“Experiments show that throwing sticks of this size reach maximum speeds of 30 meters per second.”
That’s not the 3000 ft/sec you’d get out of today’s AR...but I sure wouldn’t want to get hit by a stick traveling at 30 meters/sec.
Using these throwing sticks were commonplace in Europe, and were naturally used against attackers -- thus the origin of the term "honky-tonk".
[R.I.P. Johnny Hart]
When I was a kid I hunted with all kinds of primitive weapons like throwing sticks.
Then I graduated to firearms and never looked back.