What guns for Stone Age animals?

[Boom-stick]

Besides guns and ammo, I'd also take a good British long bow and plenty of arrows, and learn how to make more bows and arrows. I'd take as many knives of varrying types that I could, plenty of axes, parangs, machetes, an expanding baton, a Gladius sword and a late 19th century British army officer's sword. Multitools, hammers, shovels, screws, screwdrivers, nails. Rope and other bindings. Saws, fishing rods, razor wire, tin cans (can make an alarm system), string, textiles kits (needles, thread etc). I'd learn how to extract and work metal, shape stone, carpentry, boat building, fishing, trapping, slaughtering, hunting. Loads of lighters and dry matches, plenty of flint (in case the nearest source is far away), some strips of bicycle wheel (makes an excellent, water proof firelighter). A tent, hammock, kevlar gloves, big backpacks, a wheelbarrow. I'd learn to ride a horse and learn how to tame one, I'd learn how to handle and domesticate animals like cows and pigs and chickens. I'd take a flare gun, flares, torches and plenty of batteries. Nightvision, binoculars, belts and vests, body armour, summer, winter and water proof clothing. Lots of good boots. Floodlights and some solar pannels to keep them charged, and a battery recharger for my torches and night vision. Petrol and other fuels to make ye olde torches and make extra quick fires. Pickaxes, ice axes, snow boots, skiing goggles, a bee keeper's suit, a mosquito net. As many vaccinations and immunizations as I could think of, anti-venom stuff for snake a spider bites. Medical equipment like bandages, morphine, and lots of training. And a shed load of condoms for me and Mrs. Ogg

+1 but I'd make sure I take a solar charger for the batteries

As for guns, well,
.44 mag lever action

.44mag revolver

TC pistol in .416 taylor

Zabala 12g SxS with cut down stock and barrels (if you pull the rear trigger first it fires both barrels at the same time ) ideal very close range gun

Remy 870 with 11 shot mag
Remy 1100 with 11 shot mag


This thread does sound very familiar to the film Sound of thunder
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0318081/

 

[JohnBT]

A .577 Tyrannosaur and a Bowen single action in .475 Linebaugh.

At least I'll go out in style.

John

 

[Working Man]

Sticking to just the firearm aspect my choices would be:

Marlin .45-70 rifle and a Magnum BFR .45-70 for planed big game hunting.
.....1600 rnds

.50 BMG (Barrett or Windrunner), for T-Rex or other BIG Bad Beasts, kept at
the cave or tree house. Big rnds gets me big food animals as well.
.....300 rnds, the smaller critters will probably be more of a problem than the
giant ones and there are more of them, should last a lifetime.

A good pump (12 gauge) 18" as general defense and a long SxS (20 gauge)
for bird, small critter, or even blinding larger ones.
.....12 gauge 400 rnds shot, 200 slug & 20 gauge 1250 rnds shot 250 slug.
The slugs would be used in place of .45-70 if something happened to my Marlin.

Ruger Red hawk .44, 7.5" (general hunting/defense/lounging around the cave
or tree house).
.....1000 rnds

 

[Camp David]

For that sneaky Velociraptor that somehow manages to open my front door....

 

[taliv]

given that the Stone Age was prior to 1934, I'd probably choose a select-fire shotgun with 4000 slugs and 1000 15-pellet 00 buck

 

[Sam Adams]

OK, guys, there are no T-Rex or Velociraptor type critters in the Stone Age...you're off by about 65 million years. We're about big, bad bears, cats and elephants, plus Thag and Og and a few dozen of their nasty-smelling friends from the next valley. No lasers, etc., because I want a discussion centered around present-day weapons.

I like this discussion so far - lots of things that I'd have never thought of, and I guess that's why THR is so much fun.

