Which is deadlier, a spear or a 9mm cartridge?

Would a group of neandrathals with spears be more effective at taking down an elephant than a group of people with 9mm's?


It seems that to kill one with a handgun you would need to be imposibly precise, like with the muzzle lined up with the ear canal or something! What do you think?

Which is deadlier, a spear or a 9mm cartridge?
spear








real cave people and neandrathals both didn't actually catch mamoths that much. spears are still reletivly ineffective. it took many and they lost the heads in the animal.
Reply:if they didnt, they're STUPID even for cave people Report It

Reply:The spear.





Or if the 9mm was laced with poison like a blowgun dart it might work.





....or if the elephant let you stick your arm down it's throat and shoot you might hit a vital.
Reply:Both, its just that one would take longer than the other to harvest what you are Hunting.*
Reply:Neither is going to do all that much damage. Their skin is crazy thick. A 9mmL was not ment to be a damn elephant gun.





I think the score in either case is going to be Elephant 1 morons 0.
Reply:An elephant would be extremely har to kill with either of these weapons.
Reply:I doubt seriously either one of them is going to kill an elephant
Reply:I wouldn't want t piss one off with either! But for the guys on here that said they would rather have a 45 than a 9mm, this is one time I'd argue the point. The 9mm is famous for over penetrating, the 45ACP isn't, and I don't believe the 9mm would penetrate nearly enough.


I personally don't know anyone who has watched a neanderthal kill a Woolly Mamouth, I'd think they lived off smaller prey.


The fact is that a modern spear like the ones you can purchase from Cold Steel will make a very large and deep wound, no handgun can compare.
Reply:Given the circumstances that you have presented, one could only conclude that there wasn't sufficient evidence to conclusively say due to the paucity of data for the 9 mm as an elephant gun. There certainly is evidence of elephants being killed by spears, though. I guess the jury is still out on this one. If you ever have the chance to bag an elephant with a 9mm handgun, let me know how it works out for you.
Reply:last time I threw a 9mm cartridge at an elephant, it didn't seem to work very well at all! Also, you don't kill an elephant by shooting in it's ear. The best placement is to count the ridges formed at the top of the trunk, the third ridge down, frontal shot is a brain shot. Poachers hose them down with AK 47's. Pigmies actually sneak up under them and stab up thru their chest area with spears. Me? I wanna be 1 ridge over with a barret .50bmg !! ;0)
Reply:The key word is deadly.They can both kill,its a matter of the skill of the person using it.Elephants have been taken down by hordes of tribesman spears for centuries.9mm can't even break an elephants skin.I don't know much about neanderthals,but I don't think they would have the intelligence to even turn the safety off a pistol,let alone have the dexterity to aim it properly.
Reply:HAHA





the spear over the 9mm














thats why i carry a .45
Reply:To hunt elephants or mammoth with spears requires great cunning, great skill, and a great many spearmen who are ready to die in the process of making meat.





I believe that I've read that the preferred method was to hide along side a trail and hamstring the elephant after it had passed the hidden hunter. The man doing the hamstringing often did not survive the feat by many minutes. Then after the elephant was down, spearmen swarmed in to complete the task.





Doc
Reply:I'd join the Neanderthal with a spear. Neanderthal-made


flint spear points have been found stuck in mammoth bone.


Nobody has found evidence that firearms killed Mammoths.


Spears can cause an elephant to bleed out. A missed toss


isn't a total loss if one can collect it for another kill thrust.


9mm is only going to make elephant trample shooter awhile


and fly-by projectiles can't be collected for another shot.
Reply:Precision isn't the problem; penetration is. I suspect your basic premise is correct, and the spear would be more effective, but not because of the 9mm's power. The problem is with the sectional density of the bullets. A century back, lots of elephants fell to little rifle cartridges like the 6.5mm Mannlicher. Most people these days want more powerful cartridges for deer, but the long (160 grain or so) bullets in the little thing would penetrate for a heart or brain shot even on a huge tusker. Note that neither is going to be of much help if the elephant turns on you. Those Neanderthals must have been very good at getting behind a tree and hiding from the mammoths!
Reply:A spear, unless you are speaking about


a double barrel 9mm pelleted shotgun shell!


(besides who would want to shoot an elephant?)
Reply:Properly placed, the spear as the potential to penetrate and damage vital organs, that is the one benifit it would have.





Against, say, antelope or other game, I'd say the 9mm would be superior.





Although, I suspect the neanderthals could use the 9mms as effective noise makers and scare the elephant over a cliff. This was a common technique used to harvest game, but it was normally fire that was used to make them panic.
Reply:I'd hate to have to resort to either. I'd rather run the big beast off of a cliff, or into a covered pit. Neanderthally speaking, of course
Reply:Do you know how to make a elephant laugh shoot it with a 9mm. [ right on sniper]
Reply:It depends on three things:


1. Who is using the weapon


2. Is it a rifle of the pistol?


3. How much ammo.


A 9mm will still take down a elephant. you'll just need alot of them. In anicent terms, neandrathals could use dozens of spears to take taht animals, just as modern terms a dozen people with 9mm guns can use over 500 rounds to take the same animal.





It'll both take the same amount of time, and relative terms of power, it depends on how its used an how much ammo is used.
Reply:If Chuck Norris did it, he'd kill the elephant, the neanderthals, along with the spear and 9mm.








Seriously, spears would work better.
Reply:a "group" of people with 9mm? the group with spears would still have to wait for the animal to die from internal bleeding. so what's easier? stand far enough away that the elephant can't get you or run up with a spear where the animal has the clear advantage? ummmmm i'm going to go with the gun on this one. and 9mm is a sucky caliber, i'd have to go with the .45 too!