Has anyone been shot?

[Working Man]

Let me start off by saying I know this is a very personal question and I
ask with the utmost sincerity. We talk about what we would do in certain
situations and how we would react, but that may very well be
different from how we can react. So I ask...

What was the situation leading to you being shot?

How did it feel (if it can be described)?

Where on your body were you hit?

What were you hit with (caliber)?

How did you react if you were able to?

What was your recovery like?

I understand if people would rather not talk about it but I believe it could be
a useful part of determining preparation for such an unfortunate event.

[grimjaw]

What was the situation leading to you being shot?
I was walking in a deserted lot, headed for a field of soybeans. This is in the neighborhood where I grew up as a boy. Middle afternoon, probably a weekend, late summer. This is at the edge of a residential neighborhood, and if I remember right, there was some construction on new houses nearby.
How did it feel (if it can be described)?
Actually, it didn't feel like much. There was a slight sting afterwards, but initially it just felt like something hit my leg. I was wearing shorts.
Where on your body were you hit?
Right leg, front part of the leg, not on the bone, though.
What were you hit with (caliber)?
Let's see, it must've been, .177 pellet type.

Sorry, couldn't resist. :neener:
How did you react if you were able to?
I started cussing the other kid who shot me, then after and argument I hit him.
What was your recovery like?
I think the little red mark it left went away after a day or two. The other kid had a bruise.

Have a better weekend! ;)

jmm

[beerslurpy]

I got zapped with one of those .177 caliber pellet guns while running at a track, but I dont think that counts. Never been shot at by a real gun, at least not anything close enough for me to say "hey that was aimed at me".

[walking arsenal]

I caught a 9mm ricochet in the chest once, didn't penetrate but didn't do me much good either.

[antarti]

I caught a .40 S&W ricochet in the chest at a range once (my boss shooting his new SIG 2 lanes away after work). Thankfully, it was an indoor range with no HVAC, it was cold and I was wearing a leather jacket. Bullet hit angle-iron above target, then angled concrete on roof, came back at me. Hit the jacket over the zipper (center chest, sheesh), which was 2 layers of leather and padding overlapping.

Felt like somebody punched me hard in the chest.

Thankfully the bullet was deformed and somewhat expanded, and didn't make it any farther than the jacket. Had it hit me in the eyes, I doubt the eye protection would have saved my vision. Definitely would have knocked some teeth down my throat if it hit me in the mouth.

[RiverwinoIA]

i havent myself,

but i have a friend who was shot in the sternum by a .22lr rifle. he said it knocked the wind out of him/palpated his heart, the pain didnt set in for a minute. the bullet lodged in his bone. I dont know the exact story behind it, but it was an accident im pretty sure.
He went home the next day from the hospital.
He has a cool scar on his chest from it.

[goalie]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed.....
Offense intended.

[Lupinus]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....

[possum]

so far i have been pretty lucky and I haven't gotten an enemy marksmanship badge! But I still have at least one more tour!

[KriegHund]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....

Ive never been shot before, but i have been stabbed (my own fault. Practicing with a sword) somehow it ended up an inch into my knee...verticly, under the skin. For a second i felt nasuea, then normal.

I recall saying "Shoot" (with and it) and running into the house to clean it up. Wasnt until i had a paper towl and some soap wett did it start hurting. And then it was just a sort of throb, not at all a sting or anything like you'd expect. Sort of like being hit in the testicles, but it was sharper and less painful. Cleaned it up, scabbed, and now i have a wierd purplish scar there.

No, i wasnt shot, but it was a decent sized wound. And im giving you entertainment. So there, nyah :neener:

*edit* Ironicly, this occured just below a spot where my knee cap hit the sharp edge of a metal pole. I recall being able to see my white bone after i wiped it up. Was cool.

[jobu07]

Friend of mine took the jacket off of a 7.62x54 to the mouth on a ricochet. Drew blood and he said it felt like someone punched him in the mouth. Healed up after a couple of days. Interestingly, he could say he was hit by sniper fire. Someone was shooting a Dragunov when this occurred.

[Jason M.]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....
Offense intended.

Would you take the same offense if he asked if anyone had been in a car wreck?

[beerslurpy]

Actually my brother got "shot" by a broadhead arrow when he launched it from waist height to foot height. He bled like a pig at first and needed quite a few stiches. My parents werent home at the time, so I had to run to the neighbors and get a ride to the hospital. I would daresay that being shot is probably less nasty than being arrowed.

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....

[armedandsafe]

I picked up some shrapnel from a bouncing betty and still carry some of it with me.

I have a little scar on the palm of my right hand and a matching one on the back from a through and through. That was 9mm at pointblank (my hand was over his muzzle, pushing it away.)

I have a scar on the side of my neck, where the doc took out a little piece of #6 shot. That was the only pellet that didn't hit the leather jacket (yes, I was running away, as a matter of fact.)

I have two long scars on my right forearm from a bayonet. I wasn't shot then because I was just a little faster than he was.

I have a couple of scars hidden by my hair from rock chips. If they had been using battle rifles rather than pistols, I'd have been in more trouble.

I've been shot at and missed. I've been shot at and hit. Of the two, I don't recommend either.

Pops

[Lupinus]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....

[beerslurpy]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....

[armedandsafe]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....

[sacp81170a]

Been shot twice, once exiting a vehicle during an operation in a third world country which shall remain nameless. I believe this was a pistol caliber round, possibly a 9mm hardball which entered on the lower right medial portion of my right thigh and exited on the opposite side. How the hell it missed the femoral artery I still can't figure, but thank God it did.

It didn't hurt, just felt like kind of an electric buzz and my leg went numb. I tried to take another step, but couldn't feel my foot, so I thought, "the bastards shot me in the foot." I looked down at my foot, saw the blood and followed it a looooong way up my leg to the nice round hole I had just acquired. I had sense enough to get to cover on the side of the road while returning fire in the general direction I believed the round to have come from. (At that point, I didn't give a crap about being sure of my target and what was behind it, I just wanted my target to keep its damn head down.) I gave myself first aid with my battle dressing by putting it over the hole I could see and cinching it up tight, but I missed the exit wound until my partner got to me and saw that I was still bleeding. He put his dressing on that one, called for a medevac, and the rest is history. That leg still gives me a twinge every once in a while. For some reason, my foot will feel like someone's holding a match to it. I dunno, doc says there must have been some nerve damage.

