I suppose I have as much experience shooting elephants as any of the other participants in this forum. If there is one thing I have come away with as a result of the four brain shots I have attempted, it is that unless you can be completely sure of hitting the brain, you need to be shooting the most powerful rifle you can handle.

John Taylor ascribed values to various rifle-cartridge combinations with regard to their ability to stun an elephant and put him down, irrespective of whether the brain was actually hit. I believe his conclusions were correct. None of the three I shot with my .505 was able to stay on his feet after the initial shot and none got up again. Even the one I shot with a .458 did not make it back to his feet, although he was not stunned and struggled longer.

My first elephant was shot from the side. I had been told to aim above the cheekbone, halfway between the earhole and the eye, which I did. Unfortunately, in retrospect I was probably too close (25-30 yards), so that shooting up at a rather steep angle, I probably missed the brain high. Nonetheless the animal went down and after three more shots, stayed down. One of the 570 grain solids found its way to the far side eye socket, so there was some wandering of the bullet path inside the skull.

My second elephant was completely hidden by undergrowth, except for his head. Unfortunately, he was reaching up with his trunk to strip a delicacy from the tree in front of him, presenting me with a very unusual angle to shoot at. I shot at where I visualized his brain to be, and he went down at the shot. Unfortunately, he immediately began struggling to get up, and I was forced to fire three more times to finish him off. Because his "askari" was threatening a charge, I was unable to get closer to get a clearer shot until after his struggles had ceased. The effect of the .458 was definitely less than that of the .505.

My last two elephants were both taken with quartering brain shots from the rear with the .505. Both were shot behind the left ear and both toppled immediately and did not stir. Both received a heart shot, just to make sure.

Were I to hunt elephants again, which at my age (69) seems quite unlikely, I would not want to use anything less powerful than the .505, and a .577 would be even better, W.D.M. Bell to the contrary, notwithstanding.