I have a friend out east in New Brunswick, who worked at The Rift Valley Academy in Kenya since the early sixties until his retirement a couple of years ago. Up until hunting was shut down in Kenya, he hunted elephant each year and took some 60 to 80 pounders. His rifle was one of the original M70s "African", with 25" tube, I believe. He used nothing but Winchester factory 500-grain solids. He never reported any kind of difficulty or failure. I believe they were advertised at 2130 fps, or thereabout, and were RNs. He shot a lot of eles and financed his trips, with family, back and forth to Canada every three of four years. Our two families were close back then. I recall many of his accounts. He also killed many buff with the softs and solids.
I shoot a 458 Win in a CZ550 and it will likely never see Africa. But, I know what it's capable of ballistics wise. It's now loaded with 350TSXs at 2700+fps for bear and moose.
JPK: Your posts have made a lot of sense, along with Phil Shoemaker and John Wood. What I fail to comprehend is all the excitement over the Lott which exceeds the Win by less that 100 fps with the same slugs, while the 458 Win today is easily capable of 2200 fps from 500-grainers in 24" barrels and the right powders. And, in no way are the pressures excessive or the loads severely compressed. In my CZ I can easily match the Lott if wanted with handloads.
