# What weapon should I use to hunt a Tyranosaur? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2002, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410 "2002-09-14T09:29:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/21 "2002-09-14T16:26:39Z")
Ray Bradbury wrote a story called _The Sound of Thunder_ about shooting a T-Rex. He doesn’t elaborate on the type of gun used, however-just to aim for the brain and not between the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/22 "2002-09-14T16:29:55Z")
I myself would go for the [M242 Bushmaster](http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/m242.htm), and the [M2A3 Bradley](http://www.army-technology.com/projects/bradley/bradley7.html) infantry fighting vehicle upon which it is occasionally mounted. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/23 "2002-09-14T16:31:33Z")
What about that thingie Bruce Willis used in the new version of _The Jackal_? You’ll need some kind of dolly for it, but hey… We’re allready pushing the envelope when it comes to suspending disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/24 "2002-09-14T16:51:05Z")
[Ah-Nuld]Plasma rifle with 40-watt range.[/Ah-nuld] When I read _Jurassic Park_, I wondered why everyone was so panicked about the dinos getting to the mainland. Even if they succeeded, all you’d have to do is publicly announce “There are living raptors in Central America” and within a month, you’ll have ten thousand big-game hunters down there with infra-red scopes and explosive rounds. It won’t matter if half (or more) of the hunters get killed, because that will only increase the appeal. The dinos will be slaughtered faster than they can possibly reproduce. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/25 "2002-09-14T17:15:05Z")
I haven’t seen the second or third movies, but in the original novel the problem wasn’t T-Rex and the other big guys but the raptors: smaller but still extremely deadly to humans, smart, fast, and could breed rapidly. Sort of like the way exterminating wolves isn’t that hard but exterminating coyotes is. As to the OP, you need a weapon with the following characteristics: It has to be something you can carry and fire on the move, so most of the SAWs or light machine guns would be too heavy. You don’t really want an automatic weapon anyway, since you want something that will kill or seriously disable the T-Rex in one shot; you don’t want to have to hose it down with lead for several seconds as it’s charging you. You **do** want several reserve shots in case the first one misses or doesn’t do enough damage, so something semi-automatic with at least a five or six round magazine. If worst comes to worst and you have to shoot at close range, you don’t want grenades that will be as dangerous to you as to the T-Rex. I’d say something like a .50 caliber semi-automatic express or sniper rife with explosive ammo. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/26 "2002-09-14T18:37:17Z")
Forget the Bushmaster: I’d want one of these: [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/gau-8.htm](http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/gau-8.htm) I don’t think I’d like to go against a T-Rex with a sniper rifle, even a .50 cal. The brain is small, and it’s protected by a very thick skull. So even if you knew where the brain was and hit the skull in that spot, the bullet might be deflected and miss. And the nervous systems were distributed. I just don’t think there were many ‘kill spots’ on a T-Rex that would be easy to hit. How big is the heart, and how deeply is it buried inside the animal? What kind of chance do you have of hitting it? Give me that 30mm Gatling gun, and I’ll just chop the T-Rex into nice bite-sized pieces in a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/27 "2002-09-14T19:07:10Z")
OK…what is it with this “thick skull” stuff that’s been repeated by several posters here? Theropod dinosaurs had relatively lightweight, hollow bones (where do you think their avian descendants inhereted the trait?). Further, the skull was more scaffolding than thick, solid bone (remember, this is a huge head, and the animal has to be able to hold its own head up). Take a look [here](http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/dinos/dinos.3.html). There’s a whole lot of empty space in there. Most of the strength in the skull lies in the resistance to vertical forces associated with biting. A standard “elephant gun” would have no problem punching through any part of that baby. The real problem, if you wish to go for the brain, is that it’s a damn small target. That, and the big brute could probably shrug it off anyway (at least one specimen has been found with a hole in its braincase, and evidence suggests the wound did not prove fatal). Better, perhaps, to go for the heart. Should be a relatively easy shot, seeing as how theropod lacked a sternum (though many did have numerous, small, **gastralia** , or abdominal ribs), so you would only have to shoot through soft tissue. Oh, and the heart is in the same place it usually is. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/28 "2002-09-14T19:17:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by casdave \* > \*\*An RPG should do quite nicely. \*\* Now don’t be silly. If you are hunting the creature you would likely want the carcas to remain intact. I would use a spear gun and poison coated spears. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/29 "2002-09-14T19:40:08Z")
In “A gun for Dinosaur” by L. Sprague DeCamp, Reginald Rivers (the main character,) describes his rifle this way: My own private gun for that work, a Continental .600. Does look like a shotgun, doesn’t it? But it’s rifled, as you can see by looking through the barrels. Shoots a pair of .600 Nitro Express cartridges the size of bananas; it weighs nearly seven kilos and has a muzzle energy of over 2200 KGMs. Costs twenty thousand dollars. He mentions later in the story that a brain shot is pretty difficult since it is a small target and hard to hit with the way the dinosaurs bob around when running. He says it is much easier to make a heart shot and let hydrostatic shock blow out every artery in the critter. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/30 "2002-09-14T19:44:00Z")