The second time I was on a combat patrol in another country and my squad came under fire from someone with an AK 47. I caught a ricochet in the shin of my left leg, but this time when it happened I was a little bit more mentally prepared. It wasn't such a big surprise when I did a face plant and couldn't feel my left foot anymore. My flight sergeant grabbed me by the back of my LBE and carried me like a suitcase for about 10 meters to a ditch. Never did get to shoot back at the guy but my boys are pretty sure they took him out with concentrated fire from the squad's M-203 gunners. That leg is still pretty messed up, with vascular damage. I'll probably have to have surgery later on when I get older.

All in all, I was pretty lucky, but it's not an experience I would recommend. +1 on the being shot at and missed, too. Not my idea of a good time.

[Sam]

Off topic comment removed....
Some folks would prefer not to recall the experience, perhaps because they don't want to be reminded of their poor judgement. Have a few pieces of #4 still in my back from hunting with an idiot cousin. Hurts bad, does not incapacitate. about 40 yards through thick clothing. Was able to beat said cousin to a bloody pulp immediatly afterwards. I still have his shotgun:cuss:

Sometimes you don't want to talk about it because you got shot through your own stupidity. Piece of buckshot in the thigh at 25 yards does not incapacitate and also hurts like hell. Always shoot the other guy from ambush and do not give them a sporting chance, very stupid. Do not wear wool pants when being shot, stray threads carry infectious material into the wound and work their way out later.

9mm ball through the buttocks does not incapacitate, hurts like hell, and is very embarassing evidence that you do not take cover well.:o

22 under the wishbone does not incapacitate if it does not hit vitals. Do not trust criminals to obey. very stupid. Easily digested I guess, it didn't show on the last xray.;)

Cast iron pot leg or other scrap metal fired from muzzle loading jezail into the upper arm. Does not incapacitate but does make the arm unusable, hurts like hell. Someone else, not me thankfully, failed to heed the warning about ill tempered natives who do not care for stray caucasians in their territory. Beware even the 14 year olds are armed.:neener:


10" knife through the abdomen hurts like hell, does not incapacitate either. Only have to stay in the hospital if it punctures a bowel. Grandma, do not pry that drawer divider out with a butcher knife someone might get hurt!


Sam

Missed OT comment removed 10/31/05

[Lupinus]

Tasteless, off topic comment removed....

[c_yeager]

Noone forced you to read it, or post on it, and yet you did both. IMHO that takes away every right you have to complain about it.

[grimjaw]

My flight sergeant grabbed me by the back of my LBE and carried me like a suitcase for about 10 meters to a ditch.

sacp81170a, I don't mean to make light of your experience, but the mental image of this made me laugh and laugh. :) Glad you made it, AR isn't the same without grizzled veterans. Keep safe.

jmm, AR expatriate

[goalie]

Would you take the same offense if he asked if anyone had been in a car wreck?

I would if he asked for the details.

[Thin Black Line]

Caught a ricochet at an outdoor civilian range when some idiots next
to me were doing their pistol speed shooting with fmjs on steel plates
set too far forward of the backstop. I was wearing an M65 jacket with
liner and I only got welted hard on the left side. I told them to knock it
off and that I had just been hit with their ricochet. "Oh, sorry, we'll switch
to cast lead" and they just continued shooting. When those ran out, they
just went back to their fmj's. I heard the rounds start bouncing against
the covered range line roof and just said screw it and left. There was no
range master. I've been shot at other times, on purpose, but those
were all misses. I try to avoid convoys in hostile areas and going to
public ranges when other people are present.....

SACP, count your blessings and hope you're not back for OIF13.

[ZenMasterJG]

As i've posted in other threads, once at a pinshoot i caught a ricochet coming back off the somewhat-too-heavily-used-pins to the right arm. Only penetrated about 1/3 an inch. I don't really remember any pain, just that it kinda burned.
Doesn't really count though, as I haven't really been shot. Still pretty freaky when the guy with the timer just kinda went "Uh...." and pointed at my arm. I hadn't even really noticed until then, since i was concentrating on the pins.

[Cosmoline]

No, but someone hurt my feelings once :D

[bachman1961]

Been in a few car wrecks though and I could darn near write a book on it... ask away!:)

[1 old 0311]

Twice to the stomach in Vietnam. Felt like getting hit with a red hot hammer. DID NOT KNOCK ME OFF MY FEET.Other than that I really can't recommend it.

Kevin

[Babalouie]

Noone forced you to read it, or post on it, and yet you did both. IMHO that takes away every right you have to complain about it.

Yep, Yep, exactly what I was thinking!

[P95Carry]

Not my forum to moderate folks but - let's keep it clean;). Riské is fine but no further.

I cannot see why so much fuss about the question - only people who are prepared to talk about it will - those who prefer not to will not. Hardly see any need for offence being taken to a curiosity question.

Fortunately most of us have not been shot and hopefully will not either - but there is a natural curiosity for most which I can understand. I have a medical background and know a bit more than some re the damage aspects - and it is not something I would wish to experience I have to say!

[Sewerman]

Way back when I was a paramedic in my 20s i was working on new years eve. my partner and i got a call at a particularly nasty housing project shortly before midnite. the call was an elderly lady having a heart attack. as we were loading her up mid nite struck and all the local hooligans started shooting. this is not uncommon at the 4th and new years so we assumed that we wernt being shot at. well im sitting in the back of my BRAND NEW ambulance, putting O2 on the patient, hooking up the heart monitor etc. when i notice that the little plastic doors that cover the bins on the opposite wall from me are falling off. "thats odd" i thought, ( if any of you have ever seen the movie the jerk with steve martin, "These oil cans are defective!" ) yes go ahead and call me dense, i didnt figure out we were being shot at until one of the rounds creased my noggin and shot the hat right off my head. I floped down on the floor , trying my best to become one with it and yelled at my partner to "PLEASE get us the @#$% out of here someone is shooting US!" we went approx 2 miles in reverse running lights and sirens. when we got to the Gradys i found out that the heel of my left boot had been shot thru too. it didnt hit me but the force of it made my heel black and blue and sore as a toothache for about three weeks. the round that hit my head actually hit the button on top of my cap and was just a scratch,it certainly got my attention though. The REALLY funny part is we got wrote up for not parking our ambulance in a "safe" manner.:fire:

[nfl1990]

Edited for tastless off topic comment.........Jeff

[sacp81170a]

sacp81170a, I don't mean to make light of your experience, but the mental image of this made me laugh and laugh. :) Glad you made it, AR isn't the same without grizzled veterans. Keep safe.

