Affordable Elephant Gun?

Dude, there are no 'cheapo' guns for pachyderms.

Send $5-$6K to Wayne at AHR and ask for a .404 Jeffrey.

He'll build you one from scratch off a base CZ 550 Magnum action, which he'll blueprint and hone for reliability. Everything added after that, like the 23" barrel, sights, or the incredibly beautiful stock, is custom.

Then get yourself over to the Dark Continent and start killing enough elephants to impress Fredrick Selous, 'Ponodoro' Taylor, and Ernest Hemingway. :rolleyes:
 
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That quote from wikipedia is popular myth, and just a bunch of BS. The original .400 Whelen was an 'improved' cartridge.
It used a blown-out case body that did leave enough room for a shoulder and safe headspacing.
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Frank, James Howe of frankford arsenal and griffin and howe designed it with townsend whelen. He stated the very thing in this book. They had gone through the basic case and worked it in a number of different calibers.

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Gunsmith-Volumes-II/dp/B000K7M6C8

I don't know what else I can say.
 
That would have more than likely been Michale Petrov, he passed away around three years ago. He did some very extensive research on the .400 Whelen, and he loaned my buddy his personal reamer to cut the chamber on his rifle.

Found this: Finegunmaking.com
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Thanks for that. Pretty much the same basic details, but without the minutia.

Frank, James Howe of frankford arsenal and griffin and howe designed it with townsend whelen. He stated the very thing in this book. They had gone through the basic case and worked it in a number of different calibers.

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Gunsmi.../dp/B000K7M6C8

I don't know what else I can say.
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I understand, but that doesn't make sense.
Townsend Whelen's personal case forming tools were designed to use cylindrical brass (or blown-out .30-06) -- not .30-06's standard taper.
And, Griffin and Howe's own products used the cylindrical version ('improved' or 'blown-out', if you prefer). Check taylorce1's link above. It cites verified examples of G&H rifles with the CORRECT chamber.
 
Rigby

Interesting. I had a similar feeling some years ago....just wanted a rifle chambered for an “African” cartridge.
I picked up a Ruger #1 Tropical in .416 Rigby. At the time, it was under $700. I still have it and shoot it......slinging large bullets down range at paper, not elephants.
Also....really big chunks of lead can be slung with 12 gauge especially if one opts for Hubel’s “shotgun from hell” loads.
A one ounce Thug Slug from BPI, a RMC lathe turned hull, Win 209 primer, 75- 90 grains of IMR 4759 or 40 grains of Alliant Steel, a Mossberg 695 Bolt action.
 

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You want something that will chuck a huge piece of lead for less than a thousand bucks.

Hmmm...

Have you considered something like this? 'Cause you might have to look pretty hard to beat a 2 1/4" bore.

hernironworks_ordnancerifle.jpg


https://hernironworks.com/product/napoleoncannon12pounder/

Other options too.
https://hernironworks.com/product/us-carronade-cannon-34-scale/

Hard to carry? That's why you have gun bearers! :)
 
Have you considered something like this? 'Cause you might have to look pretty hard to beat a 2 1/4" bore.
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Carriage not included :( (I didn't think you could get a gun like that under $1000) It's probably a lot more fun than a real elephant gun!
 
Carriage not included
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Ah, just bolt it to a log, or an old riding lawn mower! :D

Still, I was very surprised at the number of options they have for honest-to-God cannons for less than a thousand bucks, even without the carriage. And it wouldn't take much work at all to come up with a base for one of the mortars.
 
When I have the urge to lob some heavy lead I grab my .444 Marlin. It is a flatter shooting round than a .45-70 but with about the same energy, depending on the bullet weight. The gun is less than 7 pounds empty and probably about 7.5 pounds fully loaded (5 rounds). Felt recoil is, shall we say, sufficient for me, but I've never fired anything bigger than a .45-70.

Firing 20 rounds with the .444 is enough to leave dark bruises and cause me to wake up with a very sore shoulder the next day. I take it out about once a year for 20 rounds or to let my friends give it a try.

Cost per round for a factory load is about $1.75 and up.
 
