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 - 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.