I actually just killed a Tyrannosaur last night (in Turok: Evolution 🙂 ). I used two grenades, and it died. I also tried a large pistol, and a bow with explosive arrows, but neither of those were powerful enough. I must say, though, that the first grenade just angered him, and it was a scary few seconds of him charging me before I could get the second grenade off. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/31 "2002-09-14T19:44:52Z")
I’m inclined to think that placement of the shot is going to be a lot more important than sheer power; unless you have the muscle to properly wield a huge gun that is almost a cannon, you’d be much better off with a high velocity sniper’s rifle. Banging away at the thing with an enormous gun may not be enough to stop it unless you hit the brain or the spinal column. Anyway, my first choice of weapon would probably be a Nikon. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/32 "2002-09-14T19:48:21Z")
I’m going to take a slightly different tack here. If I’m going to be hunting a T. rex, I wouldn’t use a gun. In fact, I wouldn’t use a projectile weapon at all. I’d use a deep pit. Cover it over with some branches and leaves, and put a rotting bison carcass in the middle of it. Then, back off to a safe distance, and wait. Maybe include one of the guns mentioned in this thread, to keep non-rex carnivores away from the bait. Once the thing is trapped down a pit, I’m sure I could think of some way to finish it off at my leasure. Quoth **cdhostage** : > [@](#): > > Side - why do people keep suggestomg rexes were scavengers? Look at those front teeth! What good are they except snapping shut on something moving and tearing it apart? Or for snapping shut on something **not** moving, and tearing it apart. The question is not whether rexes were scavengers, just to what degree they were scavengers. No carnivore will pass up a conveniently pre-killed meal. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/33 "2002-09-14T20:05:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\* I’d go for one of those thingies you rest on your shoulder and use to fire missiles, what are those called? \*\* Bazooka? (I just love the sound of that word.) ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/34 "2002-09-14T21:18:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I’m inclined to think that placement of the shot is going to be a lot more important than sheer power; unless you have the muscle to properly wield a huge gun that is almost a cannon, you’d be much better off with a high velocity sniper’s rifle. > > Banging away at the thing with an enormous gun may not be enough to stop it unless you hit the brain or the spinal column. > > Anyway, my first choice of weapon would probably be a Nikon. \*\* This is one of those “Size doesn’t matter” things. The CAR-10 that I linked to is 10mm (almost 50 cal), but looks more like a carbine version of the M16 - it has an 11.5" barrel, although I don’t know if that’s short (it seems to me that it is). Actually, the CAR-10 meets all of **Lumpy’s** criteria. It also makes a nice, big noise. Hopefully that will scare off it’s two buddies 🙂 . Oh, and I think you meant to say “Anyway, my first choice of weapon would probably be a Nikon \* mounted on a helecopter\*” 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/35 "2002-09-14T21:47:06Z")
- - - CAR-10? That thing shoots 10mm _pistol_ bullets! A .50 _pistol_ bullet is nuthin’ compared to a .50 BMG round. At least get a big Marlin lever gun in .444 or 45-70, so’s I don’t feel so guilty. ~ - I myself would take a semiauto .50 BMG Barret cartridge-fed action of some type and neck up the whole thing to .750 or so. Technically that’s illegal to do – but if free-range dinosaurs become legal, to heck with gun laws. It’d give 4-5 shots with at least around 18,000+ ft-lbs each. I might have a headache afterwards for a few days though… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/36 "2002-09-14T22:08:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bromley \* > \*_Oh, and I think you meant to say "Anyway, my first choice of weapon would probably be a Nikon \* mounted on a helecopter_" 😃 . \*\* I nearly typed that. Then again I’d never go hunting carnosaurs on foot if I had the best gun in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/37 "2002-09-14T22:13:02Z")
I’d go with a fantasy weapon like an assault rifle size railgun like [Arnold used in _Eraser_](http://www.scienceweb.org/movies/eraser.html). To be fair the site says that a railgun this size isn’t too far off, but I’ve heard that story before. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/38 "2002-09-14T23:03:28Z")
What, y’all thought I was just blowin’ smoke with that movie I linked to? The movie shows the firing of a .577 Tyrannosaur, a wicked round that explodes out of the barrel with an astonishing _five tons_ of energy behind it. It was designed to stop a charging rhino. Given its name, it seems highly appropriate to the task at hand, don’t ya think? ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/39 "2002-09-14T23:29:34Z")
I’ve gotta agree with the people who have already said “grenades” here - I doubt anything else would do the trick safely. However, I think most of the people envisioning it have the wrong technique in mind. Bringing down a biped of that size is pretty simple - just roll grenades underneath it until it no longer has any intact legs, _then_ make with the .50 caliber artillery. I never understood why this didn’t happen to Godzilla. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410/40 "2002-09-15T00:46:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > \*\* Cecil Adams on [Did dinosaurs have a separate brain in their behinds?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_003.html) \*\* 😕 Although I’ve heard the theory that this bulge is merely a nerve junction, I’ve seen too many respected modern paleontologists talk about the muscle-coordinating function of the sacral brain to just believe Cecil and dismiss it out of hand. If he was talking strictly about “thinking” tissue, then true, no modern animal has ever developed anything like that, so dinosaurs almost certainly didn’t think with their behinds. But I believe it’s widely accepted that it probably provided some level of motor control, unless someone can provide a cite from well-known paleontologists like Horner or Bakker to the contrary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-weapon-should-i-use-to-hunt-a-tyranosaur/128410.md?page=3)