Hey, I wasn't about to complain. There's times when you'll cuss the buttons on your shirt 'cause they keep you from gettin' closer to the ground. At least I'm around to laugh about it. :D

[sacp81170a]

well im sitting in the back of my BRAND NEW ambulance, putting O2 on the patient, hooking up the heart monitor etc. when i notice that the little plastic doors that cover the bins on the opposite wall from me are falling off. "thats odd" i thought, ( if any of you have ever seen the movie the jerk with steve martin, "These oil cans are defective!" ) yes go ahead and call me dense, i didnt figure out we were being shot at until one of the rounds creased my noggin and shot the hat right off my head. I floped down on the floor , trying my best to become one with it and yelled at my partner to "PLEASE get us the @#$% out of here someone is shooting US!" we went approx 2 miles in reverse running lights and sirens. when we got to the Gradys i found out that the heel of my left boot had been shot thru too. it didnt hit me but the force of it made my heel black and blue and sore as a toothache for about three weeks. the round that hit my head actually hit the button on top of my cap and was just a scratch,it certainly got my attention though. The REALLY funny part is we got wrote up for not parking our ambulance in a "safe" manner.:fire:

LOL! That reminds me the first time that I ever had rounds coming my way. My partner and I were sitting in our patrol vehicle when we started hearing this "pop, pop, pop-pop". It took us a few seconds to associate that sound with what sounded like someone hitting the aircraft we were guarding with rocks, kind of a "clunk, clunk, clunk-clunk" sound. It was pretty comical as we looked at each other with a "what the hell" expression and both realized at the same time that THOSE WERE INCOMING ROUNDS! A John Wayne episode it was not. We unassed the vehicle pronto and took cover, called it in to CSC and my partner(I will save him the embarassment of giving his name in a public forum) kicked my boot and said, "Cover me." I said, "What?" He repeated, "Cover me, I gotta go back to the truck." "Why?" "I forgot my weapon."

This brings up another question, since I've heard lots of similar stories. How long has it taken anyone to realize that they're being shot at the first time? A lot of guys I've talked to relate the same thing you and I have both experienced. It takes a little bit of time for your mind to wrap itself around the fact that someone is shooting at you. After the first time, it's not such a shock, but it seems to me like a critical piece of information to assimilate, one that would be difficult to replicate in training. Any thoughts?

[Jeff White]

Admin Note: I'd like to remind everyone that you are posting on THE HIGH ROAD not Glocktalk or AR15.com. We have standards for civil discussion and we try to keep it a family friendly place on the net. I have edited several posts in this thread. In the future if a member makes an inappropriate post, the proper thing to do is to hit the report this post to a moderator button. Don't compound the mistake by chiming in with your own witty comment. Everyone here electronically signed the users agreement when they registered. the staff expects everyone to abide by it.

I have never been shot. But I don't think it's possible to establish a model for what it feels like to get shot. People vary greatly in how they feel pain and how they react to it. Adrenalin also figures into the mix.

Jeff

[James T Thomas]

3 Dec '68: After three 12.7 mm began to rake us I became quickly prone. John Wayne would have wasted his breath yelling take cover.

Some of the men with me frantically began to scrape shallow trenches in the rocky clay soil, and I piled in on top of the third man. There was a new and unassigned man laying to my front and he was taking still pictures of this all -yes, I thought at the moment, this is incredible. I noticed an awful face occuring on this man as he looked me in the face, and almost simultaneously I realized why. Rounds began to kick up the dirt to my front at about six feet distance. There was a very slight hump in the ground there too. I screamed at the two men below me to let out their breath! I needed to get lower.
Then I saw in an instant the round hit a rock, and whump, it struck my neck.
Frightening. I felt for it and stuck my little left finger in the hole and could feel the end of what was a 7.62 round. The rock had dissapated just enough energy to keep the round from puncturing my artery, but then I became anxious that the jagged metal might cut into it as I moved. My fear was lost immediately by more shooting at me, next my collar was nipped, and I felt it.

I was forced off of that slit trench and ended up behind my computer sergeant's feet who was also crawling away. Then again crack, crack; yes you guys who have never experienced the other end of an AK or SKS, those firearms have their own distinctive sound, that experience imbeds in your memory. Sgt. Steadman, of FL, (he survived), if you're out there, was struck in the feet by rounds aimed at my head. I was an officer, and being hunted, it turns out from the tree tops. I only saw the leaves flap from the pressure wave, but some of my men returned fire to the trees and hours later the few who did survive cut down the enemy who had been tied up in there.

Later, in that long, and horrible battle, I had just turned around to prepare the last mortar rounds we had for firing in support of the men only 25 m to our front, when I felt the flash of heat and concussion wave strike me so forcefully that I was tumbled over in a summersault to my front; I had been kneeling at about four feet away from our 81 mm mortar tube which was hit by an RPG rocket round. The enemy were very good shots with those things.
(Miraculously, every one of my men had dropped away from the tube until the rounds were ready again _the tube was a beacon for small arms fire -even pinging off of it while my brave gunner Sgt. Charles White of Baltimore
cranked that handle for corrections; and none of those brave men were killed!
End of our fire mission. We had used all but a few of the round we were humping anyway. That mortar tube, tripod, and base plate were all hurled right over my head.

I took a piece of hot -hot! shrapnel in my back at that one. And it lodged in my rib, not penetrating the pleura. The airtight membrane that seals the lungs. I knews this right away too, since I was not gasping or laboring to breathe.

It was a long, and costly battle that day, and those others -wounded, but not killed fought on to live. Myself, I was so frightened, that unless I was killed outright, I intended to survive. The wounding was -Oh no! frightening, but forgotten by the fear of; I'm still alive, and they're still trying to kill us.
(Account of this battle at .military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=vn-noderos The author is Steve Banko III: recipient of two silver stars; some reguard as beyond the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Been through many battles in the Cavalry before that; that is all we did was ride time and again into "red" landing zones, but this battle was the worst by far.

