.45-70 as an elephant round?

[MagKnightX]

Assuming that there is an action strong enough to take it, could .45-70 be loaded to high enough velocity to reliably take down an elephant? I am thinking very large bullets, perhaps 600 or so grain, at high pressures. Is it theoretically possible in something that would likely not put the shooter in a worse situation that the elephant? Just a thought, mainly, if'n any of you are wondering the reason.

 

[Moparmike]

Would the brass handle such a load? Wouldnt it require a specially shaped round to penetrate the elephant?

 

[tc300mag1]

Its been done . One of the gun rag guys just took 45/70 to hunt with dont rember if he shot one or not but he did shoot a cape bufflo

 

[Gator]

Much more important is shot placement. Bell used to take elephants regularly with a 7mm Mauser. In more modern times elephant have been taken with .44 mag handguns, so a .45-70 would be no problem....with proper shot placement.
If you are talking about stoping a charge then there is no such thing as "too much", but even with a .700 Tyranosaur you may not stop a charge unless you make a solid hit.

 

[Wedge]

Go to http://www.garrettcartridges.com/products.asp and scrole down to the 500 grain, tungsten solid. I bet that would penetrate enough for elephant...

 

[SunBear]

The Marlin M1895 (modern manufacture) can handle extremely strong loads and in a Ruger No.1 the 45-70 can be loaded very close to 458 WinMag performanace. Happy trails.

 

[MeekandMild]

Nope.

Let me get this straight. You're going to load a cartridge to pressure of double its design specs and you're going to be carrying it around in 120 degree heat. If you're in the sun your rifle will be hotter, maybe up to 140 degrees. Or if it is left in the car for a while, maybe 180 degrees.

I've been reading a lot about this idea recently, mostly as I just bought a 45/70. Best as I can tell 45/70 might just be the perfect black bear load and I hope to test that thesis sometime within the next year.

But elephants?

Nope.

Sure?

Nope, for all I know you could bring down an elephant with a .22, but I ain't going to go looking for a loophole in the laws of physics.

 

[telewinz]

The british 450/577 military round was used so with the proper SOLID bullet there is no reason why the 45/70 coundn't.

 

[Dr.Rob]

How about because there are BETTER modern loads available?

I appreciate the 45-70, but I doubt a PH would let you try it out on Elephant.

 

[Dave R]

Rich Lucibella, owner of The Firing Line (and SWAT magazine) took a Cape Buffalo with a hot .45-70. Wrote about it in The Firing Line. Presumably its still in the archives.

He admitted that may not be the smart way to take a Cape Buff. But he wanted to do it.

And Elephant is a lot bigger than Cape Buff.

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

What would be the best round for defending yourself against a Grizzly or Kodiak bear? I've been thinking about getting a Marlin 1895 in 45-70 Govt. to have with if I go trout fishing in Alasaka. Anyone have a better suggestion?

 

[MrAcheson]

What would be the best round for defending yourself against a Grizzly or Kodiak bear? I've been thinking about getting a Marlin 1895 in 45-70 Govt. to have with if I go trout fishing in Alaska. Anyone have a better suggestion?

A hot .45-70 is a good round for this. One of the guns Jeff Cooper has been plugging about for a while is the Co-Pilot which is a basically a takedown '95 in hot .45-70. Its designed for bush pilots to use for bear protection.

 

[Gewehr98]

I'm going after Cape Buffalo with my Ruger #1.

(And a properly-equipped PH, too) I'll be using either a 405gr super hard-cast Beartooth bullet w/gas check @2000fps, or a 500gr Speer African Grand Slam @1600fps. That's for a Cape Buffalo, I haven't worked up the nerve to go after an elephant, and I don't have either the palate or freezer space for elephant steaks, anyways.

Just a note, that 540gr Garrett Hammerhead load, and the 500gr Tungsten solid load, are not recommended for use in the Ruger #1 rifle. Not because the #1 falling block action cannot handle the pressure, (it can, and considerably more than the Marlin or Winchester actions) but because Ruger has seen fit over the last couple of years to shorten the chamber throat on their .45-70 so much that those Garrett rounds won't chamber without driving the bullets further into the cases.

 

[Gewehr98]

Seems to work fine on Cape Buffalo, as mentioned above.

Rich Lucibella, and his Tanzanian hunting trip:

http://thefiringline.com/Misc/tanzania/hunt/