Around 800 of his kills were made with Mauser 98 rifles chambered for the 7×57mm Mauser/.275 Rigby (using the 1893 pattern standard military 11 grams grain round-nosed full metal jacket load), which today is considered to be too small for elephants, and are no longer legal for dangerous African game; Bell preferred smaller calibers because, besides being lighter rifles to carry, they recoiled less and therefore are quicker to the second shot.