Only saw flickers of the face of the enemy much of the time, except when we suprized them, like once walking up a jungle trail and five m away they sat on top of their bunker eating their lunch of rice balls wrapped in bananna leaves.

Have more emotional scars than ones on my body.

If you should ever suffer wounding, fight until you are unable. Remember your first aid training -it's invaluable, and ...use your sights -one shot at a time.

[beerslurpy]

Wow thanks for sharing that. It was an impressive story. Glad you made it through in one piece.

3 50cal MGs to start the ambush off would make me pucker up.

[silverlance]

stories like this make me feel strangely oxymoronic - pro-gun, anti-war.

then again, i believe someone said that - and i paraphrase - were war pleasant, we would grow too fond of it....

the mere idea that someone is shooting at me would make me pucker up to no end and look for small dark places to crawl into.

[James T Thomas]

"Silverlance and others:" That strange and conflicting feeling is known to me.
I fully know the destructive power of firearms and the morbidity of their use.
However, it is just as said often; it is whose hands they are in. For good or for bad. If the bad people have them, then you need to have them for yourself and yours too.

I still enjoy firearms and shooting. The sport of it, and the security of being armed myself, but I no longer have the thrill of them being "cool."
When I view all the AK enthusiasm at the range, the wows and grinning, I never say anything, but I hate those guns. I know, it's irrational, but one of my scars.

The men currently in Iraq know full well that there is not glamour there, and the young enthusiastic men headed there; may God keep them, will learn.

[Borachon]

Yes.

.22 caliber

Wrong place. Wrong time.

[silverlance]

and I'll be mulling over them for some time to come. my guns don't seem as cool today, either; as the years have gone by i have also come to recognize a lot of military enthusiasm as being more that slightly distasteful to those who have shot at or been shot at.

these days, my respect for defensive guns has changed from that of a deeply impressed adolescent to that of an adult - these are serious tools, like power saws and bulldozers, made for a specific purpose - the eradication of other humans.

[Wasz]

Reading this thread caused me to think about how fragile and still so very durable the human body is. Really is amazing. Just thought Id share. Thanks for the stories.

[Thin Black Line]

You can be 99% healthy and 1% dead and it's that 1%, that seemingly
tiny thing, that kills. Other times it's amazing how someone can be
literally torn apart and still be alive. Much of the time it makes no sense.

[Sam]

Don;'t remember who mentioned that I was not safe to be around, guess it got eaten in the edit for tastelessness. (which was a good edit, sometimes ya get out there).
Anywho, it would be easy to get the idea that dangerous things happen around me but probably not as often as you might think. My life is very peacefull now, but over the course of 26 years I accumulated 41 months of hostile fire or hazard incentive pay from Uncle Sugar. Given the amount of exposure, I was actually very fortunate and my kids all thought I was a lucky guy to travel with.

Sam

[Shel]

Myself I never have been *knock on wood* I do know 3 people who have been, all of them were hit with .22

I know a girl who her brother shot her in the behind when the family was target shooting.

A guy who said he got shot once in each leg.

but the only person who really talked a lot about it ... (I remember this from sitting in English class in high school), some kid accidentally shot himself in the chest and he said it burned a lot, said it felt like his chest was on fire or something. He said he was running around the livingroom screaming because it hurt a lot. He was back at school pretty quick after the incident, he was showing people the wound... I opted to not look. His story was much more interesting than Shakespeare :eek:

[dfaugh]

In the back, right shoulder blade(stopped the bullet), with a .25 caliber, back when I was young and stupid, and hung out in some pretty disreputable bars...Was trying to leave, as I'd gotten into an argument with this idiot (over what I don't recall, but it was probably pretty stupid)...He followed me outside trying to continue argument...Now this guy weighed about 110 lbs. (I went about 210, and was in great shape as I had been training martial arts for about 4 years)...I got in his face one last time (I think I asked him how he was gonna eat lunch tomorrow without his arms...one of my favorite lines), and turned to walk away... I'd just turned when I heard the pop, and felt a burning sensation on my back...

Now folks, I have an interesting reaction to pain...It just makes me angry...REALLY angry...Sobered up INSTANTLY (Yeah, I'd had a few), and I spun on the guy, who's now got the "deer in headlights" look on his face, even though he's still got his little pea-shooter aimed at me(I guess he figured I'd be on the ground with that first shot)...Stepped into him, grabbing his right hand, and twisting that sucker into a position that the human arm is not supposed to be in...Don't remember much after that, other than when everything returned to normal speed he was on the ground (and not lookin' too good) and I was still upright.

First ambulance took him away, cops showed at same time asked me a few questions, and then questioned witnesses (all of whom were my buds), then they took me away. I wasn't even bleeding all that bad, and it didn't really hurt, although my adrenalin level was still over the top...Hurt some for a few days after, but not nearly as bad some other injuries I've suffered...

No charges filed (although it was a near thing), as he was carrying illegally, and it was clearly self defence, although they DID think I used a bit more force than necessary (They said he might walk again someday, but he was gonna look funny for the rest of his life...at least without lots of plastic surgery)...

[Werewolf]

I've never been shot but was there when a friend was.

South side of San Antonio, TX in 1968. Three white guys (me and two buds) in a bar playing pool for money with some guys of the Hispanic persuasion.

We were winning - big time - and the losers took none too kindly to that. They wanted their money back and weren't polite when making the request. One of them pulled a small revolver and shot Buddha (that was his nickname for a reason) in the belly. 3 pool cues lashed out from our side and disarmed the revolver guy (I wonder to this day if his wrist could have been repaired) and we unassed the joint pretty quickly.

When we got home we took a look at Buddha's belly. Small .22 entrance wound. Buddha wasn't feeling too badly but it was starting to hurt a bit. Dennis, Buddha's brother got some iodine and a pair of tweazers and dug around in the fat. Pulled out a .22 bullet, barely deformed. Probably a .22 short cartridge. Flooded the wound with iodine and taped gauze over it.

A week later Buddha was as good as new.

[Working Man]

I would like to thank everyone who replied and state I understand why some
would not want to. The reason for the detail (what, where, & how it felt)
stems from my medical training and because I believe it could be valuable
information to have. I do apologize if I offended anyone as that was not my
intent.

I also appreciate the recounts referring to the ricochet incidents as that is
just another example that we must always be aware of what is going on
around us.

