Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa .50 BMG For Elephant

I have to disagree Indy. I think it would be unethical to hunt DG with a 50BMG, but I also think that it would leave a nice big void between the ears or in the chest of anything walking this earth. Bone would not stand a chance.

given more elephants have prolly been killed with the AK47 than any other rifle/cartridge im betting the 50BMG bullet will penetrate in a straight line through bone just fine.....a 30-06 with FMG rounds do and the 50BMG is a 30-06 scaled up proportionally....

the silliness comes in toting around the heavy arse rifle all day, not any inability of the round.....

Good luck getting this type of damage with a 500NE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsD64KkCBFs

I'm a good looking MF'r ain't I Greenhorn! I lost that pic, I bet it was your screen saver huh?

Even though I think your being a jackazz for leaving smartazz remarks in AH section, I cannot leave your head on the body of Richard Simmons. I tend to have a little more respect for members and my fellow sportsman. You should also.

It's removed.

"im betting the 50BMG bullet will penetrate in a straight line through bone just fine"

You lose the bet.

100 years of elephant hunting experience proves that round nosed solids, or lately flat nosed ones, are necessary for straight line penetration.

The reason elephants get killed with AK 47s is the goons shoot at 20 elephants and don't care if 10 of them escape wounded. Try that with your $10,000 sport hunting trophy fee and your one elephant quota.

not all 50 bmg rounds are pointed.... there are other projectiles... i have barnes X in mine.... they open..... and IIRC there are banded solids...

BTW Greenhorn... I love that elk photo! Great job!

Jeff

Geez.... WTF did he hit that with... the ones I've shot have been 50 cal in , 50 cal out.... just like a punched hole.... I"ve yet to see that kind of damage. In fact my 50 cal ones have less damage than most average deer rifle rounds...


As to the poster who said unethical... WTF is that supposed to mean? F olks need to get off their high arrogant horses.

No offense meant, Rost. I am referring to those who think that shooting an elephant at 500yrds is sporting. If you want to carry that brick up close and personal, thats your business and more power to ya. Not necessarily the caliber I disagree with, just the though of hunting DG at long ranges.

A double rifle could be built for the .50 BMG that would weigh no more than a .500 Nitro Express and since it would be a sporting model, it would be no more difficult to bring into the African countries than any other sporting rifle.

So, whose gonna be the first to pull the trigger on a 12lbs 50cal with no brake?

name me one of your round nosed bullets hitting with 13,000 foot pounds of force......that spitzer bullet aint gonna be diverted enough to miss the brain....whole hell of alot of reasons why you aint gonna use a 50BMG to hunt elephants the fact your arguing this part is idiotic in the extreme.........

Sorry, but no. You'll never get a 50 Cal round past the TSA on an international flight. Second a bolt action BMG is practically impossible to shoot off hand and no way you can shoot it unbraked. A double? jeez, you bringing an APC to tote it around. Do you have any idea what an elephant hunt entails in the way of walking and carrying that absurd weapon. I'm sure it will shoot through a few elephants, that's not the issue, the issue is the very idea of the subject that blew threw the thin line between the sublime and the ridiculous like crap through a goose. Have you ever shot a 50BMG of the shoulder unbraked or otherwise? Do you have any idea what it entails to build a double to regulate properly? This thread needs a 50BMG, right between the eyes.

Jorge, the answer to all of your questions is yes. I've never hunted elephant, but I've read all about it and I know what it curtails. We've seen some very big, very hard kicking double and bolt action rifles, like the T Rex, and one could be chambered for the .50 BMG. There are people out there who seem to enjoy the recoi of these huge calibers. I'm not one of them, I'm only saying that the cartridge seems built for elephant. Had it been around 100 years ago, it certainly would have been used for dangerous game. I was just curious to find out if anyone else out there thought the .50 BMG ballistics would be devastating on elephant. Can anyone make an argument that it would be inneffective with proper bullets?

I cartridge is the issue. I didn't mention anything in the beginning of this thread about the launch pad.

I've been around the 50 Cal a long time during my thirty years in the Navy and I can tell you the 50cal with standard issue ball (AP) ammo will blow through an elephant and then some, no argument there, but I also know there isn't a human being that could take the recoil of a 50 on the shoulder with a 10 or even 15lb 50 cal rifle loaded to standard specs of a 750gr bullet2700 fps. The T-Rex ain't even close to that. I can also tell you from dealing with the Feds (TSA DHS) there is no way you could export a 50BMG like you would a 500NE. jorge

It won't be me, RUMlover, but I know some guys who would. If Frank Barnes were still with us, he'd do it.

You answered my question jorge. The .50 cal will blow through an elephant and then some. All this talk about recoil, weight of the rifle, getting it into an African country etc. was irrelevant. I only brought up the question of the cartridge and the only reason I brought it up, was to see if anyone else ever had the same idea. Apparently, I was the first.

I think this one would work with the silencer/suppressor installed.


http://www.anzioironworks.com/light_50.htm



Chuck

Yeah. That one would work Colorado. Not too heavy either.

Idi Amin was reported in Time Magazine as using a 50 BMG mounted on a truck. His idea of "hunting" was to chase the herd in his truck and machine gun the entire herd. That would alleviate the portability problem, but one's PH would never agree to it, I hope.