...from another web site "I'm gonna' respond in a way I trust no one gets his/her panties in a wad.
First of all, I have had the opportunity to shoot a "goodly" number elephant on control. I've killed elephant utilizing the following cartridges (Note: should've been calibers. Author noted 4/24) .416 Taylor, .458WM, .450 Rigby, and .505 Gibbs. The Taylor and WM are M-70's, the Rigby was a Ruger RSM, and the Gibbs was Granite Mountain Arms Conventional wisdom would almost certainly have the Gibbs as the forerunner "best in class" for dealing with elephant.
Indeed , the Gibbs is all it's touted to be. If I were a p/h (and could afford one) the Gibbs would be my preferred back up rifle. The .450 Rigby is what the Lott should have been. You know, 2450fps as opposed to 2250fps. More velocity is better...right? HA!
The .458WM will always have its nay sayers. Blah, blah, blah.
The .416 Taylor, or any 40cal is far and away better than the .375H&H. Unless you're Harry Manners.
All the elephant I shot with these four calibers were killed. Obviously, the ones brain shot dropped in their tracks. Body shots to the heart/lungs, most didn't run more than 50-60 yds before succumbing. After evaluating the type shooting in which I was involve, any one of the calibers were adequate to achieve the end result.
The amount of empirical experience I have is limited by the total number I have successfully shot/killed. (If you're interested in the number, well, it is 12% of the total John Buhmiller shot.)
Regardless of graphs, and old history, and SD, and BC and fps...I chose the "Worthless, underpowered, should have been, etc, etc." .458Winchester Magnum. I have never felt under gunned.
My rifle is a Winchester M-70 with a 24" barrel. Loads are 500gr solids @ 2185fps.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
I wrote this for another site a couple of years ago and I thought it would read well on the Fire.
