Killer Croc - Scenario

[Duxman]

Recently in Africa over 200 people near Lake Tanganyika have disappeared. Initially thought to be the result of tribal warfare, or the work of a serial killer, the disappearances are now being attributed to a giant crocodile estimated to be 9 meters long and nearly a century old.

The above is a true story where a French (yeah good move) Hunter is asked to take out a crocodile over 30 feet long that has eaten over 200 people in this village. The army tried to unsuccessfully kill it with 7.62mm rounds. (Did not penetrate the croc's armor).

Here is the scenario: You and three of your friends are hired by the government to go out there and take out this crocodile doing minimum damage to the ecosystem (No bombs or rockets allowed.) What firearm do you take: (I will post later on what the Frenchie did and how well he succeeded.

 

[Marko Kloos]

Nine meters is right around thirty feet, not eighteen.

What would I take to kill a thirty-foot man-eating croc?

A tactical nuke.

 

[jeff_troop]

a hardened lead +p in 45-70 will be devastating. it will likely run entire length of the croc and expand like a mf'er. a 50 would punch through and do little damage, .375--to small but with the proper bullet would expand nicely.

 

[Nio]

Having shot alligators, .30-06 is plenty.

Nio

 

[Double Naught Spy]

duxman, I think you have applied folklore to reality. 7.62 rounds not penetrating the croc's armor is just plain wrong. First, the armor is NOT uniform over its body. They may have quite a bit, most in the back, but there are still huge gaps in it. There are significant gaps in the sides and little or none on the belly (not a likely shot). The head is nothing special. There is a good amount of bone, but nothing 7.62 proof. Armor is also missing from all areas where there is significant movement required such as at the jaw and articulations of the limbs.

I see you obtained your intro from PBS - http://teacher.shop.pbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=1796976&cp=1397886&parentPage=family

So why would you need guns for this croc? Why not just set a baited trap, thereby doing almost no eco damage?

 

[Trip20]

The channel "Animal Planet" had a show on this past weekend, one story they went through was of a 20' gator who snacked on a woman.

The DNR guy or other type of enforcement officer emptied his pistol and killed the gator. His pistol was loaded with 9x19 IIRC.

That's pretty big for a gator - so I suppose all you "need" is 9x19.

 

[SamD]

I don't know what armor you are referring to.
Heavy skin/scales yes, armor no. A 3 quick loads of 1 3/8oz #4's to the base of the skull will do a 16 foot crock at 10 feet albiet with quite a bit of fuss and thrashing.

Sam

 

[USP45usp]

I chose "other" because your poll only asked about an 18 foot gator .

Now a 30 footer, .308 and up most likey but just for the splatter aspect a explosive tipped 50cal .

Wayne

 

[bclark1]

re: mythbusters thread on rifle bullets in water
the 7.62s may have become ineffectual in the water. they'd certainly kill a croc though if you hit it in the vitals.
the rumor is that the croc has killed up to 200, but it's been over a couple decades, not recently as if it's a daily occurrence.

honestly bigger's always better but if i had my CCW .40 i'd trust it against the croc. if you're already in the jaws it doesn't really matter, reptile that big you can't really get "saved" from unless he's only got an extremity, and you can just lose it and bolt.

 

[riverkeeper]

Croc Stuff

Side Arm is 44mag S-W ported with approx 300 gr hard bear loads
Primary is either--
12 guage magnum buckshot/slugs
minimum 30/30 to 30/06 with decent penetrating rounds

 

[Capt. Charlie]

Somebody's telling fish stories here. The world record for a croc is 17 feet, 4 inches, taken by Pat Harkins in 1997. But then, we all know about the French and "tall tales" . Crocs and gators aren't that hard to kill. Almost any centerfire rifle caliber, along with handguns .357 and up will do the deed. So... I chose other for a .30/06, just to keep from being punished by the big magnums .

 

[Wraith]

The only caliber that I love nearly as much as the 7mm-08 is the .45-70. For all the reasons stated above. I would put a .45-70 up against anything.

As for croc deflecting ANY 7.62 round... phooey. Sounds like the locals are either poor shots or they are poor shots.

 

[cuate]

Crock Killer

Head shot any rifle I have except .22 or .22 Mag. I am just completely wacky about good .30 calibers, I wouldn't shoot a Water Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, or Hippo with a .30 unless it was all I had and I was very, very fleet on foot!

No worry, none of the above in Comanche County, Texas and I am too old, broke, and lack the desire to travel to the dark continent for hunting safari.

 

[Trip20]

Capt Charlie - check out Animal Planets website and look for the show I'm speaking of which was on this past weekend. Unless my mind is playing tricks on me, or unless my memory is just that horrible (totally possible) the show spoke of an alligator that was 20' long.

Actually I think it was almost 21' long (i.e. 20' 11.5").

