Orange Sheriff's Office buys 14 elephant guns

[Ghost Tracker]

For none of the reasons mentioned in the interview, the .50 Beowulf is actually a pretty good choice for +5.56mm performance. An AR chassis for familiarity. A nice, big, heavy bullet for penetration. It uses regular AR15 mags (holds 10 .50 Beowulf rounds I think). Really can't be questioned for CQB one-shot stops. It's lightweight & handy. And there are simply times when the 5.56mm ISN'T the ideal caliber. Large animal control isn't a daily occurance, but it DOES happen. And, like my Dear Old Daddy used to say,"anything worth shooting a hole in...is worth shooting a BIG HOLE in".

Again, we laugh at the newspaper report because the writer obviously isn't a Gun Guy/Gal, but I've got no issue with the PD upgrading to .45 HK Subs. They've got a tough job & it's getting tougher. Succesful, smart criminals are gonna' have the BEST equipment their ill-gotten gains can buy. Sounds like some of y'all expect the PD to made-do with S&W Model 10 revolvers & Winchester Model 94s. I want the PD to be, at least, as well-armed as most of US are!

 

[Gunnerpalace]

The media for ya', screwing with the facts, and the sheriff of course probably wanted something to keep the officers from being bored. Then again having lived down there I can see the need if some of those animals get loose.

 

[alucard0822]

I seriously hope those officers don't put that much faith in their new new gear to stop an eliphant. Gators, smugglers, barricaded criminals, yes yes and yes, possibly even the errant florida panther. I think a 50bmg upper or two from our friends at Bohica may have been a better choice if pachyderms are the intended target, possibly a barett

"Our tactical squads that are getting the weapons are dealing with the worst of the worst and those types of neighborhoods," Strobridge said of the new semiautomatic, .45-caliber Heckler & Koch machine pistols. "They're more accurate than their [regular] pistols, and they can stand back further from the bad guys."

what pray tell is a semi automatic machine pistol? Judging from the typical media ignorance and spin, it could be anything from a USP, mk23, or UMP semi or full auto. Which begs the question, if their "regular" pistols have decidedly poor accuracy, then what do they hope to accomplish with "machine pistols (assuming actual machine pistols)" more dead bystanders? why not use those super accurate .499 caliber lazer guided assault weapons?

And then killers behind the county's skyrocketing murder rate over the past two years increasingly armed themselves with AK-47s and other high-powered, high-capacity weapons.

I think the number of incidents with AKs is probably up to 2, and what exactly do they consider skyrocketing. Well if criminals are killing people over drugs with guns, why don't we make drugs illegal, maybe pass a law where crimials can't buy a gun, or better yet outlaw murder

"The sole purpose for this weapon is large or exotic animals," sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said Thursday.

The ever so elusive cuban speedboat.

When considering whether to buy the rifles, the Sheriff's Office remembered that an elephant ran amok and killed its trainer in Honolulu in 1994.

well better 13 years late than never, I suppose.

As for the .499beowulf, I can only guess that is the CA legal versions name. I wonder if it would work on the 50BMG renamed to .499 Feinstein.


I think Gecko 45 ended up finding a job as their buying agent.

 

[ArmedBear]

Semiautomatic machine pistols?

 

[jerkface11]

If you shoot a rampaging elephant with a .50 Beowulf you'll just have an extremely mad rampaging elephant. There is NO way it will penetrate the skull.

 

[ArmedBear]

Florida doesn't have a lot of rampaging elephants. It does, however, have a lot of other interesting exotic animals that get loose.

If the cops are called and there's a greater kudu running around the neighborhood, that, too is a hazard best met with more energy than a pistol or an AR offers.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Duplicity is the name of this story. If you can't believe the sheriff who can you believe.
Robin Hood comes to mind.

 

[offthepaper]

Each .499-caliber Alexander Arms Beowulf rifle has a laser sight to let shooters hit where they aim out to 300 yards

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how much laser sight does one need to hit an "elephant" sized target at 300 yds?
This story smells of elephant dung.

 

[offthepaper]

Each .499-caliber Alexander Arms Beowulf rifle has a laser sight to let shooters hit where they aim out to 300 yards

------------------------------------------------------------------

how much laser sight does one need to hit an "elephant" sized target at 300 yds?
This story smells of elephant dung.

 

[Wes Janson]

And, up-armored criminals in the Metropolitan areas.
I gotta hand it to them though. The wild animal angle is just brilliant PR.
Fearmongering works when nothing else will.

Isn't it? It's just plausible enough that they might be trying to prevent negative publicity in the event of an unplanned pachyderm excursion as kBob points out. But it's also very conveniently useful against body armor, vehicles, and pretty much anything else in an urban environment. If one wants to know the truth, one should ask where they wind up deploying the Beowolfs to...