The mental aspect of recognizing just what is happening at the time is
something I personally had not thought about.

Once again thanks to all.

[Moonclip]

Have been shot at but never hit but I have taken riccochets as mentioned, including 44mag out of a rifle in the chest and I can tell you it does not do you any good. Little penetration but it felt like getting punched pretty hard.

Have met many people who have been shot but mostly with small handgun calibers. The larger caliber guys tend to die or come close to it in the one 45acp guy I met. 22 and 9mm guys claim it didn't hurt much but I don't know if they were just trying to be macho.

Long gun gunshot wound victims I met usually involved birdshot but in two cases I know or met, one shotgun, one mini 14, both came real close to dying from blood loss.

Have met few stab victims but one I knew got it in the stomach and came real close to dying. Changed his attitude a good bit.

[fb]

Was captain on a union picket line back in the 60s, strike was a violent one. a scab tried to cross the line and we stopped him. Evidently he went to his car and returned with a pistol, walked up to me and shot me in the right side of my chest.
It knocked me off my feet, and collasped my lung so I could not easily get my breath. I stood up and was so confused could not under stand what had happened. By that time I was in a car and on my way to the hospital. Just about died, but after a long operation I made it.
To this day I could not tell what cal the gun was.
And I never heard what the shooter got from the law. Probably nothing.
I do not recomeand getting shot.

[Joey2]

Yes. Got cought while crossing a dried up rice paddy in the mountains. My plt. was crossing when a 12.7 along with AK's and SKS's opened up on us.

I layed down and helped our MG give return fire so the rest could withdraw down an embankment about 6' high. I had my canteen shot off my hip and my flack jacket got furrowed in the back on the way to my canteen.

Another time an NVA opened up on our column moving up a trail. He fired an RPG at me from about 20ft. the rd. hit some folage, exploded and got me with shrapned in the arm, shoulder, and neck. My flack jacket got all tore up, the same one I had on with the canteen incident.

Shrapenl in the legs and face from booby traps, incomming mortars etc. I had shrapned comming out of my legs and face years after I returned home.

[ctdonath]

A friend's AK-74 doubled at the range. Second round, launched at an elevated angle due to first round, struck the cinder block barrier, ricoched, and struck my lip. Felt sudden compressive pain as bullet pressed lip against tooth. Tooth is fine. Looked down to see blood, turned out to not be much but kinda freaky to find a drop and not know what you'll find next. Small cut healed fairly soon, slight swelling, a fragment is still in there.

Not exactly up to the full meaning of "got shot", but gave a much clearer understanding of what that full meaning would be.

[Mnemesyne]

Yep...I've been shot...right leg, just below the knee..Still have the bullet..was a .22 Initially, it felt like someone took a red hot poker and rammed it into my leg...wound didn't bleed much, but the knee swelled up to about just larger then a softball....Somehow, throughout the whole mess, I kept a level head....It's an experience, I hope and pray I never have to feel again...Incident happened in 98 and I just now in '05 have the ability to carry and fire my own gun finally....Wasn't an easy recovery for me...I still have nightmares over the incident.....

[Nick_90]

A few years ago, in Lyon (France), I was happily walking back to my hotel around 2 am when suddendly I heard a muffled noise and felt a severe burn under my knee. Realising something must be wrong, I run to take cover behind parked cars. After waiting there a few minutes and nothing happening, I made it safely back to my hotel. Inspecting the damage, I found a .22 bullet, half stuck in my jeans' leg, half in my leg itself. Someone must have randomly shot at me, or more probably at the pavement in front of me and the bullet ricoched.
Scary, but it healed just fine...

[Berek]

Well, let's see. Once by an AK at medium range. Entered my upper arm and lodged in the bone. Once by a 9mm ricochet when police opened up on a criminal (I'll take one for the team (provided I live...) if evil is removed from *MY* planet. I never invited them anyhow.) And one in the leg from a misfire from a friend's firearm. It was factory but did not go off in the chamber. He waited about 15 seconds before ejecting, I wouldn't have thought it would go off after that wait either.

They burned. To the bone, they burned. My recommendation: Try not to experience it.

Berek

[P95Carry]

It was factory but did not go off in the chamber. He waited about 15 seconds before ejecting,Glad you survived all your experiences but that episode proves, if any were needed - just how important rule #2 ALWAYS is!

[James T Thomas]

Joey2: Dear young man, your story sounds fraudulent. I recommend you don't try spinning yarns before men who have actually been there, because they will spot you immediately and call you on it. If you persist, they will chew you up as you have no right to be making such claims.
I go to my own unit web site and correspond with a few of the men who have actually survive such horrendous battles and occasionally we will get some claimant to having been there, etc. You can't fool us, and I'm pretty sure many of the others with similar experience on this forum have spotted you too. Knock it off!

[walking arsenal]

You don't happen to clank when you walk do you james?

You probably could have stopped at the first sentance and made your point.

[Ryder]

What was the situation leading to you being shot?
Snipe hunting.

How did it feel (if it can be described)?
Like being punched.

Where on your body were you hit?
In the head.

What were you hit with (caliber)?
7 1/2 birdshot from 20-25 yards.

How did you react if you were able to?
I heard the shot sweeping through the air toward me and turned my head away. Lights out but I was still standing and decided to sit down in case of further shots. Fully conscious of what was happening, just couldn't see anything. On the second shot I layed flat and yelled "I'm hit" hoping to end the shooting. Sight came back about this time and I saw the bird circling around to fly right over me. Shooter held his fire until it passed me and when the third shot went off all I could do was regret I had no way to dig a hole.

What was your recovery like?
No penetration of the skin. Just big red welts. I had a nasty headache the rest of the day. Never went bird hunting with others after that.

As for being shot at and missed I had several of my own 9mm bullets scoot past me ticking off twigs and saplings one day. The bullets were lead and target was polycarbonate. These bullets were obeying the equal and opposite force law of physics. It was a high cyclic rate and I had to stop and think about what was going on. I was shocked to realize what was chopping down the woods around me.

[James T Thomas]

Walking Arsenal:

You are right, I suppose I am clanking. I'm sixty now, and squeaking too, -thank you actually, for reminding me. I suppose a little "oil" in the mechanism would loosten things up.

