JPk.
Not heading out today, flight cancelled...storm both here and in Minneapolis..

The velocity I got was what I actually chronographed shooting it out of two different bolt 416's that I have..one custom shop Remington..the other, a higher end custom with a Schneider barrel..both spit them out at 2440 to 2450 or so...

As to the 500/416..no, I am not sold on i, just checking and like different calibers...in reality, I really like the 500 Nitro 3"---but not so sure it will do anything more than my .470 double I already have..I realize it shoots a bit heavier bullet --but not sure it would give any more penetration than the .470..

As to the amount needed for elephant..again, I am only going off of what I have been told by Lynn, the PH in Zim who has quite a bit of experience in Botswana --who stated on more than one occassion while I was there this year..that he has seen several instances where the 2150 was not enough to penetrate the bigger bulls...then I read it again in Boddingtons new book--and finally the article I read last week..between Lynn the PH and Boddington, there is close to 200 elephants shot..so figured they had some knowledge I could learn from..

As I think about this, and after watching the 2 dvd's on Boddington on Elephants, it is quite clear, it really does not matter it you shoot them with a .275 or a 600 Nitro..if you don't hit the brain, they ain't going down ...there are several shots in the DVD series I watched where more than one shot was fired on charging elephant..just as often as not, they did not go down if not hit correctly...

Curious question though--Have you hunted the big bulls in Botswana?? and if so, what was your experience there?? Lynn the PH, stated he has never had penetration problems in Zim..but has several times in Botswana..I never have...and this could be again, much to do about nothing,, but as I stated earlier, they have the experience with them, I do not, so will probably go with what they suggest..

Take Care

Ripp