What can a .50 cal sniper rifle do to a man when it misses?

Question

Let me explain the question a little more. My friends and I were talking about .50 cals and we got to the topic of the wounds they caused. We know what it can do with a hit, but we weren't sure on what would happen with a close miss. One guy says it can take your arm off with even a miss. Another wants proof, but I can't find any online. Any help would be greatly appreciated, mainly because it would shut him up.

Answer 1

The reason a .50 cal can tear a man in half is a process called cavitation. It's like throwing a rock into water, the "hole" in the water gets larger than the rock due to the momentum of the water moving away from the rock. The same happens with a body. The .50 cal is a large bullet with an incredible amount of kinetic energy (mass times speed, all that good stuff). If it misses even by a millimeter NOTHING will happen. I am a military medic and we were actually briefed on this. We watched a video of a "moron" shooting a .50 cal at a rock maybe 250-300 meters away. The round actually richocheted came straight back at him and knocked him upside the head. VERY LUCKY, it grazed the side of his head, I mean you heard it grazing him, and it did not make his head explode. And at that distance richochet and all, it would not have lost that much energy. No it is possible that it could injure you with a miss. If it goes right passed your ear, it could possibly create a slight sonic "boom" that woulod rupture your ear drum. That is all.

Answer 2

Well I'm not sure but it could do some damage. To see damage done by a hit get on you tube and search 50 cal sniper rifle. They have some video of hits.

Closest thing I can think of is a beer can full of water being hit by high velocity ammo. Explosion, didn't tear the person in half they disappeared.

Back the point the ammo is supersonic and large so I suppose the shockwave could cause damage if the miss was close enough.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What can a .50 cal sniper rifle do to a man when it misses?
Let me explain the question a little more. My friends and I were talking about .50 cals and we got to the topic of the wounds they caused. We know what it can do with a hit, but we weren't sure on what would happen with a close miss. One guy says it can take your arm off with even a miss. ...

Answer 4

I think your friend has some kind of idea that the vacume created in the air by the 50. cal bullet has some kind of powerful suction to it but it isnt powerful enough to do any damage . The biggest threat that a miss has , wether a 50. cal or not, is if the bullet breaks apart and the pieces fly in different directions or the bullet hits a rock or concrete and sends pieces of the hard material flying like shrapnel.
In Iraq I witnessed an Iraqi man get hit by a piece of a 50.cal bullet that had broken apart on impact with a car and the man survived with the help of our medic. But he lost a kiddney.

Answer 5

With all due respect, a miss is . . . a MISS !

I think what your friend was confusing his information with is the fact that a .45 cal hollow point pistol round or a .50 cal. sniper's round can still kill a target if it hits BONE, even if it's not a vital spot.

Targets have been known to suffer fatal concussions from rounds hitting arm and leg bones, the enormous energy of impact being transmitted through the bones to the skull.

Hope this helps your debate . . .

Answer 6

50 Cal Wound

Answer 7

Well, if it misses - it misses!

There is no damage from a near-hit unless there is some contact with the target resulting in a graze wound, which is technically a hit

A .50 cal hit on center mass will cut a man in half

Answer 8

A fifty caliber bullet, even traveling at that very high FPS will do no damage whatsoever to the intended target if the target is missed.

For .50 cal wounds that were not fatal - look to the wounds suffered by Airmen in WWII - especially Germans/Japanese since they were on the receiving end of .50 cal machine guns from Allied planes they were trying to shoot down.

Answer 9

I was curious about that too - I heard on the news that a .50 caliber round from an M2 only needs to come within a meter of a target to kill someone.

So at an Australian Defence Force recruiting expo, I walked over and asked a mate from the Armoured Corps about it. He said it's true - a large, high velocity round like the .50 cal creates a deadly vortex around itself as it picks up speed.

Answer 10

If it misses it will definitely attract his attention and if he is familiar with the sound one of them makes he will do 2 things. 1) ruin his pants, & 2) relocate as fast as possible into a very deep hole and pull it in behind him as that is the only place he will be safe. A miss will do NO physical damage to anything. Of course this is all theoretical as a US Sniper doesnt miss with a 50 unless the scope has really been screwed up.