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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. quote]

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I read with interest on your post...and while I don't have as much experience on elephant yet..hope too one day...but the reason I am responding to this is that from what I have read as of late and talked with PH's is a few items I wanted to share..

Just read an article written a month or two ago in "PETERSONS HUNTING" by Craig Boddington who was hunting in Botswana..which supposedly has considerably larger elephants than those I hunted in northern Zimbabwe..however, in the article he basically stated he was not so sure on the KO factor of John Taylor..that proper placement was of much greater value..--he stated this based on the most recent hunt in which Craig was using I believe a 450 double while his companion was shooting a 577 double..Craig describes how his (Craigs)bull fell to the shot...which he freely admits has not ever been an easy shot for him...however his friend placed two shots at 8 yards into the head of a bull with .577 double--who turned and spun away..they eventually got the bull but it took some doing..

Another PH I visited with when I was in Zim earlier this year stated he felt it best that the caliber you are shooting, particularly when shooting the larger bulls of Botswana..should be in the 2300 fps to 2400 fps range...

The tuskless I shot, as you described, I visualized the brain..using a 400 gr Barnes solid out of a .416 Remington Caliber custom rifle..she dropped to the shot..not much movement at all much less trying to get up...at 17 yards quartering toward us..

Don't misunderstand me please---I love big bores..and love shooting .577 and 505 Gibbs, and all thir type..and do believe in Taylors formula somewhat..but as in all things..there are variables..

I guess my point is--elephant are no different than any other game animal we hunt...shot placement is almost everything..IMHO...yes, there are other factors...but where you smash with the hammer is of more importance than the size of said hammer..again, IMHO...

Ripp