Which Elephant Rifle and cartridge?

[Hunter-Habib]

Which one are you? Did you hunt that elephant or just sharing photos?

Of course, I shot that elephant. Why else would I have so many photographs of the same elephant hunt from different angles ? And what would I be doing in the photograph in the first place (by now most forum members know how I look because of my MANY MANY hunting photographs from different hunts over the last 53 years).

Very strange. I've been a member of these forums for four years now and no one ever questioned my integrity before.

I even very respectfully clarified the bit about the tusk weight in another later post.

Post in thread 'Which Elephant Rifle and cartridge?' https://www.africahunting.com/threads/which-elephant-rifle-and-cartridge.81771/post-1227217

 

[dchum]

Of course, I shot that elephant. Why else would I have so many photographs of the same elephant hunt from different angles ? And what would I be doing in the photograph in the first place (by now most forum members know how I look because of my MANY MANY hunting photographs from different hunts over the last 53 years).

Very strange. I've been a member of these forums for four years now and no one ever questioned my integrity.

I even very respectfully clarified the bit about the tusk weight in another later post.

Post in thread 'Which Elephant Rifle and cartridge?' https://www.africahunting.com/threads/which-elephant-rifle-and-cartridge.81771/post-1227217

Which one are you in the photo?

That was All I asked…. besides being confused on tusk weight.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Which one are you in the photo?

That was All I asked…. besides being confused on tusk weight.

Long sleeved shirt, long trousers, Mustache. That's my son next to me.

Any other questions ?

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Which one are you in the photo?

That was All I asked…. besides being confused on tusk weight.

The mustache should give him away

 

[IvW]

IvW,
you're most likely talking about the same Con Van Wyk. But I think that there's a slight discrepancy in the dates somewhere.

The Con I refer to was mauled by a client's wounded lion BEFORE 1987 in Zimbabwe. He suffered bite marks to the head before the lion was shot by the client. The lion would have killed him had the animal's jaw not been broken by one of Con's bullets (a 300Gr Winchester Super X Silver Tip that disintegrated upon striking the lion's jaw).

The incident happened just a few years after my elephant hunt.

Do you know how I can get in touch with him ? I last saw him in 1991.

He was wounded with 4 shots before 80 in his leg and ankle, before he left. They tried to murder him on more than one occasion as he was heavily involved with the Selous Scouts He was mauled twice by lions not once. He started hunting with Rosslyn safaris, Matetsi and then also for Enoch....

 

[Fatback]

I be going on my first elephant hunt in 2025. I’ll be in Namibia looking for a non-trophy/non-exportable bull. I am not sure which rifle I’ll be taking.

It will either by my CZ 550 in 404 Jeffery, M70 in 416 Rem or my newly acquired, as yet to be fired M70 in 458 Win Mag.

It will all depend on which one I am shooting the best as the trip gets closer. The 404 Jeffery has a date with a buffalo in Zim the first week of September this year.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

He was wounded with 4 shots before 80 in his leg and ankle, before he left. They tried to murder him on more than one occasion as he was heavily involved with the Selous Scouts He was mauled twice by lions not once. He started hunting with Rosslyn safaris, Matetsi and then also for Enoch....

I'm sorry but I didn't know about the second mauling.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I be going on my first elephant hunt in 2025. I’ll be in Namibia looking for a non-trophy/non-exportable bull. I am not sure which rifle I’ll be taking.

It will either by my CZ 550 in 404 Jeffery, M70 in 416 Rem or my newly acquired, as yet to be fired M70 in 458 Win Mag.

It will all depend on which one I am shooting the best as the trip gets closer. The 404 Jeffery has a date with a buffalo in Zim the first week of September this year.

Excellent choices, all of which still leave some money in the bank account for the hunt and any unexpected trophy fees the bush might provide

 

[Medicine]

Going back to the original question, a scoped .416 Remington Magnum with a factory loaded Federal Premium Safari 400 grain Woodleigh Hydro Solid is an efficient elephant killer. So efficient; however, that you may feel cheated. After growing up hunting whitetails with similar setups, it was nearly too easy. For my next elephant hunt, I will take a Heym 88B PH 470NE with irons and will set as my goal a bull of at least 60 pounds per side. I am still undecided on ammo.

 

[Happy Myles]

for elephant I prefer 500 grain solids. I have successfully killed Savannah elephant with 450 Ackley, 460 Short A Square, 500 Jeffery, 500 Nitro Express, and 470 Nitro Express. They all worked fine for both brain and body shots. Have also taken two Forest Elephant with my 416 Rigby because that is what I had with me forest hunting using 400 Grain Barnes TSX. Interestingly, three of the dozen Savannah elephant had AK 47 rounds in them by poachers and both Forest elephant had AK 47 injuries.
Because of my advanced age my eyes have lost their flexibility so use low power scope these days. I used to love elephant hunting involving long, hard walks. One morning we picked up a huge track and occassional glimpse of a big bull on a water hole hard on the Botswana border, Slept on the track and watched him stroll into Angola the next day. A great adventure, ah, to be young again

 

[Certus]

So many cartridges it would be “fun” to do with.
I’d like to hunt one with a .50-110 winchester 1886 (modern made, can throw 525gr at 2000fps), or a .378 Wby (on a brno 602).
Heck a .700 nitro would be fun too, but I doubt I could handle that recoil.
Wbys just..look nice.. yes the .30-06 is a bit far back in the photo, not intentional.

