What is Elephant gun?
An '''elephant gun''' is a large caliber [[gun]], which could be (but does not have to be) a [[rifle]]. Elephant guns were first made to be used by big-game hunters who were hunting [[elephant]]s and other large animals. == Early use == [[File:Roosevelt safari elephant.jpg|thumb|right|[[Teddy Roosevelt]] with large-caliber rifle and dead elephant]] As people from [[Europe]] began exploring [[Africa]] in the early 1800s, guns were made to handle the very large animals that people saw. This was for people to protect themselves, to shoot animals for [[food]], and later, and most commonly, sport. The first guns were the simple shotgun designs already used for birds. They were loaded with solid balls of [[lead]] that could shoot large animals. Because they did not kill large animals very easily (some writers said that it could take up to 35 shots to kill one elephant), elephant guns were soon made into larger [[caliber]] [[black powder]] [[smoothbore]]s. The caliber was still measured in bore or [[Gauge (bore diameter)|gauge]] - or the guns were named by how much the [[projectile]]s (what was shot out of the guns) weighed in ounces. The projectiles were lead round balls or short slugs shaped like cones. Sometimes, [[antimony]] was put in them to make them harder. These very large and heavy firearms were the first to be known as the elephant guns of the black powder era (1850–1890). They were not only used to kill elephants. They were also used to kill dangerous animals such as the [[rhinoceros]], the [[hippopotamus]] and the [[cape buffalo]]. Because black powder and lead cannot go faster than about {{convert|1500|ft/s}} - the only way to make the projectiles go deeper into the animals' skins was to make a larger gun. Although they were very powerful, the short slugs (a type of projectile), which did not go very fast, still had problems going fully into their targets. This was especially hard for the toughest shot of all - going through the bone when an elephant's head was shot around the [[brain]] area. === Nitr