Posted on 10/02/2007 9:15:49 AM PDT by 7thson
Hey, I got a question for all the firearm experts/enthusiasts on Free Republic.
Speaking to my grandson recently - he is 16 - he told me a episode of Mythbusters where the look at the 'myth' shown in movies when a person gets shot they get blown back. The Mythbuster people concluded it was false by shooting a dead pig and a dummy. Also - and this stood out to me right away - they said that according to Newtons law - every action has an opposite reaction - that when the person gets blown back it would mean the shootist would get blown back the opposite direction.
Now please correct me if I am wrong because I do not know much about firearms. But I told my grandson that mythbusters got it wrong. First, I said that certain firearms were developed for the sole purpose of putting people on their arse. And two - they got the law wrong. I said that when you fire a gun the reaction is the recoil. And that when the bullet hits the person, the opposite reaction is getting pushed back.
Can someone tell me if I am wrong or right. Also, does anyone know where I can link to the political belief test that indicates whether someone is a conservative, liberal, Stalinist, etc?
I dont think there is enough mass in a bullet or shot to physically move someone like in the movies is what their summation was.
The bullet delivers X foot-pounds of energy to the target, and that may be enough to unbalance someone or spin them around. Most of the reaction to a bullet hit is muscle retraction, which can cause some wild gyrations. A conventional small arms bullet doesn’t have enough kinetic energy to lift someone off their feet, but a .50 caliber Browning slug might encounter enough resistance in the body to give up enough energy to do that.
it’s not “mass” you’re worried about; it’s mass times velocity squared. Can add up to a lot of foot-pounds.
Law enforcement buddies, as well as military buddies, have confirmed to me that people who are shot with bullets are blown backwards, sometimes significantly so.
People certainly aren't sent flying backwards from being hit by a .38 round at 20 yards like they do in the movies.
The premise of the Mythbusters segment was whether the force of a shot could make a human body fly backward through a window, as in a stereotypical cowboy “shoot ‘em up.” Their tests indicated no, and they used up to a .50 cal.
What did the video show?
7thson,
Sorry, but it is a myth. For every action there is an equal reaction. That is true. But when continplating force, we must consider mass. The force of a bullit is large for it’s mass. The reason? Speed! That re-coil you feel when firing a .357 is the reaction from the blast of the charge. A bullit stopping quickly in a human body indeed does transfer that energy. However, the body is much more massive than the bullit and abosrbs this energy internally (organs get moved, tissue tears, etc.)
Consider, in terms of dangerous kinetic energy, what is more lethal. A 200 car freight train fully loaded moving at toward you at 10 MPH or a .357 fired at you at 10’.
You will not stop the train no matter what you do. You will propbably stop the bullit. But the impact force will not knock you down.
There are movies on the internet showing what happens to a terrorist when he gets hit with a .50cal sniper shot. These are single bullet hits and the bodies get tossed by the force of the impact.
The mythbusters probably used a .22
Take the .44 Mag for example.
Despite its legend as a real powerhouse, it's important to understand that the .44 Mag is not really a "powerhouse" in hunting cartridge terms. The "standard" fast factory load uses a 240-grain bullet at 1,350 fps for 971 ft-lbs of energy
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If there are 971 ft-lbs of energy imparted to the bullet, then there are 971 ft-lbs of energy imparted to the shooter's hand.
When the bullet strikes it's target, assuming it is stopped by the target, then 971 ft-lbs are imparted to the target.
Now, if 971 ft-lbs is not enough energy to throw the shooter back 20 feet, then it is not enough energy to throw the victim 20 feet either.
Only when it is a really large bullet. The energy of the bullet is restricted to the impact area. The damage around the entrance and exit, other than by bullet and bone fragmentation is cause by the vacuum of the bullet. Flesh is soft. I watched the work by the myth busters it is mostly correct.
I think for most bullets in most situations, Mythbusters got it mostly right.
While some bullets carry a great deal of energy, the other element to consider is how *fast* and how completely that energy is imparted in the target.
Highly frangible bullets will decelerate quicker and deliver more force over a shorter time. A solid lead, or better a jacketed bullet will travel further and decelerate over a longer period of time, spreading that energy over more time.
But in any case, the effect is not going to be so much that it will pick up somebody and toss them backward through a window or anything like that.
Some people that’ve been shot (I’m not one of them) say that it’s more or less like being whacked hard with a baseball bat. It certainly may make you fall down, but not fly through the air.
No, the person does not fly backwards. Go watch the video of a guy shooting himself in the chest point blank to test a bullet proof vest. He does not "fly" backwards. Granted it was a .38. Go watch the youtube video of the marine that got hit by a sniper. He had on body armor and was not sent flying back. In both of those cases, 100% of the bullet's kinetic energy was transfered to the mass of the human body. I can't speak for .50 cal or 12ga slugs. I can say that I have shot a 195lb deer with a 12ga slug at 50 yards and it did not knock the deer down. The deer jumped, ran 20 yards and died with the slug still inside. This is one of many deer I have shot and I have yet to send one flying backwards (away from me) when they were hit. They usually jump first go a few steps and lay down to die.
physics is a real bitch.
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