Please understand. The men I mentioned, and myself carry in our everyday lives the memory of the spirit of men who have sacrificed themselves doing their duty. Now comes this guy, who wants to be an author, and write combat novels. Well, OK, but when he enters this forum and begins to claim to stand amoung those men whose memory is sanctified by their blood, then I will not stand for it. If you feel I was too harsh, you should stand alongside some of the battle hardened sergeants that have survived, and get their perspective!

Your know, I did reflect about what he said before replying, and I thought initially that yes, he may have received shrapnel wounds, many men have.
If that is the case, he can claim so. But to embellish it with all the other "romance" stuff is not necessary. If he had been there, isn't that good enough? After all, many servicemen were support troops, and I salute them all. The infantryman cannot complete his mission without them, and they did face some risk also. Given. Read another forum here of the airman who did place himself at risk, and some misguided soul took him to task -that he was somehow undeserving of recognition just because he had not looked the enemy in the eye.

I'm enjoying my later years more than ever, but I do recognize the need to not lapse into becoming an old crank.
Thanks again.

[Werewolf]

when the third shot went off all I could do was regret I had no way to dig a hole.
MAN!

I really hope you kicked that sucker's behind good when you recovered. There's just no excuse for that kind of BS!

[walking arsenal]

If you feel I was too harsh, you should stand alongside some of the battle hardened sergeants that have survived, and get their perspective!


I have and do, on a daily basis.

My grandad is 82nd airborne, his brother was a gunner on a ship, doesn't like to talk about it. His other brother i wish i could talk to, but i can't, he died in combat. Strafed by a fighter.

My best friend is currently over seas.

I myself am a USAFA 2Lt.

I "get it" don't think i don't.

[Joey2]

James T Thomas,
When I die I may go to hell, but it won't be for lying. I do need to make a correction. It was a B-40 not a RPG.

A face to face with you would be nice.:)

[James T Thomas]

Joey2:

I suppose I will have to give you the benefit of the doubt; I certainly do not want to accuse anyone falsely.

However, was it just your descriptions, or what? I mean, the polypropylene canteen, even with cup, would be simply punctured by small arms rounds.
In order to have it blown off, you should have lost part of your hip with it; web belt, double hooks and all.

Then every projectile I saw the effects of never, never, made furrows, dents, or anything else, other than cuts. They would cut cloth, splinter and shatter, but furrow? In the dirt perhaps, but not on cloth.

It is your descriptions that leave me skeptical.

Public apology if I have wrongly accused you, but "it's your fault."

You never have to question your eternal destiny either friend. I would have thought you would have resolved that matter "in a foxhole." Refer to the compendium of books; Bible: I John 5:11.

[Curare]

...which entered on the lower right medial portion of my right thigh and exited on the opposite side.

FYI, if it's on the right side of the right thigh its lateral--not medial.

[atlctyslkr]

Got a .22 in the shoulder when I was about 15. Was out riding dirtbikes in the woods when some other kids were out there blindly shooting in the woods from accross the field. Hurt about as bad as a beesting. It was from a good ways off and the bullet tucked right under the skin. Pushed the bullet out, and it hardly bled at all. I didn't even realize what it was until I got a look at it. I went home and told my parents who immediatly called the sherriff's office. They then took me down the street to our doctor to take a look at it. (This is a small town where doctors make housecalls and everyone goes to the same church ....). He takes a look at it, puts some antiseptic in it and says nothing to worry about. Don't know if Jonny law ever caught up with the shooters. Needless to say I didn't ride out there anymore.

[sacp81170a]

FYI, if it's on the right side of the right thigh its lateral--not medial.

Now that I look at what I wrote, you are correct, sir. It went through from left to right diagonally about 45 degrees from center in front to 45 degrees opposite center in back and slightly lower. Still can't figure how it missed the femoral. Somebody musta been lookin' out for me. :D

[SuperNaut]

I've been shot twice, once in the knee with a .25 and once in the ass with rock salt.

The knee shot was in a fight with a thief over a property ownership dispute. Caught the f****r breaking into my car and he took exception to me beating the tar out of him. He shot my patella right out of my skin, it was hanging on by tendons. Didn't hurt at all, but I suddenly couldn't stand up. Healed up fine but it throbs a bit before thunderstorms.

The ass shot was because I was trespassing on a farm while young and stupid. I had been warned multiple times, after I got winged in the asscheek I decided to take the warnings seriously. I never ran so fast in my life, but I still couldn't outrun that shotgun blast.

[BedPimp]

I have never been shot *knocks wood* but my grandfather was. WWII in Germany, shot through the lower stomach with a machine gun. He said he held his intestines in while he ran back to the medic tent. It left one heck of a scar, and he lived for almost 60 years after the incident, happy and healthy.

[ID_shooting]

Since somone resurected this old thread...

I took some 7.5 bird shot from a 20 ga in the shoulder at about 25 yards while chukar hunting. Heard a whiz past my ear, sharp sting on my soulder. I was wearing a leather vest with shooting pads, just some red welts where the shot hit me.

[das028]

I've never been shot, besides a pellet gun, but my dad took a .30-.30(or a 32 special cant remember exactly) in the thigh, when he was a teenager.

Long story short, He and a buddy were hunting back home in PA. They had called it a day, and were loading there rifles in the back of his truck. Well my dads buddy didnt unload his and just tossed it in the back of the truck, when bang, the gun went off, and struck my dad dead smack in the middle of his thigh. Shattered his bone, and ended his wrestling career. He was a very good high school wrestler. Anyway he has a nice scar on his leg now.


I have another freind who's brother took a .30-.30 behing the knee, in a hunting accident. Don't know the details, but I do know he nearly lost his leg, and took a long time to recover. He is still really screwd up.

[mljdeckard]

I've never been hit, felt a few buzz by.

When I was 16, in the southern Utah desert in July, I was out shooting with some friends who know no fear and feel no pain. One of them took a .22 ricochet below the ribs. We don't know for sure who fired it, I know it wasn't me, my ruger was clear and I was reloading at the moment. Entrance wound below the right ribcage front, exit wound below right ribcage in the back. Yep, that's what we said too. Buddy carry a mile through the desert to the truck, 100 mph 40 miles to the nearest hospital, and he was fine. Two stitches and a band-aid. The bullet went in at a narrow angle, slingshoted in the skin around the outside of the ribcage, and exited deformed. We like to say because the guy is a Sioux, the bullet was worried about the possible consequences of killing him, so it would rather wound him as a courtesy, and it went around.

