How would you equip a dinosaur poacher?

[Kalzazz]

On a buffalo you can aim just behind the front leg for the heart/lung area . . . the same likely works for triceratops.

I would want a truck or jeep both to sneak up on the critters (a car creeping slowly is far less likely to spook critters than a person trying to do the same), ready made shooting platform (rear view mirrors are nearly perfect gun rests, but turn the engine off first), and if the critters grow upset a car can flee swiftly

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

In a very general sense, yes but the best aiming point for an elephant is a side shot using the upper ear as a marker for the brain. You probably can't do that with a triceratops.

Frontal head shots at an elephant are actually quite hard and they might be even worse with a triceratops.

Dinosaurs apparently had rather small brains. Your best bet is probably a side shot to the Vitals (I think shooting just a bit behind the front shoulder should work there; EDIT: assuming this image is accurate, you actually want to aim a bit below the front shoulder). You'll need a pretty decent rifle to get through the thick skin and ribcage, but the beast should bleed out eventually. If you need to worry about getting caught, however, you might not have enough time to wait for it to bleed out (the authorities will be on their way when they hear your rifle). In that case, you may need to aim to cripple the legs, then get close and empty a few bursts into the ribcage. You then get out the jigsaw, lop off the horns, and make your escape.

Alternatively, use fully automatic rifle - a BAR will do nicely - and just open up on the thing from the side. Try to keep your aim away from the head (to avoid ruining the horns). A good burst will probably drop it.

Regardless of how you go about it, however, you'll want to either be in a fast vehicle or high enough that the trike can't reach you. The last thing you want is to just wound the thing and then have it charging at you.

[Kalzazz]

Being large herd animals trikes may charge people just because it seems a good idea

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

Given that a triceratops is in the same weight class as an African elephant, the same techniques will work fine

Wikipedia claims that full-grown triceratopes weighed 6-12 tonnes, Nat Geo that an African bush elephant weighed 2-6 tonnes.

A two-fold to three-fold increase in mass, and going from a mammal to a dinosaur, are more than enough to change the effect of different rounds. de Camp had not thought about assault rifles, but he had considered that a dinosaur has a very small brain, and that reptiles do not die as easily as mammals (whether dinosaurs were the same is a question for modern paleontologists).

[mr beer]

Headshots on a triceratops sound like an extremely bad idea, especially if you need the horns intact.

For the same reason, automatic fire and RPGs are risky to the prize.

I think heavy calibre hunting rifles wielded by people who are good shots are the best bet for a team of relatively normally resourced adventurers.

If money and weapon LC is no issue, then for something larger and tougher than a bull elephant, I would want a vehicle mounted cannon. I know you can put 50 cal machine guns on single shot, so I assume the same can be done with heavier weapons. Have the Armourer work on the gun so that it's tailored for accuracy and use whatever calibre you think will get the job done in one hit.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by mr beer

. I know you can put 50 cal machine guns on single shot, so I assume the same can be done with heavier weapons. .

Check HT and Pulp Guns 2. There were/are 20mm anti-tank ruifles with more damage than even an .50 Barrett.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by mr beer

If money and weapon LC is no issue, then for something larger and tougher than a bull elephant, I would want a vehicle mounted cannon. I know you can put 50 cal machine guns on single shot, so I assume the same can be done with heavier weapons. Have the Armourer work on the gun so that it's tailored for accuracy and use whatever calibre you think will get the job done in one hit.

There are quite a few non-automatic weapons in .50 BMG (and its equivalent 12.7 x 108 Russian) on the market as "anti-materiel rifles". There are a couple of them in 20mm too, the Croatian RT-20 seems the current favorite candidate for ridiculously overpowered single shot gun it is actually possible to buy, though there are several not exactly in production guns that beat it out if you are just comparing coolness and not actually looking to take delivery this year.

[mr beer]

Had a look at Wikipedia and I think a refitted Bofors 40mm AA cannon might be a bit OTT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bofors_40_mm_gun

Perhaps a 25mm gun of some kind would be best for sniping Triceratops?

It also seems a lot of these weapons have explosive rounds. Would it be better to have a solid metal slug for dino-hunting or a round that acts as a small grenade internally?

[RyanW]

For trike hunting, I might go with a Jeep-mounted Ma Deuce and a reciprocating saw. Just fire into the herd, scatter them, and start sawing horns off any that dropped. Who cares about shot placement? Might lose a few horns due to bullet strikes, but should get plenty good ones.