Been tinkering with some urban fantasy ideas recently, and I was thinking about gadgets a modern vampire hunter might design and use.
Putting a wooden stake through a vampire’s heart is usually quite effective at either paralyzing them or dusting them outright, depending on the author. Of course, a wooden stake is a lousy weapon in a fight, so usually it’s used after the vamp is already close to defeated.
But what if you could stake a bloodsucker at range? Crossbows could work, but they’re not the only possibility. What about a shotgun which fires wooden slugs?
I’m not a gunsmith or even a gun aficionado, so I’m not sure how feasible that is. What would be the challenges inherent in making wooden shotgun slugs? Would there be a better way to fire stakes into your supernatural enemies from range?
Fiocchi makes shotgun loads with rubber projectiles. You could do the same with wooden projectiles.
I’m not an airsoft person, but I assume wood pellets would work in those guns, too.
If you want longer range then we can start playing with the rules of your hypothetical situation. Does the wood have to physically contact the vampire? With some effort, you could make a bullet with a wood core and a lead or brass jacket.