Wait, I did take two pieces of birdshot, in the power leg through the jeans when I was like 12. But I never even put a band-aid on them, I don't count them. Even if John Kerry would have gotten a purple heart for them.

[Erebus]

Does rocksalt count?

If so I got a right buttock and thigh full once short cutting through an apple orchard as a teenager.

[Harry Paget Flashman]

What was the situation leading to you being shot?
-1974. Lake Pillsbury, CA. 26 years old. Six pack of beer. Shooting holes in an old abandoned truck's engine block from about 2 feet away with a rifle. Darwin was working overtime.

How did it feel (if it can be described)?
-On about the 4th shot I grabbed my face, fell down and started screaming, "I'm Blind...I can't see!" My two friends pulled my hands away from my face and I was relieved that I could see again. The wheels were still turning very slowly in my head (beer) but I felt chipper and wondered what happened. My friends cringed and told me I was bleeding.

Where on your body were you hit?
- Copper jacket imbedded in skull in forehead.
- About 1/3 of the 405gr lead slug stuck in my lower jaw.
- A small speck of lead in the tip of my nose.

What were you hit with (caliber)?
.45-70 Govt 405gr factory loaded copper jacketed flat point

How did you react if you were able to?
- I was fine after realizing I wasn't blinded. I went back to my car and bent the side view mirror up to look at the damage. It made me queasy. When I tried to pull the lead out of my jaw with my fingers and it wouldn't budge I almost fainted and began to go into shock (more mental than physical). I began to tremble, got the chills and couldn't stand up. My friends drove me to the the local hospital in Ukiah, CA. That's where the fun started. It was a Sunday morning...I was an active duty E-6 (read: "blank check")...so they called in a neuro-surgeon, plastic surgeon as well as a GP. The County Sheriff questioned me in such a manner and with such convincing intensity that to this day I still believe the admission his shrewd questioning elicited from me..."Yes, Sir...I am the dumbest M.F. in the world."*
- The biggest bullet I dodged that day was when I got back to my ship with a huge stack of medical bills that a sympathetic Corpsman took care of it without a "line-of-duty" inquiry or JagMan Investigation that would have put my career dead in the water.

What was your recovery like?
-The jaw healed quickly with a only a small pucker scar.
-The lead is still in my nose but doesn't show.
-3 months later my forehead got a nasty infection. I told the Corpsman I thought it was shrapnel. He cut me open, found nothing and stitched me up. Several months later my forehead swelled up again. This time the Corpsman dug a little deeper and removed a 1-2mm piece of copper jacket from the bone. It hasn't troubled me since.

I still hobby around with guns but gave up drink in 1978. I could have bragging rights to taking a .45-70 shot to the head and surviving, but then everyone would know that "I am the dumbest M.F. in the world." Thank the Lord for the anonymity of the Internet.

*(Please excuse the abbreviated expletive. I thought it relevant to the story to quote accurately.)

[mljdeckard]

Flashman, that story makes me do a full body cringe. 45-70, headwound, and survival in the same story.

[Working Man]

Wow.... I didn't expect to see this thread again. I'd like to give a big thanks
to everyone who answered, it dispelled a few myths for me.

Flashman, I do a lot of .45-70 shooting. When I read:

.45-70 Govt 405gr factory loaded copper jacketed flat point

It made my whole body lock for a sec. Glad you're ok and I'm glad everyone
here made it through their situation.

[another okie]

Shot twice with birdshot, both were quail hunting accidents. Still have some shot in me from one of them, which was in the shoulder and didn't hurt all that much. The shot penetrated deeply on that one and caused some damage I still feel on occasion. The other was less serious, but was in the face. I bled like a stuck pig and it hurt badly, but the shot barely penetrated the skin. Had a police bullet buzz by me one time in Tulsa, but it was a good shot and the guy it hit is not around to tell his story.

[Jim March]

Never been shot.

One comment though: there was reference earlier to a canteen being "blown up". Regardless of the shell material, if it was full of water and hit by even a medium-grade rifle round like the 7.62x39, wouldn't the water pressure from the inside tend to shred it?

In the case of a plastic canteen, the plastic bits (and water) wouldn't have a lot of energy to them and I can see how they might not cause damage to the wearer even if the canteen "vaporized".

[Captain America]

I got a flesh wound from an AK type 7.62. I just felt like a paintball hit me, for lack of a better description. And it felt really warm. Wierd.

[David904]

I took a .40 ricochet just to the left side of my adam's apple.
No penetration (Thank God.)
It felt like what I imagine someone hitting me there with a ball peen hammer might feel like. I can still remembering that whispery, fluttery, whirring sound as the round came flying at me.

When I got hit, I honestly thought I was dead. I clapped my hand over the point of impact and dropped straight down to my knees like someone just cut the strings on a puppet. After a couple of seconds, I was brave enough to look for blood - and finding none, I probed around a bit only to find a VERY sore area on my throat.

I had a nice bruise on my neck for quite a few days after that.
Coulda been worse. Coulda been better.

[Mortech]

Twice in the same leg , several years apart . Never noticed each time until someone brought to my attention I was bleeding . Never felt a thing until a couple days later when it started to really heal and then the pain started . The first was a 38 Spl graze fron to rear on my left leg bled like heck , I was in Chicago visiting with a college friend's parents . Some junkie just started shooting . Second time was in Germany at a range , someone's P38 had a safety failure and the 9 MM round went through my left leg AGAIN going right to left about an inch above my knee . That one really hurt when it started to heal .

[steveracer]

The rear sight vial from my SA Champion came loose and lodged in my face. I had to pull it out with needle nose pliers. I thought the guy in another lane with a .22 shot me. I was pissed, but figured out pretty quick that he wouldn't be shooting at me with a .22, when he had two FALs over there.