I'm not lying on behalf of Animal Planet, and I'm not French :barf:

PS/Edit: Unless it was a croc in Florida they were talking about!

 

[Trapp]

Not to hijack.......

True story, went gator hunting with some friends and my dad (grew up in Louisiana). First gator, 10ft, 3 shots point blank to the head (brain area) 2nd gator 12ft 5 shots to the head, 3rd gator 9ft 1 shot to the head. .357 ruger gp100 (unknown loads, but they were magnums) 4" bbl. Went fishing for four hours later. Caught 7 reds, and a few flounder. Got back in I started cleaning the fish. They took the first gator off (10ft), started skinning it. Second gator, they grabbed its tail to yank it off and it jumped up about a foot and took off running. This 5ft nuthin Coonass takes a 5lb maul and starts bashing it in the head. Another coonass runs up with with a cane knife and hacks it at the base of the tail. He then shoves a stiff piano wire up its spine and it meets its demise...


Summary: Send a couple'a coonasses and be done with it................

 

[Capt. Charlie]

Hi Trip! Not doubting you, just couldn't find it on the Animal Planet web site. I think I read somewhere that gators and crocs never stop growing, and that they die from natural factors before becoming true giants. The record 17 footer was considered only from wild takes, but I believe there are bigger in captivity. What surprised me was that this record was a Nile croc, and I always thought the Aussie Salties were the biggest. The "giant animal" thing always fascinates me, especially when it comes to snakes. A little less than a year ago, there were claims of a 40 foot reticulated python being caught in Indonesia. The guy making the claim of discovering it was supposedly a reputable herpetologist, and reporters and scientists from all over the world flocked there in droves, only to find out it measured somewhere around 25 feet (if memory serves). Still, that's not one I'd care to wrestle with . Cryptozoology is a thriving science with hundreds of new species being discovered each year, so I wouldn't be too surprised at anything that turns up.

 

[pax]

Jeff Cooper reported that one African tribe traditionally dealt with bothersome crocs by using a buffalo hide (first catch your buffalo) and some offal.

The buffalo hide would be cut into a single, continuous 60-foot strip of leather about two inches wide. One end would be tied to a sturdy tree on the river bank, while the other would be tied around a couple pounds of rotting meat and tossed into the river.

Croc would come along and swallow the bait plus about 10 feet of line, but would not be able to bite through the line (croc's teeth are made to hold, not to tear or bite). Because the line was there, croc would also be unable to close off his gullet, and would subsequently drown.

Seems to me that would be more satisfactory than shooting a croc, and probably easier too.

Cooper further reported that you don't need heavy calibers to get a croc, just surgical accuracy and a shot that takes out either the walnut-sized brain, or the spinal column. If your shot does neither of those two things, croc will dive into the water and you'll never know if you got him. Croc certainly wouldn't be recoverable after diving, in most instances.

pax

 

[Marko Kloos]

Well, the last gator kill with which I'm acquainted involved a .22 Super Colibri to the skull for a one-shot stop, so their hides aren't that tough.

Also, the thirty-foot estimate is probably overestimating the size of the croc by ten feet or so. The largest recorded croc measured just a skosh under 21', and there have never been verified measurements of larger ones anywhere in the world. 20 feet is at the top end for all crocodilian species, and crocs over twenty feet in length are pretty rare (and never very much over 20'.)

Leave it to lady pax to approach the problem with a brain solution rather than a caliber solution.

 

[stephen426]

Why shoot the darn thing when you can blow it up?

I'm not talking about using nukes here so I don't think my suggestion would be too harmful to the environment. Take a dead goat and throw a few land mines or a few chunks of C-4 rigged to go off remotely. Better yet, put a time delay on the C-4 and have it set to go off after the croc pulls it off the trip wire. Kaboom! No more croc. I don't care how tough the animal on the outside. Any animal is vulnerable from the inside!

Now if explosives really are banned for some reason or other, I say put a biodegradable toxin (anything highly caustic or acidic ought to do the trick) in a few thin glass vials and shove them in the goat carcass. When the croc chomps down, it break the vials and says good night for good! Again, any animal is vulnerable from the inside.

Finally, if poisons are out then you can use a .50 BMG. If it will level small trees, I am sure you can find a few weak spots on mr. croc. You can even bait it and nail it when it comes to feed.

The sad thing is that the croc has every right to live. We always put ourselves at the top of the food chain and as dominanat species of the world. We are among the most feeble animal based on size. I'd still kill it if it were after me but its sad to see an animal live so long just to get nailed like that. I'm sure the victems moved into the croc's territory and not the other way around.

 

[grimjaw]

I've heard that alligators/crocodiles have very strong muscles to grip, but not to open their jaws. If you can manage to get something around it's jaw and shut it (a *reeeeeally* long noose on a pole), at least it won't bite your leg off. It might still do a flying croc body block on you, though.

I chose lever action .45-70. pax had the best idea, though