Is it possible to survive a .50 cal shot?

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Yes, Bob Dole was hit by a Mg34 or 42 (7.92mm), several times (4, I think) He spoke of it on C-Span a few yrs ago. He was in Italy when he was wounded.
Col. Charlie Beckwith (USA/SF) was shot in the abdomen by a .50 cal in the mid-1960's( '65 or '66, I think), at first it was thought he wouldn't survive, but he did and went on to retire in 1981 or 82.
 
I had a retired Air Force CSMSgt swear that the air pressure thing is true because he saw it happen in Vietnam on enemy combatants that had been wounded/killed by m16's.

I personally know someone that was shot through the arm with one round of 30-06, and grazed by a second round. He diddnt die or sustain grevious injury, and only required minor surgery.

myth or fact? you be the judge. someone call mythbusters.
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They already did, sorta. They sought to see if the pressure/sound wave of a .50BMG could break glass. They got the glass to within 2" (I think) on either side of the bullet flight path and it still would not break glass.
 
Does anybody have first hand knowledge of the effects of the .50 BMG on the human body? I'm not convinced that it would be as destructive as some imagine.
I think it would, most likely, make a .50 caliber hole through the target. I doubt the bullet would even yaw, much less tumble, from passing through the human body. Military-issued bullets aren't going to mushroom or fragment on a human, either. The bullet has a velocity, depending on the load, in the neighborhood of 3000 fps. This is in the same region occupied by the .30-06 and similar rifle cartridges. Those cartridges don't make a human torso explode, so I doubt the .50 will either.
If someone has verifiable evidence otherwise, I'm willing to be convinced; but right now I don't believe the .50 BMG is that insanely destructive on human targets.
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I don't have first hand knowledge, but I do have a close friend that spent over a year in iraq with 1st armor. He showed me a stack of photos, many hit by .50 rounds.

The wounds sustained were much more grievous than a comparable cross body shot from the latest whiz-bang expanding .30-06 through a white tail, at least in my estimation.

While its in the same vicinity velocity wise as a .30-06, the energy the bullet is carrying is 6-7 times greater. We might expect that energy not to be dumped, the bullet to pass right through, but I suspect, that even though fast and heavy, the .50 does yaw at a shallower depth than we might guess, particularly hitting layers of clothing, leather belts, pouches, or whatever else the target may be wearing/holding, at which point the devastation is much greater.

Just guessing, I wasn't there.

edit...most hits are not "square on", they are at angles, I imagine this contributes substantially to initiating yaw.
 
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No way, .50 BMG can shoot down airplanes! It kills every puppy and baby within a 10 mile radius when fired! They have HEAT SEEKING incendiary rounds! Not to mention shoulder things that go up...







:neener:
 
Unfortunately, I can't find the article right now, but a man named Manuel Wenseslas during the Mexican Revolution survived a nine-man firing squad and the officer placing a shot into his head. He survived, got to a doctor and was interviewed IIRC about 20 years later on the Ripley's Believe It or Not radio show in the 30's.
He had his right cheek kinda sucked in by a scar, but he wasn't too bad.

It's POSSIBLE to survive anything--you just have to be lucky enough!
 
A soldier in Afghanistan survived a direct hit from an RPG that hit his humvee, pierced his armor, and got stuck in his abdomen.
 
I didn't totally agree with their testing as the muzzle break on the .50BMG rifle directs the "blast" away from the bullet path, and a rifle without a break could very well have a different outcome on their testing. And obviously, in that video, there is enough energy to do damage.

BUT :)

The question was could you survive the shot? Yes. And the caveat was that the "pressure" of the bullet in flight path would kill you. Which Mythbusters did in fact prove, that no, it wont. If it can't break glass, I'd guess the most you'd hear from it is the whizz of the bullet as it would pass you?
 
i talked to soldier that jumped out of a chopper and was shot in the chest from a 50. sniper, his body armor stopped the bullet and fragments of his armor went into his chest, but he survived.. and totally recovered
 
Cousin was a Doctor attached to a unit in the first gulf war....someone was dry cycling a 50 cal in the tent when it went off. Round struck a soldier in the collar bone (clavicle), blew it in two as his arm dropped from lack of support. He showed photos of the surgery and reconstructive techniques they used. Man survived....but a few inches over and he would have lost his head.
 
if you think that the 50BMG is just gonna "poke a hole", then you need to go type in "50bmg kill" in google images and have your innocence taken away.

It's a big hole. If it can obliterate a cinder block from "just going straight through it", then imagine what it will do to your face or chest.
 
if you think that the 50BMG is just gonna "poke a hole", then you need to go type in "50bmg kill" in google images and have your innocence taken away.

It's a big hole. If it can obliterate a cinder block from "just going straight through it", then imagine what it will do to your face or chest.
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There's only one image on Google that might be from a .50 BMG, and there's zero verifiable evidence to prove that it wasn't from a 5.56/7.62. Please try again.
 
given the fact that half of the person's head is completely obliterated of the pics I've seen, I'd say there is also zero verifiable chance that it was caused by an intermediate caliber or standard rifle caliber. Please try again.
 
Transported a guy that was caught infiltrating the wire, my CO was pissed at ADA for only hitting him 3 times and leaving us to do the transport to the hospital. He survived minus 1 arm and a kidney.
 
given the fact that half of the person's head is completely obliterated of the pics I've seen, I'd say there is also zero verifiable chance that it was caused by an intermediate caliber or standard rifle caliber. Please try again.
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Ever heard of fragments, explosions, anything like that?

Read the article from Handgunner that I posted earlier.
 
given the fact that half of the person's head is completely obliterated of the pics I've seen, I'd say there is also zero verifiable chance that it was caused by an intermediate caliber or standard rifle caliber. Please try again.
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One soldier I spoke to who returned from Afghanistan stated that, at least sometimes, 5.56 leaves a pretty large, nasty exit wound. Can't speak for 7.62 x 39.

There is zero verifiable evidence as to what caliber caused those injuries. Some could even be caused by shrapnel from explosives.
 
Not having any combat experience, I would think that the large muzzle loader calibers of our Revolutionary War and the The Civil War must have been serious wound makers. Round ball of pure lead upwards of 75 caliber, 69 caliber, 58 caliber. Pure lead Minie bullets of 58 caliber. Early breech loaders of 50, 52, and 54 caliber, again pure soft lead. They all flatten out and have alot of weight to them.
Hard ball 50 cal ammo I think is pretty stable missle and can go through straight. My friend was a weight lifter before, but not after.
 
They all flatten out and have alot of weight to them.
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I wouldn't consider that an absolute. There are a lot of Civil War bullets dug up in and around the battle grounds that show very little to no flattening or deformation. Sure every bullet ever found that wasn't deformed could have been errant shots, but I wouldn't think that's statistically possible. I'd think a lead miniball has just as much chance of a straight through and through as any modern FMJ .50cal.
 
I was friends with a Marine who was shot but the Iraqi equivalent to our M2 .50 cal. he was hit in the abdoman and apparently his flak/sapis deflected the round enough where it went in his midsection and stopped in his upper leg. Other than walking with a limp his only complaint was that the "$#&@ing Air Force doctor" didn't let him keep the slug.
 
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