Preferring the 7mm Mauser round for Hunting pachyderms in Darkest Africa

[indy1919a4]

Just some Wonderful accounts of Karamojo Bell, one of the great African Hunters of the Past.

Just a quick fun little read

Walter D.M. Bell, aka Karamojo Bell (1881-1951) | AfricaHunting.com

 

[ChalupaCabras]

Head shots with FMJ ammunition.

You can harvest deer with a 17 cal the same way. Doesn't make it a good idea though.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

if a deer's head was as stationary (and as large) as an elephant's is in a typical situation, i'd imagine head shots would be much more acceptable.

 

[Hookeye]

Saw a guy pinging pachs with an FAL. Whistles right on through.
Documentary way back.

 

[Thor]

if a deer's head was as stationary (and as large) as an elephant's is in a typical situation, i'd imagine head shots would be much more acceptable.

The head is large but the brain in relationship is not...and it is very well protected. There is a reason that the professional hunters use really big bullets, they are dangerous animals that take great joy in killing (playing with) human bodies. It was a guide who had to deal with rampaging pachyderms in camp that drove the development of the .577 Tyrannosaur.

 

[Thor]

Thanks for the article. Good bit of history.

I saw at the bottom that hunting with that small of a caliber for elephant now is illegal. It's also interesting that he chose the round for low ammo cost as a business expense. As opposed to what was used in early hunting where absolutely stopping the beast was the primary concern.

View attachment 30839

 

[Kart29]

Good stuff.

One of my favorite books is "Pondoro - Last of the Ivory Hunters" by John "Pondoro" Taylor. He discusses Bell quite a bit and acknowledges the success Bell had with such a light rifle by comparison. However he recognizes Bell as an expert marksman and having special knowledge of where to place such small bullets. And there was something about the terrain and flora where Bell was operating that made using such a light caliber possible for elephant shooting. He claims that while the 7mm worked well for Bell it wouldn't work so well for more ordinary men hunting in diverse habitat found throughout Africa. When confronted by numbers of elephants Taylor often had to shoot animals in the shoulder to anchor the beasts or stop charges. He could come back and finish with brain shots when the immediate danger had passed. He wrote that something about the territory where Bell was hunting made such a scenario unlikely or impossible.

I'll never make it to Africa and wouldn't want to shoot an elephant if I did. But I love reading about the adventures of those great hunters (poachers) from back in the day. Very interesting. An era gone past, for sure.

 

[scrub buck]

I imagine it'd be pretty hard standing your ground during a charge, and even more so with such a tame rd. Those fmj rds saved his life more than once i'd bet!

 

[Thor]

I also highly recommend John Taylor's book "African Rifles and Cartridges" where he not only discusses what was available and what it was 'best' for but had interesting stories to go with almost every round.