I didn't know this about the 50 BMG

Status
Not open for further replies.
I've stunned field mice with a 50BMG before (indirectly).

We were shooting using a 20lb propane can (empty) target at 450 yards on a hillside. Makes great targets, just enough wall thickness to get blue tips to flash on impact. When we went out to put the can back in place (it rolled down the hill), we found a number of stunned white field mice within 3 feet of the propane can. They looked dead - didn't move when we picked them up by he tail, but eventually they woke up and ran off.

Field mice are a lot more fragile than humans. :)
 
I called BS to BOTH claims. First, the .50 one that i heard for the first time a few years back from some younger marines. And SECOND, I call serious BS to any CG Cutter that can actually steam at 28 knots without some catastrophic engineering failure.

The CG is building new ships, but not soon enough.
 
I have heard this one in the military time and again. I used to believe it myself until I fired well over 20K rounds overseas. Now I mostly see this rumor perpetuated by POGs who have never fired a .50
 
I remember the Mythbusters episode where they overflew an entire table FULL of wine glasses, etc, repeatedly, supersonic at very low altitude with an F18. It was loud, but they didn't break a thing, much less knock off any limbs. A ~700 grain bullet is a wee bit smaller than an F18.

One other note, supersonic boom is not a part of the muzzle blast. It is a compression wave generated by the bullet's forward motion through the atmosphere, and forms an expanding cone behind the bullet. It moves in a perpendicular direction relative the path of the bullet (or plane, or whatever item is going fast).
 
Sonic booms. Went to an airshow and there was an overflight of a B-1B. The announcer said to look up as it will come over our heads at 200ft and MACH SEVEN. :eek:

Now that would have been a sonic boom. Silly announcer. Lost the decimal. :D
 
I do recall a professor of mine from Germany who had relatives at Jutland. He did say that if an 11 inch shell went through your head, it would leave your headless body standing there for a bit, shooting blood about 10 feet up. Hmm?
Click to expand...

Actually, that's true for a German 12" shell. But the 11" would bounce right off.

Seriously, the Germans really did upgrade from 11" to 12", while the British were bounding all the way up to 15" (with volumetric progression, that meant the shell weight just about doubled). Both German guns were pretty good, but size-envy got the better of them and Germany eventually moved up to the 15" gun. That was the WWI predecessor to the WWII 15" guns in the Bismarck.
 
That is utter and complete BS, and it's bad for you.

I shot at a ground squirrel on a berm about 100 yards away with my bro's AR-50, pushing a 750 gr Hornady Amax at about 2700 fps. The scope was new and had only been bore sighted, so I didn't really expect to hit the thing. Hit about four inches to the side. That big round threw alot of dirt around and made a heckuva 'SMACK,' which I am sure scared a few years off the varmint, but he made it safely back into his hole without losing a drop of blood or even a single hair.

I also shot a paper target on a board with another peice of paper hanging down on either side of it. Not only did shooting the target not damage the hanging peice of computer printer paper several inches from the bullet impact, but it only barely even moved the paper.

That myth is just that, a myth, a wives tail for the uneducated who don't know any better than to believe everything they hear.
 
Oh yeah. Not only that but .50 BMG is so powerful that every time you fire a round you change the rotational speed of the earth.
If you fire against rotation you slow it down slightly and make days longer. If you fire in the opposite direction days get shorter. That is why they have to insure bases practicing face different directions around the country to cancel out the effects of each one.



.50 BMG takes on all sorts of mythical powers simply because it is the largest common round legal for civilians, and the largest round available in many conflicts to the average infantry.
If the cutoff was 20mm instead then 20mm rounds would be the rounds with all the mystique and rumors.
The arbitrary cutoff at half an inch diameter by the GCA has insured that most development of small arms is in .50 cal or less. (Which also impacts military development even though they don't have such restrictions since the civilian market is the best place to try ideas and have innovation where small constant sales happen vs large contracts that either happen or don't. Many ideas adopted by the military were in the civilian market for years before they had been improved upon and proven reliable enough for consideration. So things that never enter the typical civilian market are far less likely to be around long enough to make it into the military before the developer ceases production, goes bankrupt, etc.)
 
Last edited:
Someone go over to the motor pool and get me the keys to the Humvee. Send someone else to Supply to get me 50' of gig-line, and make sure they fill out the ID-10-T form.
Just another practical joke on the uninformed POGs.
 
so any sonic boom is coincident with the rest of the muzzle blast....
Click to expand...

It travels with the bullet as long as it is above Mach 1.

Never been in a target pit have you?
 
hso said:
TommyLeeJonesCaptainAmerica-thumb-550x406-39774.jpg
Click to expand...
LOlol :D
 
You're not going to lose a limb if a .50 round passes a few inches from you.

Might lose control of a sphincter, though!
 
hso: Best use of a nonverbal this year, best use of Tommy Lee Jones on THR EVER. You won the Internet for the day.
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same thing. That was pretty good!
 
Mythbusters and the Blue Angels combined to see if you could break glass with the sonic boom of a very low-flying aircraft, and they couldn't even shatter wineglasses. It's hard to believe that the bullet would have a more powerful sonic boom.
Click to expand...

One can not use Mythbusters as a definitive source,,,
They are wrong about their pseudo-science as often as they are correct..

Anyone who had to endure the late 60's sonic boom tests at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City can attest how damaging they can be to your home and possessions.

My Mom ran an antique shop during those 2 years of two-booms-per-day,,,
It turned out that the USAF was one of her best customers.

Aarond

.
 
I've seen the results of a low-altitude (100') supersonic pass over a John Deere dealership in Springfield, IL, three years running. They're directly in line with the runway and directly across the street from Capital airport. These high speed passes happened during airshows which were approved for high speed passes.

First year, the supersonic flyover blew out the 4x8' plate glass windows in the front of the dealership's showroom. The airport covered the expense of replacing them.

The second year they left the front door propped open in an effort to equalize the pressure. The plate glass windows blew OUTWARD the second year instead of inward!

The third year they left all of the bays in the shop open. Someone forgot to open the front doors. There is a heavy steel door between the large repair shop and the office/showroom that was blown inward, damaging it's hinges, about 50% of the ceiling tiles in the office were sucked through the drop ceiling, and one of the showroom 4x8 windows shattered.

So don't tell me supersonic passes of fighter aircraft can't cause lots of damage - I've seen it first hand!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top