Back in the 1970s, I went on an all-blackpowder safari with Turner Kirkland, founder of Dixie Gun Works, which then, as now, was the world's center for blackpowder firearms and accessories. Samuel Baker, the famed Nile explorer, fancied guns of gigantic caliber and in one of his journals describes steadying the barrels of his rifle on the shoulder of a porter for a long shot. The muzzle jump was so severe it ripped off the porter's ear. When Winchester announced its .458 Magnum in 1956, it effectively ended the reign of the great British Nitro calibers. Better yet, it was inexpensive and easily available.
African lore is filled with stories of hunters being trampled to death because their bullets failed.
I also pay the skinners and ivory choppers a bonus if they recover the bullet. Tricky as a Whitetail People who have never seen a wild elephant in its native habitat think that because they're so big hunting them is like shooting billboards along a highway. The fact is, elephants can be as elusive as whitetail deer when they want to be and 10 times as canny. Once I was following a trio of old bulls through miles of scrub mopane when they ambled into a patch of taller trees that couldn't have been more than 30 acres total. Another time I was hidden in some heavy cover along a dusty game trail when a small herd of elephants came marching by almost within arm's reach.