[evan price]

Well, not shot, but:

When I was a kid about age ten or so my friends and I were playing with lawn darts. You remember the things that got banned? They were shaped like regular darts but a lot bigger, they had pointed tips about 4-5" long and maybe 3/16" diameter?
Well the guys' house we were playing with them at, his dad was a mechanic and had a bench grinder in the garage, and we thought it would be fun to throw the darts at a piece of plywood in the back yard that was part of an old doghouse. We painted a target on it but the lawn darts were too dull to penetrate the wood and stick so we sharpened them on the bench grinder.
We were throwing them at the target one at a time from maybe 5 meters away taking turns like a darts game, the kid who lived there threw his last dart and walked over to the target crossing in front of me without waiting right as I threw my last dart (we didn't exactly have good range discipline back then did we?). The dart skipped off his shoulder without any damage, but he got mad and pulled a dart out of the plywood and threw it at me and it stuck dead center in the meaty part of my thigh about halfway between my knee and groin, sunk in all the way to the head!

Felt the pressure of it hitting, but no pain or anything, he looked at me, I thought he had missed, he screamed and ran in the house, his brother started laughing, then we both looked down and saw it, and I started feeling it, and thinking, "Oh sh**, we're gonna get in trouble now!" and my leg got all wobbly.
His dad came running out, saw what had happened, put ice on my thigh, pulled the dart out, and it hurt like hell coming out like he was pulling it out sideways which surprised me at the time. I got sent home, my friend got a whipping and sent to bed, and the lawn darts got broken in half and put in the trash.

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Went catfishing one day and caught a loggerhead turtle and being a 17 yr old cockstrong lad I held that turtle off to the side while walking out of a pasture. Before you know it My arm sagged down and Mr. Turtle thought it wise to snap at my britches to which p**sed me off. Set him against the base of a tree and shot him through the head with a 22lr, went through his head, hit the tree, recocheted and hit me in the neck. I picked up the bullet which subsequently turned flat from all of the abuse and counted my lucky stars. :uhoh: Stung to the high heavens and left a good welt, no penetration.

[FIRE COP]

so now on to your voyeuristic...psychologically boring question..yes is the answer. Try it you may like it..

[AaronE]

1)Once was where I wasnt supposed to be, doing something I shouldnt have been doing and collected a back, buttocks and legs full of rocksalt, DONT recommend it. washed it out in the shower with warm water...that hurt worse than the getting of it, bits of cotton T-shirt and shorts didnt help the cleanliness at all. GF dug a lot of that out of me.

2) Hunting in Olympics, couple of yahoos "heard something in the brush" and started shooting at it, I was grazed in on the inside of the left arm and ribcage before I could get behind a down log. Later met up with them at the foreman's office at work, we all worked for the same logging company. They were talking about sitting in the borrow-pit above where I was on the same day and getting some "sound shots off" right after lunch, when i was passing below the borrow-pit. I almost got fired for what I did to the shooter....Foreman only gave me 3 days off without pay...and told the shooter that he was lucky that it occured within sight of the foreman where he HAD to do something because if not he would have ignored it. Shooter lost his job not too much later over a small issue.

3) Was shooting pins at the local range when the fellow to my left cleaned off the table,at which time I SAW the bullet approaching in that "slow-motion" phase and watched it hit my chest square on the steurnum, the bullet penetrated my shirt and broke the skin and STUCK THERE half buried in my chest. It didnt hurt too much at the time...but later I had a saucer sized bruise and THAT smarted for a week or more and it hurt to take a deep breath.

So nothing too terrible, I've done worse to myself with a chainsaw in a logging misshap. Still cannot recommend being on the recieving end of things.

Thanks to all who DID take real hostile fire for our country.

AAron

[El Barto]

Igot two sets of Lawn Darts that I just bought! Harder to get then 7.62x39.

I took them to the local park once to try out and boy you should have seen the kids come running. Everyone wanted to play but I thought it was a wise time to leave. What is it that when there is something that is potentially dangerous, kids just flock?

Back on topic: My brother shot our brother in-law with a .38 from about 15 ft. I wasn't there, but I was told that it was very hard to see the entrance wound and it didn’t incapacitate the BIL. It did however make him rethink his intended course of action. He still has the bullet lodged “close to his spine”; a handy excuse for him not working.

[Aggie's Revenge]

I have never been shot. I did catch a partial backblast from an AT-4 during a live fire exercise. Had a couple of nice chunks of plastic jammed up in my arm and chin but nothing really to write home about. The worst part was the overpressure. It felt like someone did got a running start and kicked me square in the nose.

[Duach Laidir]

I'm now 72 years young but I remember vividly the first time I got shot at and hit. It was 62 years ago and the memory has never dimmed.

I was walking in the local railway repair yards, a wonderland that us kids were forbidden to enter. There were old cars from the late 1800s and even a stack of the construction 4 wheel side tippers that dated from 1855 when the first line in NSW was built.

Anyway I had got beyond these wonders and into the scrubland between the yards and the main line when I felt a burning sensation in my neck.
I thought that I'd been stung by a bee or a wasp later in life I was stung by a Black paper wasp and the wasp was worse).
Mainly I remember the numbness and the blood, that was when I realised that it was more serious than a wasp sting, and I headed for home, which was about half a mile away.
I remember that I didn't cry 'till I saw my mother.
She, ever practical, arranged for a neighbour to drive me to hospital.

I'd been hit by a .22 and it entered about 2 inches left of my spine and exited 'lower angle of the left jaw', it left a mark along the skin under my jaw and we were told that it had touched the jugular vein.
I was a very lucky boy. A fortnight in hospital and then back to school; something of a nine day wonder.

No one was ever charged over the incident although we had our suspicions.

One amusing spin off of the shooting was that when I joined the army and was asked about marks and scars I pointed out my gunshot wound.
Six years later when I was discharged I got my Honourable Discharge Certificate and there under the notation of my Active Service in Korea, it says
Marks and Scars : Circular gunshot wound; lower angle of the left jaw.

It looks good but I always tell the truth about it.

Duach.

[dfaugh]

Yes, with a .25 auto, in the right shoulder blade at almost point blank range, gun jammed after 1st shot...He shoulda used a bigger gun...After I was through with him...Well, they said he MIGHT walk again SOMEDAY...but his face will never look the same again.

[Working Man]

so now on to your voyeuristic...psychologically boring question..yes is the answer. Try it you may like it..

Wow, FIRE COP, thanks for the insight. :rolleyes:

[Tokugawa]

.45 fmj, riccochet to center of forehead. Shooting at a gravel pit, bullet must have gone 50yards and back. No penetration. ouch!
Arrow to side of neck. Friends kid brother shot me deliberately with a kids bow with target points. No penetration .ouch!