Incidentally, I get tired of people using Bell as an argument for the potency of their favorite small bore cartridge. What he did was a far cry from modern ethical hunting for starters. He was harvesting, not hunting. He had zero concern for how long it took the elephants he shot to die, and if one wandered off to die and wasn't found that was simply an economic loss, not an ethical problem like we'd consider it now.
Perhaps more importantly, he was lucky and had a lot of people taking his risks for him. He was never charged by an elephant, probably related to having hundreds of attendants on his hunts. Since most people can't afford to have a 100 person crew of trackers and what not to take all the risks for them on modern hunts, that's really no longer an option. And if you do get charged by an elephant, that .275 Rigby or .30-06 (or whatever small bore gets you excited) is no good. There's nothing on the front of an elephant it can hurt bad enough to stop it. The brain is behind 30+ inches of bone and gristle through the sinuses. You're going to need a LOT more rifle to get through all that bone - even a .375 H&H isn't typically enough. A .416 Rigby with solids is about right.
The kind of harvesting Bell did is thankfully consigned to the past and illegal more or less across the board. He was far from a role model.
Perhaps more importantly, he was lucky and had a lot of people taking his risks for him. He was never charged by an elephant, probably related to having hundreds of attendants on his hunts. Since most people can't afford to have a 100 person crew of trackers and what not to take all the risks for them on modern hunts, that's really no longer an option. And if you do get charged by an elephant, that .275 Rigby or .30-06 (or whatever small bore gets you excited) is no good. There's nothing on the front of an elephant it can hurt bad enough to stop it. The brain is behind 30+ inches of bone and gristle through the sinuses. You're going to need a LOT more rifle to get through all that bone - even a .375 H&H isn't typically enough. A .416 Rigby with solids is about right.
The kind of harvesting Bell did is thankfully consigned to the past and illegal more or less across the board. He was far from a role model.