during world war i, both the british and germans used elephant guns taken from their african colonies when they tried to break the stalemate in the trenches. the british used elephant guns against the german tactic of having their snipers advance towards allied lines under the cover of a large, 6-10 millimeter (0.24-0.4 inch) thick steel plate. ordinary infantry rifles didn't do anything to the plate, but elephant guns were able to punch through it. likewise, the germans used a mass-produced anti-tank rifle, the mauser 1918 tuf gewehr, to knock out lightly armored british tanks.