The Trail Less Traveled: Dinosaur hunting, anyone?

Dalton Daily Citizen ^ | 7-8-15 | Larry Case

[smokingfrog]

I’d really like to shoot a dinosaur. I know that some of you are going to think that is just a little weird, but maybe if you have been reading this column for very long you might be getting accustomed to such things. Now that the movie “Jurassic World” is out I felt that it might be more socially acceptable to talk about such things, what with all the dinosaur blasting going on in this flick. You see, here is what is really great about all this. Once we accept the premise that we are going to hunt dinosaurs we open up a whole new world of guns and gear that we need. Believe me when I tell you that we hunters and shooters like the idea of getting our hands on more goodies. Of course, we need some new guns for this sport so let’s start there.

For once I agree with something I saw in a motion picture that related to firearms. Leading man and all around good guy in this movie is Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt). He carries as his weapon — believe it or not — a Marlin 1895 SBL rifle chambered in — now hold on to your hats — .45/70, that’s right, the old .45/70 government cartridge. The .45/70 round, for all you firearms history geeks out there, came along after the Civil War. In 1873 the U.S. Army adopted the .45/70 cartridge to go with the new 1873 Springfield rifle. The .45/70 is a big cartridge capable of firing a 500 grain bullet. (Making it a good choice for dinosaurs I’m thinking.)

[Axenolith]

That is essentially a story in IIRC, one of Ray Bradburys collections. You go back and hunt dinosaurs that are just about to die naturally (so as to not screw up the time line). One of the characters falls off the anti-grav walkways and when the crew returns to find the world a totalitarian dystopia, they see that guy smashed a butterfly...