# How could you kill a terminator using 1984 technology **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689 "2017-01-21T04:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/1 "2017-01-21T04:14:25Z")
I don’t know why the terminators were constantly shooting at each other, they had to know that was meaningless and ineffective. That is like throwing rocks at a tank. Good for the plot though, which was the obvious reason they did it. Anyway, using 1984 technology how all could you kill or at least immobilize a terminator T-800 model? [ul] [li]Extreme heat: Thermite, molten metal, etc. [/li][li]Extreme cold: Liquid nitrogen maybe (wouldn’t kill, but would immobilize so it could be restrained for killing using a different method)[/li][li]Anti-material and anti-tank rifles[/li][li]EMP weapons[/li][li]Corrosive substances[/li][li]Locking it in a heavily reinforced prison cell (like extreme cold, it wouldn’t kill it but it would immobilize it)[/li][li]Intense physical pressure (car crusher, etc). In theory couldn’t you go out to the middle of the ocean and drop a terminator in a cage, and eventually the oceans pressure will crush it? [/li][li]Physically restrain it and remove its CPU or power supply[/li][li]Electrocution? [/li][li]Decapitation somehow[/li][/ul] Anything else? Wouldn’t a paintball gun filled with bullets made out of perchloric acid (or a watergun full of acid) be more effective than machine guns? Just keep shooting acid paintballs at it until it undergoes enough damage to start failing. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/2 "2017-01-21T04:24:13Z")
Its EM sensors would be much easier to damage than the rest. Without those, it would lose a lot of effectiveness. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/3 "2017-01-21T04:34:43Z")
I would think a shotgun blast to the face would take out the optics, reducing the terminator’s ability to notice the Barret .50 moving into position. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/4 "2017-01-21T05:07:32Z")
A survey of the various Terminator-franchise works (movies, TV shows, comics, video games, theme park cutscenes…etc.) would probably produce a variety of options, or at least suggest avenues of research. Even aside from debates of canon, it might take awhile, though—but at least there’d be plenty of action. But, a couple of methods immediately come to mind from the first movie: -Explosives (The T-800 was bisected by a pipe bomb filled with bathtub “plastique”) -Mechanical crushing. After that, as **Patch** notes, a .50 BMG would probably prove effective—.50 sniper rifles have actually been used successfully against Terminators onscreen on a couple of occasions, and a machine gun proper would probably do just as well. I’m seeing cited armor penetration for several types of .50 AP ammunition as [being in the 25mm~ range](http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/mg/50_ammo.html)—lacking other information, this seems to be a decent baseline for gauging how heavily armored a T-800 is, and seems to be consistent with the[lack of penetration against T-800 Terminators using 5.56 rifle ammunition.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.56%C3%9745mm_NATO#Performance) I’d say using .50s is [definitely achievable with 1980s technology.](http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/11/05/us_army_found_an_m2_50_caliber_machine-gun_still_shooting_perfectly_after_90_years_of_service_108648.html) And, at the risk of being somewhat undignified…a [steamroller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_roller#/media/File:Ch%C3%A2tignac_16_Travaux_LGV_Compacteur_2013.jpg) might work, if you could get the Terminator to stand still long enough. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/5 "2017-01-21T05:23:55Z")
I don’t know if heavy military weapons are allowed but if so the GAU-8 30mm cannon on an A-10 Warthog should do the trick easily. The Mythbusters once tested a well-known _Star Wars_ scene by rigging up two heavy logs to swing into an armored truck from opposite sides, and that did an impressive amount of damage. Could I get a volunteer to lead the T-800 into the trap? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/6 "2017-01-21T13:04:04Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t know why the terminators were constantly shooting at each other, they had to know that was meaningless and ineffective.. Not lethal, but effective for _delaying_ a terminator. Bullet impacts did slow them down or knock them back. If you’re running away bullets keep the monster from actually catching up to you and grabbing you. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/7 "2017-01-21T13:22:05Z")
Liquid Oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/8 "2017-01-21T13:31:21Z")
Harpoon their legs and fly around them to trip them up, then they will explode. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/9 "2017-01-21T14:47:07Z")
My basic concept is stolen from the original “The Day The Earth Stood Still” : Dig a Very deep (20 feet x 8 feet x 8 feet) rectangular earthen pit. Drop into it a 6 inch thick square plate (8x8) of battleship steel that needs to be a flush bottom. Drop him in. Pour in concrete on top… enough to completely fill the pit and make it flush with the landscape. Forget. (For a few bucks more, the mason could write, “Hasta La Vista, Baby!” on the top of the cement with a smiley face after it) Of course, if you REALLY wanted to piss him off: Instead of concrete, use the hardest pour-able clear plastic resin or plastic polymer available. Let it harden with a Hook inserted a few inches below the surface of the liquid. When it all dries, pull out the block with a crane. Buff the exterior to a clear polished sheen. Have it delivered to The Smithsonian as an exhibit. “Look how the eyes follow me! That is SO CREEPY!!!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/10 "2017-01-21T15:06:30Z")
