.450/400 3" on Buffalo, Hippo, Lion, and Elephant

[One Day...]

Derived from a similar answer previously posted in a .375 H&H thread:

Age-old discussion between "killing power" and "stopping power"...

Let us go directly to the bottom line

• .375 will kill them.
• .40 will numb them.
• .45+ will stop them.

There, it is settled

PS: the only caveat is that it does not always work so neatly, as some adrenalin-charged Buffs have been known to absorb half a dozen .45+ and even .50+ slugs and keep coming....

And:

• Better be a .40 slug in the right spot than a .45+ slug in the wrong spot.

There, it is double-settled

And:

• Better be a client who shoots his .40 well than a client afraid of his .45+

There, it is triple-settled

And:

• Better be a .45+ slug in the right spot than a .40 slug in the right spot.

There, it is quadruple-settled



In summary:

The 450-400 is a great killer, but it is a less reliable stopper then a 45+.

Most clients do not need a stopper caliber, but those who need one tend to need it very bad

In the end, buy the rifle you love, because you will never shoot well a rifle you do not love, and you will always shoot better a rifle you love, and in this case, truth be told, there is not such a big difference in hunting terms.

 

[One Day...]

But the above is just an opinion, and the problem with opinions on the internet is that there is no peer review, and even if most of us here on AH are actually reasonably honest in representing our experience, the hard reality is that we all have next to zero experience compared to the grand old pros who truly earned the right to formulate judgements that could be relied upon.

So, for your reading pleasure, here is what John ("Pondoro") Taylor had to say in 1948 about the 450/.400, and this will probably be more useful to you Jager Waffen74, or to my friend roverandbrew who is also on the brink, than anything any of us could write

To me the two following excerpts summarize the entire discussion:

 

[One Day...]

Ammo...

My last thought on the issue is that I had to resale my first (beloved) double, a pre WWII Belgian .450#2 because it had become impossible to find ammunition for it.

This led me to purchase a .470 NE simply because it appeared then, and it continues to appear now, that .470 NE ammo will be available as long as double rifle ammunition will be available, based simply on the number of rifles so chambered.

Conversely, to the best of my knowledge only Hornady offers factory 450/.400 ammo. I do not buy into the DGX drama - my experience with the DGX bonded (X for expanding, i.e. "soft") has been excellent, and the DGS (S for solid) has never had a fly on it - so the bullet is not the issue, but who knows if Hornady will continue to load it after Steve Hornady is gone...

Therefore, my recommendation to those interested in buying a 450/.400 would be to buy 500 rounds with the rifle, and learn to reload for a double.