When I lived back out West years ago, BPCR competition was fairly popular with folks shooting 45-70, 45-90, 50-110 rifles. Nice big chunks of lead, big clouds of white smoke, and the 200 yard steel gongs rand like church bells.
 
Now if you really want "afordable" his 375 Ruger chambered Mosberg Patriot was less than $400. He says it actually shoots better than a custom built Remington 700 in 375 H&H that cost him three times or more.
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I have one of the Mossberg patriots in 375 ruger and can personally attest that it shoots very accurately and is beautifully made--easily worth twice the price IMHO. The cartridge itself is a very efficient design for the high level of power it brings to the table and fits conventional long action configurations. It also comes with a nice set of quick-acquire irons. My impression is that it was designed more as a handy Alaskan big bear dropper.

It can be loaded up to slightly more power than a 375 H&H--I'd recommend you get plenty of practice firing it before taking a shot in the field. The recoil force isn't so much like getting kicked by a mule as it is like getting hit by a fullback--if that makes any sense. A good hold and pull-in will mitigate the impact on your shoulder--it took me a couple of shots to realize it is more important to brace your body so that you don't get your head snapped back--I think whiplash is more of a risk than shoulder hurt. It's not a shoot all day kind of gun--but a dozen or so at a sitting is definitely reasonable for me.:)
 
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One must assume you already have all your reloading gear
at hand, Six.

Because initial purchase cost of a decent reloading setup,
including supplies, will run you 1000$ or so, in order for you to start
"saving money" on reloads, FWIW.
 
Because initial purchase cost of a decent reloading setup,
including supplies, will run you 1000$ or so, in order for you to start
"saving money" on reloads, FWIW
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Nah. What are you considering decent? That kind of money will buy two decent reloading set ups.
One can get an O-press, dies, case tumbler, trimmer, scale, powder measure, 100 bullets, primers (Federal 215), and 50 new shells for half that.
.458 Win. Bullets - about $0.75 (cast/GC) to $1.30 each.
Cases - about a dollar each. Buy 50.
Press - Rockchucker about $150 (Save $ and buy the Lee O-press kit)
Dies - $30 to $75
Trim die - $13
Scale - $30
Tumbler - $50
Powder measure (optional if you have a scale) $50
Did i leave anything important out?
About $500.
Powder...about $30/lb. primers about $5/100.
Considering that factory 500 grain ammo for the .458 runs from about $5 a round to more than $7, at 100 rounds one breaks even .
 
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I shoot cast out of my 375 H&H and the 460, but it shure as hell ain't 20 cents.
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Should be a bit less then 20 cents around if you scrounge let. Using 4198 or 5744 in my 375, 416 Rigby and 458 Winchester it cost me about 17.5 cents.

I use range lead which I get for free, and load some pretty accurate mild shooting bullets.

For my 375 H&H, in the 70s I bought a bullet mold that used 2/8 in copper tubing for a jacket. Cut the copper tubing to length to fit in the mold, poor the lead and run it through a sizing die to make sure its perfectly round, weights 270 gr. You can push it as fast as any other 270 gr 375 with no problems and no bullet cost.

jacob%20066.jpg
 
Wow. Impressive, Wyosmith. Now all we need is a recipe for slow burning smokeless powder, that can be made from ingredients found in any pantry.
 
I really like that idea, using 3/8" OD copper tubing for a jacket. But don't you have to worry about the core shooting out and leaving the jacket stuck in the barrel? Does the little indentation at the cut line from the tubing cutter lock it in place?
 
W.D.M. Bell killed many an elephant with a 7x57 Mauser and 175 grain solids .

Like my grandpaw said...it ain't what you shoot them with it's where you shoot them.
 
kraigwy wroteShould be a bit less then 20 cents around if you scrounge let. Using 4198 or 5744 in my 375, 416 Rigby and 458 Winchester it cost me about 17.5 cents.
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I use 75 gr H4895 with a 500 gr cast bullet that give me close to 2000 fps.

Cost of powder with that load is $0.26. Primer = $0.04. Total is $0.30 per round.

Not exactly <$.20 per round.

Thought I would add that I am not complaining in the least. I enjoy shooting $0.30/round compared to shooting factory stuff at more than $2.00/round.

Those damned big bullets ain't cheap for those calibers.
 
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