 

[Slider]

My 500 Double with a removable Red Dot sight. Solids of course.

 

[Rare Breed]

You could be right.

It's not fair for me to give an inaccurate figure by speculating now (after all these years). The one I shot in Zimbabwe was in 1982 and was particularly heavy (as you can see in my photographs).

Truth be told, I never bothered to have them weighed since I didn't bring them back with me. South Bengal was under martial law at that time and bringing ivory into the country was next to impossible. And I wasn't particularly interested in bringing the ivory back anyway.

But a few years later, when one of my guests (a fellow hunter) saw these photographs... He commented upon how big the tusks were. A conversation between us lead to him declaring that the tusks could weigh as heavily as "More than 150 LB a side". I never gave it more thought than that.

But yes. It's not very ethical for me to speculate. But I don't think the tusks would be under 110 LB (combined). If my white hunter (Mr. Con Van Wyk) is still around... He can shed further insight. He used to live in Bulawayo until the 1990s.
View attachment 602726View attachment 602727View attachment 602728

Let’s put it this way…A set of tusks for a lifetime any hunter would be proud to call theirs!!!!

 

[Rare Breed]

I like the points that @Mtn_Infantry makes. We never know if it will be a one time thing hunting an elephant or a life long journey.
For me personally my ideal elephant set up is my Kreighoff (either .470 or .450/400) double with the no longer available in the US Kahles Helia red dot sight. This has become very comfortable for me to shoot and I have much confidence in it. I can shoot most anything at any reasonable distance.
If I had it to do over sure I wish I had bought the double to start with. I thought I would knock down the big 5 and move on. I was wrong. I bought a Ruger, .416 Ruger and put the common Leupold VX6 1-6X on it and it worked fine.
My advice is to find a rifle larger than .375 that you can shoot effectively and put a Leupold VX6 2-12x or Swarovski Z8 1.3-13x. Dont buy one of those dinky 1-5 or 1-6 straight tube scopes. They lack the versatility of the afore mentioned scopes.

For the record my good friend @Philip Glass has taken both the big 5 and dangerous 7. While I only have one more animal to get my big 5 he is always trying to talk me into the dangerous 7!!!

 

[Rare Breed]

Of course, I shot that elephant. Why else would I have so many photographs of the same elephant hunt from different angles ? And what would I be doing in the photograph in the first place (by now most forum members know how I look because of my MANY MANY hunting photographs from different hunts over the last 53 years).

Very strange. I've been a member of these forums for four years now and no one ever questioned my integrity before.

I even very respectfully clarified the bit about the tusk weight in another later post.

Post in thread 'Which Elephant Rifle and cartridge?' https://www.africahunting.com/threads/which-elephant-rifle-and-cartridge.81771/post-1227217

No one should ever question your integrity my good friend!!! It would strictly be jealousy on their part in my opinion. Your record is impeccable!!!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

No one should ever question your integrity my good friend!!! It would strictly be jealousy on their part in my opinion. Your record is impeccable!!!

It's alright, @Rare Breed . It was probably just an innocent question.

 

[Rare Breed]

Sorry to over react but you have been a mentor to me and have earned your great reputation

 

[Rare Breed]

It's doubtful I will ever have the chance to harvest an elephant considering the investment required to do so. However, if I did happen to win the lottery...I'd still be boring and take my Blaser R8 375H&H with a Trijicon RMR-HD (or maybe even the Blaser RD20) with 300 grain Woodliegh Hydros or CEB's.

For sure a 375H&H with a red dot and premium solids.

You and your lovely wife are great hunters! I hope you get to experience an elephant hunt…truly an experience of a lifetime!!!

 

[zephyr]

I have shot 2 Tuskless, both inside of 20yrds and hope to shoot more
One with a Double in 450NE the other a 505 Gibbs
One a Frontal Brain the other a Side Brain
Chasing Eles with a Double Rifle is the classic way to go caliber 450 and up
Bolt guns just as fun anything that start with a .4 and up
Sights... Express Sights filed in to 30yrds or so ..Scopes get in the way .. Sorry not a fan of Red Dots
A good modern solid with a large metplatt will out penetrate a round nose solid
What ever Rifle you choose practice off hand and with sticks
Above all learn the Elephant's anatomy ..Probably the best resource out there is a Buzz Charlton Video titled "Hunting the African Elephant" a Complete Guide

 

[DLSJR]

For my next Elephant, I’ll be shooting my Pre-64 model 70 based custom rifle in .416 Hoffman. I’ll be shooting 400 grain Cutting Edge Safari solids or 400 grain Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer bullets. Scope is a Leupold VX5 in 1-5x.