TheRoadWarrior
New member
Bad part of my job is that all I deal with is trauma and war surgery. I see exactly what weapons are capable of every day. I can say this: no matter the caliber or weapon system, there is NEVER a guaranteed kill shot.
I've seen a guy get shot in the face with an SVD by an insurgent sniper. The bullet struck his zygomatic process at a glance so the bullet tunneled under the soft tissue to the base of his skull and exited. He said he felt like he got stung by something but felt blood dripping from his face and got his medic. Dude walked in to our hospital. That sniper was probably wondering if he hit him at all.
I saw a guy try to kill himself with a .45 to his chest...which I have no clue why the chest, maybe he wanted to make sure he was an open casket funeral, I don't know, but it missed EVERYTHING vital and he lived.
I saw a guy take a 9mm to his temple and blow out most of his cerebrum and he lived for hours breathing on his own until his family said their goodbyes.
But, I have seen a single small piece of shrapnel from a ricochet hit in the back and severe the aorta. I have seen a 9mm hit the femoral high in the pelvis and bleed out by the time they arrived, and I have seen a 9mm strike an arm and blow out all the major nerves and vessels resulting in an above the elbow amputation.
I have seen 9mm enter the lower abdomen and blow out a kidney and the patient's retro-peritoneal cavity completely fill with blood and the patient die by the time they arrived to the hospital. I have seen a man shot through the shoulder with a .50BMG and walk away with only soft tissue injury.
I have also seen a guy shot center mass in the chest with a 9mm and continue with what he was doing for a few minutes until he collapsed and died. I have also seen insurgents (by the time they reach me they are no longer called insurgents but "detainees" which I have no clue why...I mean you witnessed them shooting at you and all of a sudden they are not insurgents when you shoot them back lol) that have been shot multiple times by 5.56 to the abdomen and chest and they were witnessed to continue fighting until they lost enough blood to pass out or surrendered.
So my point is, a bullet hurts no matter the caliber, and when people get caught up on calibers and forget that even a .22 to the chest center mass can kill, then you might be developing a false sense of confidence that your caliber big iron will absolutely drop someone when you pull the trigger. While slower, large kinetic energy bullets will definitely make bigger holes and damage, the faster and higher penetrating rounds can pierce body parts that otherwise may not be able to by large caliber at a longer distances.
Training is the best weapon, train as you fight but never expect that your shots are going to kill someone automatically. A shot to the chest may only cause a pneumothorax/hemopneumothorax and the person can take hours to die, they may even still be a threat until their lung starts to collapse and they start having breathing difficulty. This can be the case no matter what the caliber as long as the heart and great vessels have not been effected. Everyone has seen 3 Kings I'm sure...that one part of it was actually pretty realistic where Mark Wahlberg gets shot in the chest..although there is no way he could just keep walking around for hours without seeking medical help lol. The pain alone would make you want to stop what your doing I'm sure; I have never been shot in the chest, but I probably would not want to keep walking around the desert looking for gold and stuff with a giant bullet hole in me, plus the fact that even if the bullet passed through the intercostal space, there is muscle in between, nerves and vessels, so it will probably shatter both ribs in proximity and that alone would put you in excruciating pain with every breath. But that is Hollywood of course.
So from a trauma surgery perspective, aim center mass and make sure you neutralize the threat because people don't just instantly die like in the movies!
I've seen a guy get shot in the face with an SVD by an insurgent sniper. The bullet struck his zygomatic process at a glance so the bullet tunneled under the soft tissue to the base of his skull and exited. He said he felt like he got stung by something but felt blood dripping from his face and got his medic. Dude walked in to our hospital. That sniper was probably wondering if he hit him at all.
I saw a guy try to kill himself with a .45 to his chest...which I have no clue why the chest, maybe he wanted to make sure he was an open casket funeral, I don't know, but it missed EVERYTHING vital and he lived.
I saw a guy take a 9mm to his temple and blow out most of his cerebrum and he lived for hours breathing on his own until his family said their goodbyes.
But, I have seen a single small piece of shrapnel from a ricochet hit in the back and severe the aorta. I have seen a 9mm hit the femoral high in the pelvis and bleed out by the time they arrived, and I have seen a 9mm strike an arm and blow out all the major nerves and vessels resulting in an above the elbow amputation.
I have seen 9mm enter the lower abdomen and blow out a kidney and the patient's retro-peritoneal cavity completely fill with blood and the patient die by the time they arrived to the hospital. I have seen a man shot through the shoulder with a .50BMG and walk away with only soft tissue injury.
I have also seen a guy shot center mass in the chest with a 9mm and continue with what he was doing for a few minutes until he collapsed and died. I have also seen insurgents (by the time they reach me they are no longer called insurgents but "detainees" which I have no clue why...I mean you witnessed them shooting at you and all of a sudden they are not insurgents when you shoot them back lol) that have been shot multiple times by 5.56 to the abdomen and chest and they were witnessed to continue fighting until they lost enough blood to pass out or surrendered.
So my point is, a bullet hurts no matter the caliber, and when people get caught up on calibers and forget that even a .22 to the chest center mass can kill, then you might be developing a false sense of confidence that your caliber big iron will absolutely drop someone when you pull the trigger. While slower, large kinetic energy bullets will definitely make bigger holes and damage, the faster and higher penetrating rounds can pierce body parts that otherwise may not be able to by large caliber at a longer distances.
Training is the best weapon, train as you fight but never expect that your shots are going to kill someone automatically. A shot to the chest may only cause a pneumothorax/hemopneumothorax and the person can take hours to die, they may even still be a threat until their lung starts to collapse and they start having breathing difficulty. This can be the case no matter what the caliber as long as the heart and great vessels have not been effected. Everyone has seen 3 Kings I'm sure...that one part of it was actually pretty realistic where Mark Wahlberg gets shot in the chest..although there is no way he could just keep walking around for hours without seeking medical help lol. The pain alone would make you want to stop what your doing I'm sure; I have never been shot in the chest, but I probably would not want to keep walking around the desert looking for gold and stuff with a giant bullet hole in me, plus the fact that even if the bullet passed through the intercostal space, there is muscle in between, nerves and vessels, so it will probably shatter both ribs in proximity and that alone would put you in excruciating pain with every breath. But that is Hollywood of course.
So from a trauma surgery perspective, aim center mass and make sure you neutralize the threat because people don't just instantly die like in the movies!
that must have been insane. If I was the guy on the sending end I would have said "what a badass" and quit my insurgency.(I think thats a word...)