Magnet? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/11 "2017-01-21T15:25:38Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > After that, as **Patch** notes, a .50 BMG would probably prove effective—.50 sniper rifles have actually been used successfully against Terminators onscreen on a couple of occasions, and a machine gun proper would probably do just as well. One problem if you’re trying to make it more realistic is that the Barrett .50BMG sniper rifle was only invented in the early 80s. They were technically on the market in 1984, but had very few sales - it wasn’t until the 90s that the US military started buying them and they became popular. So while it’s not out of period, it should take some work for the protagonists to find if you’re writing it into a story, and the military should not have them in an armory. (They will have .50 caliber machine guns, but not the anit-materiel rifles) ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/12 "2017-01-21T17:57:17Z")
I simply press “Stop” on my VCR! ---
**Author:** ![desertmonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@desertmonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desertmonk)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/13 "2017-01-21T20:41:21Z")
Wouldn’t a 40s era German Panzerfaust be sufficient? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/14 "2017-01-21T21:32:17Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > The Mythbusters once tested a well-known _Star Wars_ scene by rigging up two heavy logs to swing into an armored truck from opposite sides, and that did an impressive amount of damage. Could I get a volunteer to lead the T-800 into the trap? So, your answer is “Ewoks”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/15 "2017-01-21T22:14:30Z")
A giant electromagnet, think what they use in a car crusher, turn it on and your terminator is immobile. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/16 "2017-01-21T23:11:36Z")
> [@desertmonk](#): > > Wouldn’t a 40s era German Panzerfaust be sufficient? Any of a host of man-portable RPGs would suffice – M72 LAAW, RPG-2 or RPG-7, think the Panzerfaust 3 was kicking about then, rifle grenades, etc… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/17 "2017-01-21T23:55:39Z")
5 4th grade boys without adult supervision. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/18 "2017-01-22T06:25:27Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > One problem if you’re trying to make it more realistic is that the Barrett .50BMG sniper rifle was only invented in the early 80s. They were technically on the market in 1984, but had very few sales - it wasn’t until the 90s that the US military started buying them and they became popular. So while it’s not out of period, it should take some work for the protagonists to find if you’re writing it into a story, and the military should not have them in an armory. (They will have .50 caliber machine guns, but not the anit-materiel rifles) [Gunny Hathcock](http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/07/28/for-35-years-the-longest-sniper-kill-was-with-a-ma-duece/) made it work pretty well. Also Sarah Connor herself in “Genisys,” although with quite a bit of prep time. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/19 "2017-01-22T11:10:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Anything else? Wouldn’t a paintball gun filled with bullets made out of perchloric acid (or a watergun full of acid) be more effective than machine guns? Just keep shooting acid paintballs at it until it undergoes enough damage to start failing. The acid would probably melt the paintball casing. Paintballs tend to rupture in the barrel every now and then, which wouldn’t be great for the operator. Also, while acid does corrode metal, I doubt that reaction would happen quickly enough to be an effective weapon using the volumes delivered by a paintball. That is to say, you wouldn’t bring down the Terminator before it could close with you and crush your skull. We have to assume Terminators are shielded from EMP pulses. They aren’t magical though. Terminators are just man-sized armored machines made out of a titanium alloy, weighing about a ton. The only weapons we saw used against them in the first films were small arms like shotguns, pistols and assault rifles. Gasoline fires not so effective. The extreme cold didn’t seem to bother the T-800 like it did the T-1000 (probably because of it’s “mimetic polyalloy”) But explosives (even home made ones), thermite, crushing in a mechanical press, magnets, melting in a blast furnace, parking a truck on top of would all seem to work. > [@DCnDC](#): > > So, your answer is “Ewoks”? 😃 I feel like the Ewoks get a lot of shit as “living teddy bears”. You know what else are “living teddy bears”? Actual bears. Basically Ewoks are a race of intelligent bears that can use tools, weapons and even gliders! Remember that they were going to cook and eat Luke, Han and Co if C3PO didn’t intervene. Pretty sure a lot of those Imperials got ate after the Battle of Endor. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689/20 "2017-01-22T13:51:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Basically Ewoks are a race of intelligent bears that can use tools, weapons and even gliders! Remember that they were going to cook and eat Luke, Han and Co if C3PO didn’t intervene. Pretty sure a lot of those Imperials got ate after the Battle of Endor. [Why Ewoks are more terrifying than Darth Vader](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518tM8Z5K4k). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-could-you-kill-a-terminator-using-1984-technology/777689.md?page=2)