Elephant killed by .22LR, myth?

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From:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=171313

LAVAL, Que. (CP) - A female police officer who was gunned down with a weapon powerful enough to kill an elephant had already met her alleged killer, whom she had arrested for harassing another policewoman.
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Question:

Is it true that an elephant was killed by a .22LR? I heard that a long time ago, so I hope someone confirms it for me.

If so, then the quote "a weapon powerful enough to kill an elephant" simply means a .22LR or higher :rolleyes:
 
Small world, I was wondering about that exact same anecdote just a couple days back. I believe it was from Elmer Keith's writing.

Story goes, some circus performer was messing around with his trick-shooting revolver, had an ND and nailed a circus elephant in the eye socket, dropping it on the spot. Also, IIRC, it was .22 Short in that story.

Anyone recall which gunwriter told that story, and is it just an old wives' tale? I'm sure it's conceivably possible, just not sure if that exact incident literally occurred.

-MV
 
Ahh.. now it gets interesting, I thought it was a hunter in Africa who used a 10/22 and downed an elephant..

a .22Short, the Elephant slayer!!

"Death in the Long Grass" author, Peter Hathaway Capstick, once killed an elephant on a bet with a .22 LR. Shocked He was working at the time as a Kenyan goverment hunter culling herds that were over-grazing and rampaging through villages. He did not recommend the practice but he knew a particular spot where an artery ran just below the hide.
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from http://talkblade.info/viewtopic.php?p=67751&sid=1dcd3f39a47e093bba16df9d56b3de64
 
I think it was John Taylor who claimed he saw someone do that. I guess anything is possible but I think it's more likely that he was full of baloney or the elephant died of a stress-induced heart attack. Look at an elephant skull some time and see if you can find a straight path from the eye to the brain.
 
I'd say a myth as I would be willing to bet a 22LR would bounce off an elephant and he wouldn't take much notice. Though of course any gun can kill anything. If you say caught him in the eye or through an open mouth it may have...maybe. Possible? Sure, but the elephant is more likly to hop up on two legs and do the can-can with his buddies.
 
One thing I don't wnat to see is a pack of pachyderms doing the can-can - those big skirts would look silly on them....

I can believe a 22lr caused a fatal infection with that supremely dirty bullet, but not a one shot stop...
 
I want that to be going through your head and the last mental image you have before you go to bed tonight armord, dream about it too.
 
There are two confirmed cases in the colonial era in British East Africa. Capstick refers to both in one of his books (I have it somewhere), and Taylor also confirmed it. In both cases, the bullet hit behind the foreleg, where the tough hide is rubbed thin by friction between leg and body, and penetrated a major artery, so that the elephant bled to death internally. The first case was accidental, and the hunter reported it to a control officer, who couldn't believe it - so the two of them set out to repeat the exploit, and did so, to the demise of a second elephant.

Not recommended as a stopping caliber, however... :D
 
There are two confirmed cases in the colonial era in British East Africa. Capstick refers to both in one of his books (I have it somewhere), and Taylor also confirmed it. In both cases, the bullet hit behind the foreleg, where the tough hide is rubbed thin by friction between leg and body, and penetrated a major artery, so that the elephant bled to death internally. The first case was accidental, and the hunter reported it to a control officer, who couldn't believe it - so the two of them set out to repeat the exploit, and did so, to the demise of a second elephant.
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That's how I heard it. The first incident was an effort to spook the elephant into moving where someone else could shoot it better, and the second was to prove the first one happened.
 
The first incident was an effort to spook the elephant into moving where someone else could shoot it better, and the second was to prove the first one happened.
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Correct. Capstick was not involved in either shooting, however. He was relating a story he had been told.

The shooters were two un-named brothers who were out hunting. One had a .22 and the other had a larger rifle. The brother with the larger rifle didn't have a shot on the elephant so the one with the .22 shot it to move it around a bit for his brother. It died before his brother could get a shot.
 
I can be gullible but I would have to see this one to believe it. Anyone can write anything as the truth - just ask the person preparing King Jorge's intelligence on Iraq's WMD.:D
 
Someone wrote it?

Someone took the time to write it down and post it on the internet, so it must be true........Right?:scrutiny:
 
The way I heard it was that the elephant died from blood poisoning a few weeks later after being shot by a 22.
 
Preacherman said:
There are two confirmed cases in the colonial era in British East Africa. Capstick refers to both in one of his books (I have it somewhere), and Taylor also confirmed it. In both cases, the bullet hit behind the foreleg, where the tough hide is rubbed thin by friction between leg and body, and penetrated a major artery, so that the elephant bled to death internally. The first case was accidental, and the hunter reported it to a control officer, who couldn't believe it - so the two of them set out to repeat the exploit, and did so, to the demise of a second elephant.

Not recommended as a stopping caliber, however... :D
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It was in Safari: The Last Adventure where Capstick talks about that. 2 elephants were killed by a 22lr. I have the text from that story typed up somewhere on my computer, if I can find it I'll post it if anyone is interested.
 
I believe with the .22/elephant story, the elephant has to be taking a stride forward, which further stretches the skin just above a major artery in what could be termed the "armpit" area behind the foreleg. A .22 placed just so in this spot will supposedly cause the pachyderm to bleed out . . . eventually.

Moving down a little (!) in size, I know a 20 grain Aguila Colibri .22 short (primer only, no powder) can down a whitetail if properly spaced . . .
 
If you had the right gun, say fully automatic vulcan type I think you could take most anything down with .22
 
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