 

[crazed_ss]

I suspect the current interest is shooting through citizens' doors with something lighter and more accurate than a shotgun.

Yes, I'm sure that's it. These new guns will assist Florida LEOs with their ongoing war against citizens..

 

[torpid]

Yes, I'm sure that's it. These new guns will assist Florida LEOs with their ongoing war against [strike]citizens[/strike] elephants...

Fixed for the proper application of rolleyes.

 

[trueblue1776]

I saw some of our local Mobile cops using MP5's for a fugitive search in the woods once, more power to 'em.

 

[Geno]

We have wild beasts here too...saber-toothed squirrels. Wonder why the PD doesn't have some elephant calibers for them?!

If this story turns out to be true, and that's a big if, I suspect someone just wanted new toys. Guess they thought it to be the best solution to the non-existing problem.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

Elephant gun?...If you're looking for an elephant gun, try one of these babies chambered in .500 Nitro Express. http://www.granitearms.com/Library/Merkel-500-lge.jpg I love how stupid the media can be when it comes to guns, calibers, or anything that deals with the former.

 

[HorseSoldier]

When considering whether to buy the rifles, the Sheriff's Office remembered that an elephant ran amok and killed its trainer in Honolulu in 1994.

well better 13 years late than never, I suppose.

And, if I'm not mistaken, it's further from Honolulu to Florida than it is from Florida to Africa. May as well invest in some proven hippo stoppers and good leopard loads. You know, to prepare for threats in their local neck of the woods.

 

[ArmedBear]

Seriously, Florida has very minimal regulation of what sort of animals one can keep as pets/curios. Therefore, some wealthy people keep such things as tigers. This comes up every time there's a big hurricane.

Elephants, no, but lions, tigers and bears roaming the countryside after a big storm are not unheard-of in Florida.

 

[dm1333]

jcord

The Coast Guard uses the Robar RC50, in .50BMG. If an elephant gets loose I think I'd rather call the Coast Guard than the Sheriff's Dept. My only bitch about the Hitron and armed helos is that they are letting the rescue swimmers do the shooting. I lobbied hard to make that a BMC billet but got shot down! Plus, if you have to shoot at a rampaging elephant I think I'd rather do it from a helicoptor.

 

[RLsnow]

i want one, we got those crasy elephants down here in norway, and when i find myself in a real pickle, im sure it could double as an "anti-killer-seagull" rifle...those seagulls are pretty hard man

 

[Cosmoline]

Beowulf is kind of anemic compared to true elephant guns.

It's not even remotely in the same class. The Beowulf is an intermediate cartridge that happens to fire a larger bullet than most intermediate cartridges. But it's no elephant gun. Impact ranges from 2,100 to 2,400 ft. lbs., with pretty quick decline in energy with range.

This is just some guys wanting cool toys. The AK troopers, who actually have to deal with thousand pound monsters, stick with slug guns that cost about 1/4th as much as these tricked out AR's.

 

[DougW]

Look up Dallas Zoo and find the story a year or two ago where the silverback gorilla got loose and beat up a few visitors. Dallas Police have 2 .458 Winchester Magnum bolt rifles with experss sights. I think (I stand ready for a correction) that the Silverback took 5 rounds of .458 magnum and 4 rounds of 1oz 12ga slugs, all at close range, to stop the animal. Stopping dangerous game is no game. Bigger appears to be better. The officers shooting the .458's were amazed that they had to fire so much. Another officer was backing the 2 rifle officers with the 12ga, and he started blasting away when the gorilla did not drop.

I think Dallas Police have pre-positioned some big rifles at the zoo now, and have more big bore rifles available.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I used to live in Orange County and I can attest to the fact that the City of Orlando has a whole bunch of "elephants". This dept. must be high as a kite. What idiots.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I spoke too soon. The guy that invented the Nautailis machine had a bunch of exoctic animals on his ranch in Ocala, Fl. Back in 1982 he charted 2 747's, had the passenger seats removed and flew to Africa and brought back 72 baby elephants to his ranch. We cleared them thru u.s. customs. He had a runway built to handle the planes. My dad went down there to meet the arriving flights along with u.s. customs, immigration and ppq (plant protection and quaranteen). He had gorillas and all kinds of big game animals. I forget the guys name, but Dad told me his wife was much younger than him and not bad looking either.

 

[benEzra]

Maybe for dwarf elephants.

It's a good deer or elk rifle, but I wouldn't call it an elephant gun.

 

[Nolo]

My question is: "Why don't you just use an M14?" You get the same power and better penetration for those tough animal hides and skulls.
The answer: .50, no matter the actual energy, can cause earthquakes when fired, destroy tanks, wipe out an entire group of terrorists, and has enough energy to bring down an airplane.
Whereas the puny .30 caliber is only good for shooting rabbits.