My list is the following:

Rifles: 1) Semi-auto .50 BMG for the big critters and quick follow-up capability - 500 rounds.
2) A .308 semi-auto (I've got an M1A and am familiar with it, so it is coming) for smaller creatures and stinky hominids - 2,000 rounds (probably all hunting bullets, they'll work on people).

Shotties: 2 12-gaugers, one with a 28-inch barrel to take birds and one Mossberg with an 18-inch barrel to handle close in critters or stinky hominids. Ammo - 500 #6 shot, 500 rifled slugs

Handguns: 1) S&W 500, with the longest available barrel and a good, durable scope. To be used for long-range hunting of good-sized food animals (where I don't have the .308, or to have a good close-in weapon against a bear or cat with a bad attitude). 500 rounds

2) A revolver in .22WMR with the longest barrel available and a good scope - mainly for hunting smaller food animals or getting rid of the Stone Age equivalent of coyotes. 1,000 rounds.

I didn't consider the issue of reloading, mainly because I viewed this as an exercise in how to get food and protect one's self from dangerous animals and the occasional neighborly food and woman raid from the next valley.

Why the emphasis on guns (as opposed to arrows, knives, etc)? Well, of course, it IS a gun board...but mainly because we 21st century softees need an edge vs. our more rugged ancestors, who grew up in such a world, were physically stronger and had more stamina, and learned the necessary skills. The guns would also make you the local chief, with the ability to choose your mate(s) and prime real estate, and maybe to start up the first primitive city-state, with agriculture and domesticated animals.

 

[oneslowgun]

Why am I allowed 6 firearms and 5k ammo, but only ONE cave-girl?

Seems to me, If I have the only "Boom-sticks" I get to chose the cave-girl to cave ratio.

 

[TCB in TN]

2 issues

As far as weapons go, I like redundancy both for familiarity and spare parts so how about:

2 barret semi 50 BMGs 1500 Rounds
2 12 guage 870's 1500 Rounds Slugs (hunting)
2 barrells each slug/smooth bore 1000 Rounds 00 buck Protection
2 revolvers 6 in 44mag or larger cal. 1000 Rounds Protection/ Small game

Just as important would be smelting equipment, molds, dies, etc for reloading. Instructions for making gunpowder, and information about what to look for to find iron, lead, sulfur, salt peter etc necessary to make GP, primers, bullets, etc. Being careful to pick up and conserve brass would be essential. I agree the idea taking a modern bow and learning to make arrows is a good idea, but other than the availability of wood, their are few advantages to the bow. My great grandfather was a wonderful wood worker, and he tried to show me a little about making bows, and "straight" arrows and it is an art that is very difficult to master, and it is even more of an art, trying to shoot a bow with arrows that are not straight. living where I do now, I would say finding the materials, and making them into GP and bullets would be easier in the long run than gaining the skills to make and then use a primitive bow well. Another item that I would believe absolutely vital would be a book with natural medicines, herbs, etc. One of my favorites that I have used personally is willow bark tea. Great for fever, aches, and pains. Consider it asprin. Got to thinking will need plenty of bore cleaner, gun oil, etc. especially if when I run out of modern ammo and begin shooting my own GP.

 

[Firehand]

Main rifle: .375 H&H. Anything that can handle the big game of Africa and Asia today can deal with anything back then. Mix of solids & soft-points. If for some reason the .375 was out, a good .30-06 with suitable ammo.

Second rifle: any good .22, small game and quiet defense at close range.

Shotgun: Benelli Nova SP. Mix of good slugs and buckshot, probably 00; have to think about that a bit.

Sidearm: I'd probably consider this a self-defense against sudden predator attack or unfriendly locals; either a 1911 in .45acp or revolver in .41/.44 Mag.

Good knives are a given. And while a bow might be a good idea, I'd go with a good compound.

