I am doing a study on suicide by shotgun (Kurt Cobain).?

Question

Can anyone tell me whether buck shot out of a 12 gauge will completely blow a person's head off if they put the gun in their mouth? How about Steel shot? Will both of these shots be painless and will either of them not be powerful enough to end a person's life instantaneously? I got into an argument with my friend while doing this study and he claims that both of them leave a chance for survival but I didn't think either of them would. I argued that they both would end a person's life instantaneously and be rather painless. Can anyone help me? Thanks

my question is more about the shotgun loads and their affect rather than Kurt himself. Thanks

i understand that buckshot would be very powerful and leave no doubt about immediate death. how about steel shot?

When I read the police report for Cobain it said that he had the gun upside down with the trigger and trigger guard pointing up. Is this the "right" way to do this? If not what is the "right way"?

Answer 1

This is going to be grisly. The size of the shot, slug, or gage really does not matter much when it come to blowing the head off.

Years ago I investigated the death of a soldier who committed suicide by putting an M-16 under his jaw, setting selector to full auto, and thumbing the trigger. He got three rounds off. When I got there I found the man slumped across a table. The top of his head, from the eye sockets up, was gone and the entire brain (in one piece) lay on the table in front of the, now empty, head. I could plainly see the three holes from the .223 rounds in the top of the brain. So, what caused such a massive would? Gas. Expanding gas from the three rounds.
The three bullets cracked and shattered the skull as they passed through. The expanding gas (that pushes bullets) then pushed against the brain like it was a soggy cork. Since the skull was already shattered, the brain simply popped out in one piece.

With a shotgun, if you held it in the same place as my suicide victim did, the results would be much the same and for the same reason.

It certainly is possible to survive a shotgun blast to the head. I knew one fellow here in town that put a shotgun under his jaw and pushed the trigger. At the last micro second he changed his mind and moved the shotgun. Instead of blowing his head apart he simply blew his face off. He did survive the gastly would and lived another 15 or so years before dieing of some illness.

Answer 2

Suicide With Shotgun

Answer 3

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RE:
I am doing a study on suicide by shotgun (Kurt Cobain).?
Can anyone tell me whether buck shot out of a 12 gauge will completely blow a person's head off if they put the gun in their mouth? How about Steel shot? Will both of these shots be painless and will either of them not be powerful enough to end a person's life instantaneously? I got into...

Answer 4

It's impossible to determine whether or not it is going to completely take a person's head off. The extent of the damage is depending on the exact angle you're holding the shotgun, type of shot used, etc. etc. It won't blow your head off in that your neck is all that's remaining, but the amount of visible trauma is extensive, there aren't many firearms that in such a situation will cause as much damage.

In the roof of the mouth I would guess that it is pretty much certain that the subject would lose any kind of brain function or consciousness faster than they could realize it. Physical death occurs an extremely short while after, but there wouldn't be any pain response.

A shotgun blast carries a tremendous amount of energy. I'm sure there are exceptions but it's going to be due to some sort of fault in the ammo or weapon in that it doesn't deliver the shot at normal velocity.

Pretty much anytime a projectile enters the brain, mental function is going to be severely affected and the resulting damage and bleeding rapidly leads to complete death.
Any firearms suicide in which the projectile penetrates the skull and continues into the brain tissue is going to incapacitate and cause the victim to lose consciousness far faster than they'd be able to make any kind of pain response.

Read some coroner type anatomy books or terminal ballistics information if you want in depth details on this kind of matter.

Answer 5

Old Fuzz and I share a similar background. I have seen one person survive a shotgun to the mouth and he lived for a number of years until he gassed himself. His facial features were like something from a Hollywood horror show. I have also seen a number who did not survive.

Blowing a head clean off sounds like Clint Eastwood movie stuff. You generally end up with a flap of skin, some bone and or teeth stuck in a pulpy mass. Much of the skull is missing. The head virtually explodes. Put a firecracker into a tomato and this will give you a little idea of what it is like.

As far as it being painful....none that I have had dealings with ever said. I would assume you will feel pain for a short moment but my beliefs are you would feel much more pain in eternity.

I hope you can channel you educational studies to something less morbid unless you wish to be a coroner. The mess left behind for friends or family to find is horrifying and usually takes professional cleaners to eliminate if done inside.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

You'd think it would be impossible to miss from inside the mouth, but you'd be surprised how often people blow off their face without a fatal wound to the brain. Likely you can get some of those horror stories from your local plastic or trauma surgeon.

Answer 8

I work in health care and see shotgun victims come into the trauma bay all the time. Let me tell ya, you would think they die but that's not always the case! There was a guy who had his head looking like jam smeared on a table, but he lived for three days!

Answer 9

Doesn't matter what shell you use. When you put a SHOTGUN in your mouth and shoot you're going to die. He had 4 times the lethal dose of heroin in his system at the time. He was either really messed up when he did it, or someone killed him.

Answer 10

I think it would probably blow the head completely off. I went to school with a kid who committed suicide by putting a 30-30 in his mouth, and that blew most of his head off.