wombat,

I have shot 3 elephant with my Searcy .500 NE and I am going back this Sept for a hunt with Buzz. The Searcy will be my primary rifle.

My honest opinion is that you do not need 2 elephant rifles. Last trip I took 2 and it was a pain in the butt. I ended up borrowing and renting plains game rifles, both making a nuisance of myself and not shooting quite as well as I should have.

So I would suggest that you take your .500 plus a larger bore plains game caliber, such as the 9.3 or .375. If you have 4 or 5 solids for the smaller rifle, then you can use it as backup just in case the double is damages in some way. But you can also enjoy the plains game portion of your hunt with a proper rifle for it.