My gut feeling is I would like to see some penetration testing of a 540 gr hammerhead at 1550 fps compared to African standard cartridges.

My feeling is Buff is on the light end of desired penetration?maybe,but a 45-70 definitely not an option on Ele for me.With numerous documented headshot failures of 500 gr 458 WM around 2000 fps *ain't no way* I'm going to try a head on shot at a charging Ele with any 45-70 if I have a choice.

I prefer to always be prepared for the worse scenario, not the perfect shot--Bet somewhere someone has even killed an Ele with a handgun.I know they have--SO WHAT!!Better to respect the animal to dispatch it quickly with the most potent rifle I can control and avoid nasty painful terminal complications like becoming instant toejam!!!