 

[Boom-stick]

Seems to me, If I have the only "Boom-sticks" I get to chose the cave-girl to cave ratio

Thats a good use of words there

 

[lionking]

hmm,being a science,discovery and history channel fanatic Im always seeing shows about the Stoneage,your post made me do some research on the net to see what animals and conditions existed back then.I came up with it as the Pliestocene period,the latter part being the iceage.Cavegirl?,well if I found a cromagnon clan I might find one other that no thanks to neanderthal's lol!
I would go for a 375 H&H mag for bigger animals,AK-47 for defense(semiauto is fine),12gauge for birds...a H&K .45 AND A .44MAG revolver.

I started wondering what I might miss most of the current era,somethings that came to mind was chocolate,guitars and non-cromagnon women lol!

 

[c_yeager]

There were plenty of small animals in that era as well. It makes sense to take down a mammoth if you have a whole tribe of people to feed, especially if you have divided labor and some of your members arent hunters. Just supporting yourself and one other person it is pointless to kill something that big since spoilage will end up taking the vast majority of the meat before you can eat it.

Concealing a weapon in this scenario is utterly pointless, so there wont be any pistols on my list. I would have a remington 870 for defense against man/animals (range is pretty unimportant since they arent shooting back), and a nice 22LR bolt-action (CZ or Ruger) for putting food on the table. The ammunition distribution would probably be around 200 rounds of buckshot, an equal quantity of slugs, and maybe some birdshot in case there are any tasty birds around. Everything else is going to be 22lr, since the ammunition is so small/light I think one could easily get 10-20K in the same space as 5000 big-game rounds.

 

[Koobuh]

Interesting question

I'd have to say the two priorities in a situation like this are;
Reliability
Firepower

That rules out most semi-automatic guns, and single-shot rifles. A magazine fed bolt action would not be ideal, but would be closer to ideal than a safari double-gun. No sense lugging 50 pounds of gun along with literally tons of ammo.

Solution to lack of punch? Don't go shooting mammoths all willy-nilly. The fossil record provides a fair glimpse of the fauna present in the ice-age period, and barring the megafauna it's not too far removed from the current ecosystem. Dire wolves and saber-tooth tigers are a problem of course, but avoiding them should be doable. Actually taking them down would not be facilitated by a heavy rifle in any case, as follow-up shots would be necessary.

I would feel undergunned, but not totally defenseless, with some model of WWI-WWII era bolt-action main battle rifle. An enfield, mauser, mosin-nagant, arisaka, or 1903 springfield would be rugged and dependable enough to last as long as I cared to in such a situation, and pack enough power to take any game I might feel the need to.

Given that, a good quality bowie knife, and a commanding presence, becoming a primeval God of ancient man would be almost too easy.

 

[Rob62]

I'll play. How abotu this.

A tricked out Springfield Armory M1A1 in .308 Win (1,600 ammo)

Sako bolt action rifle in .338 Win (400rds ammo)

Remington 870, 12ga with a Ghost Ring sighted 20" smooth bore barrel with a good ol fashined "Poly Choke". (2k total 12ga ammo -500 Breneke slugs, 200 assorted Buckshot, 1,000 Premium assorted Birdshot)

Ruger Super Redhawk in .44 Mag (300 rds ammo)

Ruger GP100, 6"bbl in .22RF (1K ammo)

Savage Model 24 rifle shotgun combo, .22RF over 12ga.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Reminds me or Bradbury's "sound of thunder" story. Dino hunting though, not mammoth. Fun read.



I'd have to take a .375 H&H rifle with iron sights, 45-70 guide gun, a recurve bow with 3 dozen arrows, and a big caliber wheelie like a 45 colt ruger Vaquero.
And, I'd probably bring a 1911 just so I could throw it down somewhere that it might be discovered in modern years just to really mess with the JMB crowd.

 

[minuteman1970]

I would have to go with:
1. a .50 Barrett semi-auto
2. an M1A in .308
3. Spas-12 shotgun
4. S&W .44 magnum
5. high-cap 9mm Glock or BHP

Ammo: evenly divided amongst the weapons