Originally posted by Springer

Fulcrum's example of a muzzleblast is irrelevent as well since that is a totally different situation than what was asked. Anyone foolish enough to stand within a few inches of the side of the muzzle of a .50cal barrel pretty much gets what he deserves!

Yeah,

But..

50m is 150 ft..

That is not a short distance.
(Average gun battle in Iraq today takes place in distances much shorter.. usually between 30-50m / 90-150ft.)

Originally posted by Apollyon
The 12.7mm .50cal round can do extensive damage without have to hit you. I was in the USMC and once while firing one several coyotes wandered onto the range (about 800m out). Our Lt decided this would be an excelent chance to see what they will do ( Yes I imagine he was aware that shooting wildlife on Camp Pendleton is a no no) We were astonished that a 3 round burst killed the whole pack (6-8). We finally went down range to see what happened. Several of them has "odd" ripping wounds. Apparently if the round passes within several inches the shock wave created by straving at supersonic speeds tears the flesh away from the bone. And comparing a .50cal desert eagle to a 12.7mm m2hb is like comparing a pea shooter to a blunderbus

thanks apollyon. this would is the type of proof i would have liked to see if it was true

Originally posted by EvilSpallacus
I'm not quite sure where i heard this, but is it true that a 0.50 calibre bullet has enough force to tear your arm off if it misses by a couple of inches?
I'm not sure if it is different for pistol and sniper bullets, so you know. If it can rip through an engine, would it rip off your arm?

oh and please dont go thats a load of turd and just leave it at that. Could you at least prove it wrong, or right?

Yeah, thats actually true but only if it's shot from the shoulder fired version. I've seen it first hand. Pretty messy

ive never quite understood the 9mm,7.62mm etc... 7.62mm bullets (not the shells) look bigger than the 9mm bullet, so im confused..........

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
Exactly why is it that anyone would actually believe that only the government should be armed and the citizen not have the ability to have access to weapons that could gain any resemblance to equal footing?

Is it possible to be on equal footing in the age of stealth spy planes, cruise missiles, mini-nukes, night vision goggles, heat sensors, and armored tanks? Even if we had no bans on assault weapons, would it make sense? I've often wondered this.

oy...a bullet will do no physical damage to you if it does not come in contact with you. i own many firearms, and have had the opportunity to shoot a Barret .50 cal M82. a .50 cal will not shoot an airplane out of the sky, it will not rip your flesh off unless it hits you, it is nowhere near the size of a cannon (the bullet is only half an inch in diameter.) and Barretts are extremely accurate, and do not have a problem with follow up shots. they have such a massive muzzle brake on the end that their recoil is akin to a shotgun, and scoped followup shots are very easy.
anyone that legally own a firearm can purchase a Barrett, if you've got the $4000 for it. there are many long-range rifle tournaments every year specifically for .50cal rifles, and many clubs across the US. the targets are typically set up a half-mile to a mile away. the last winner, IIRC, was an older gentleman of about 75 years of age.
a .50cal rifle round (50 BMG) has a bullet one half inches in diameter, the round itself is about five inches long and is about an inch in diameter at it's base. a .50 cal pistol round (.50 AE) has a bullet .5" in diamter as well, but it's much shorter. the overall carteridge isn't much bigger than a .45, although it is much more powerful. the Desert Eagle was originally designed as a hunting handgun (which is why it has a scope rail), and chambered in .50 AE, is fairly uncomfortable to shoot. most people that buy one "for fun" end up selling it because it's not really all that fun to shoot and they're heavy.
and as for caliber designations (9mm, 7.62x39mm, etc): the caliber represents the diameter of a bullet itself (not the full round), not that actual length. thus, a 9mm bullet is slightly wider than a 7.62mm, but since 7.62mm was designed for rifles it is longer. pistol bullets and rounds will always be stubbier than rifle rounds, due to the limited size and feeding differences of pistols to rifles. yes, a .50 BMG rifle round and .50AE pistol round are the same diameter, but not the same length. as for inches-vs-metric: generally, eurpean-designed ammunition is generally named using the metric system (hence 9mm or 7.62mm), and US-designed ammunition is usually named with an inch-system, ie a .45 ACP bullet is .45" in diameter. however, NATO uses metric designations regardless of the nationality, so .223 (which is what AR-15's/M-16's shoot), is actually 5.56mm, even for our military (a side effect of this is ammunition that's made to slightly tighter tolerances and thus a bit more accurate.)

[Edited on 25-12-2003 by mouse]

Originally posted by mouse
Barretts are extremely accurate, and do not have a problem with follow up shots. they have such a massive muzzle brake on the end that their recoil is akin to a shotgun, and scoped followup shots are very easy.

If you read my posts It is impossible even supported to keep a scoped target with the M82 THATS WHY IT IS USED FOR LIGHT ARMOR and such, This is a fact taken directly from the US Army website .

AlBeMet

Originally posted by Russian
i heard from my friend in the military(marines)...

that the Berrart(spelling) M whatever...(the anti-veichle)

if that .50 bullet flys within 3 feet of you...

it can cause some damage...

and a 2 feet it can even kill you!

but that sniper is NOT built for killing people it is to destroy veichles...

Barret M82A1, very nice, my choice of weapon in any game or real life situation.

The barret can put a bullet through an engine block and come out on the other side

Any object traveling faster than sound creates a shock wave of increased pressure. This is the "sonic boom" the effect from a bullet or aircraft is the same only the scale is different. It is this pressure wave that does the damage on a .50 cal. I have seen it 1st hand.