭
DOES ANYBODY KNOW ANYONE WHO STILL MAKE ELEPHANT GUNS OR ANY WEBSITES DEDICATED TO THEM. ALSO I HEARD THE ROUND THAT THESE GUNS USED ARE CALLED 8 BORE, IS THIS TRUE? I'VE ALWAYS LIKED BIG GAME RIFLES AND JUST WANTED SOME INFO ON THEM IF POSSIBLE. THANKS
Comments
The 8-bore (83cal) used a 1/8 lb (2oz) lead ball or a 4oz conical lead bullet over a black powder charge, and if the truth were told, would not be the most effective round available (in terms of weight to carry, and effect on target).
www.accuratereloading.com is full of dedicated Africian hunters and big bore fanatics.
There is also a big difference in a "hunting rifle" and a "charge stopper" (AKA a stopping rifle). Stoppers are only used in emergencies, IE: hunter muffed the shot, and now the guide must stop 2 tons of pissed off from turning said hunter into a mud pie.
Most hunters today use rifles ranging from the 375H&H through the 416Rigby and 404Jeffries up to the 458WM and 458Lott. Stoppers today start at the 416Rigby and run on up through things like the 500 Nitro Express, 500 Jeffries, 577NE, 577T-Rex, 585 Nyati, 600 Overkill, and 700 Nitro Express. Once you experance 10 times the recoil of a 30-06 pounding into your shoulder, you will understand why most people don't use them as their primary weapon.
Another forum that specializes in large bore discussions is:
http://nitroexpress.com/
This is an article by John Millar about the 4-bore rifle that he built and hunted with a few years ago:
http://www.african-hunter.com/4-bore_part_i.htm
http://www.african-hunter.com/4-bore_part_ii.htm
Best.
I'm personally preferential to W.D. "Karomojo" Bell's stories, who took most of his elephants with a 6.5x55 and a 7mm Mauser. For the 7mm Mauser he used a 160gr. Solid. He always made headshots for a quick kill. A 9.3x62 gained a lot of preference among professional hunters in Africa because it produces excellent energy without all the kick of the .375 H&H.
If talking about fine weapons in the Nitro calibers, Holland and Holland and Purdy are two of the most recognizeable names. Merkel and Krieghoff still build fine rifles out of Germany. They both have websites:
http://www.gunshop.com/merkel1.htm
http://www.krieghoff.com/
The only thing I can add about the "8 bore" is that it is, as I understand it, an 8 guage shotgun bore firing a slug. Or, two sizes bigger than your 12 guage that you may hunt with here in America. -I hope those help
W.W. Greener said you would do about as well with an 11 1/2 lb 8 ga smoothbore, 2 oz ball, 8 drams powder. Accurate enough for 40 yards, powerful enough for elephant, less weight to carry, less recoil to endure.
The .450 Rigby Nitro obsoleted that and all the other "gauge" blackpowder rifles with tremendous penetration of a jacketed bullet driven by smokeless powder. "Pondoro" Taylor liked the .577 Nitro for stopping power under adverse conditions; preferring it to the .600.
Hollands will make you a .700 Nitro but that is a rich man's toy not justified by any hunting now or then. They have also made one or a few 10 bore (.775) Nitro rifles but loads are relatively mild to keep gun weight down.
I've read where someone is, or recently has produced shotgun barrels with this feature.