Gnu-

I just Goggled you up a reference to the 4-gauge elephant gun:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An elephant gun is a large caliber rifle, so named because they were originally developed for use in hunting elephants and other large, dangerous game.

Traditionally, these were very large caliber black powder double rifles (c.1880-1895), often as big as 4-gauge and occasionally larger, giving projectiles starting at 4oz (113g). The most prestigious manufacturer of elephant guns was the British Holland & Holland. With the development of cordite, projectiles could reach a much higher muzzle velocity, lessening the need for such massive calibers, and relatively smaller calibers (.458"-.577") became the norm (c.1900). The Nitro Express line, so named because the composition of cordite is nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine, was the first to create ammunition to fill this market for smaller rounds with calibers such as the .577 Nitro Express, .500 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express. These cartridges delivered anywhere from 5000 to 7000 ft-lbf of kinetic energy at the muzzle. Of the Nitro Express cartridges, the .470 Nitro Express is the only one still in commercial production. The larger bore rifles did not die off immediately, though, with large Nitro Express rounds such as the .600 Nitro Express and .700 Nitro Express still being made, but these eventually proved to be overpowered for anything but emergency use to stop a charging animal, and the smaller Nitro Express rounds won out.

Mr. Whittington is fortunate that Mr. Chaney was not using this state-of-the art weapon for the quail hunt.

Have a nice day!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble