BIG GAME 359 



thoroughly effective weapon for the most important species to 

 be hunted, and by altering the bullet make it do moderately 

 well for other less important beasts. In hunting for elephants 

 and buffalo, it is necessary to be able to stop a charging beast 

 with a temple hit. Both the elephant and the buffalo of Africa 

 are particularly hard to bring down with a forehead shot, or they 

 were before the days of high velocity rifles of from .500 to .600 

 bore. Those of .303 bore and less are not to be trusted unless 

 they smash the brain, and themselves smash up in the brain, 

 and not before or after piercing it. A No. 6 shot pellet is about 

 one five-thousandth the weight of a partridge, and has no im- 

 mediate effect on the bird unless it enters a vital spot. The 

 215 grain bullet of the .303 weighs about one two hundred- 

 thousandth the weight of an elephant, and yet there have been 

 those who advise the use of such bullets for these beasts. It 

 appears to the author, who has never shot an elephant, but has 

 listened to all views of those who have shot them, that the small- 

 bore men trust a great deal to the natural timidity of the big 

 beasts, and believe that they will not charge even if they are 

 wounded. Of course elephants differ in temper at various 

 times more than most animals, and a charging African elephant 

 at close quarters is possible, to say the least. 



The big bore solid bullet has been displaced to a great 

 extent by high velocity bullets of less weight and diameter but 

 more length. These bullets are trusted to pierce farther than 

 the old 4 bore bullet, and to give as severe a shock. The object 

 is to do as much damage within the head as possible, and not 

 merely to pierce it. Expanding bullets are not to be trusted 

 for this business, because the bone of an elephant's head from 

 the frontal shot makes all bullets tend to flatten up too much, 

 unless they are very hard. In other words, for these hard- 

 skinned, hard-boned animals the biggest bullet makes the 

 biggest hole, and any expanding of the bullet tends to break 

 it up and prevent an entry into the vitals. For soft-skinned 

 animals it is very different. An expanding bullet is in every 

 way preferable to a hard bullet, whether from big or small bore. 

 The latter has a tendency to go through the animal and expend 



