Quote Originally Posted by mad cat mech
your not taking into consideration that not only does the projectile have to make it through 6 inches of tough hide but then it has to make it through significant amounts of muscle tissue. then IF it makes it through all that it will have a very good chance of hitting the shoulder blade or a rib.

muskets were not elephant guns and would take numerous shots to weaken the elephant through blood loss too bring one down.

even in the modern era some elephant hunters experimented trying to take down elephants with .303 british enfields with shots to the head. they came to the conclusion it was not a good idea.

even when elephants are slammed with calibers like the .460 wm, 375 h&h, and 458 win. mag. it often times requires a second or third shot to finally bring them down. they are very tough to kill.

and these are not even armored like war elephants with the various types of armor they covered them with. i would say many musket balls would have gotten stuck between the armor and the outer layer of the hide.

wont the pure system shock of getting hit with a salvo of heavy, expanding lead balls be enough to take the animal down without actually hitting any vital organs? I mean, the salvo might not hit any important parts of the elephant, but the added effect of all those hits should cause enough damage to bring the animal into shock, and the blood loss should get lethal pretty quick. also, you dont have to take em out, only take em down, couple of rounds in knees or ankles should do that.