So I've just had a coworker come up and tell me about a video he just saw (sorry, no link) of a game warden (apparently doing some sort of herd culling) taking a close-range (<100m?) headshot on a doe with a .50 BMG.

He claims the warden misses the deer, but the 'shock wave' from the round kills the deer. Fur is observed flying from the deer's head, and when the warden goes to check it, the eyes appear to have been "sucked out".

Now I'm no expert but this just seems to fly in the face of physics. Sorta like those stories that claim 120mm DU sabots pass clean through light armor and suck the crew out the exit hole. I get it....the round is moving pretty quick and it's pretty big. But I'm more inclined to believe the round passed through the deer and didn't expand or whatever.

Whadya think?

I’ve never understood the popular idea that low pressure around someone’s head can cause the eyeballs to be pushed (not “sucked”) out like in that one Schwarzenegger movie. What is the mechanism that pushes from the inside of the head and only air pressure keeps our eyes in place? When I come home from lower elevations or even climb a higher mountain I’ve never felt any pressure trying to push my eyes out.

If the shock wave caused by a passing projectile were strong enough I could see its causing some sort of traumatic effect in the way that sonic booms from supersonic aircraft can even break windows, but pulling eyes out of a deer’s head? I’d sure like an explanation for that notion.

Demo ranch tested that:
Link

I personally think the shock wave is BS. Otherwise my guntrucks would have been damaged when we did M2 ranges or test fired our M2s down range.

Better question is why would a gw be using a 50 cal to do that. May guess this is all bs because if there was one (vid) and they did do this his/her ass would or should be gone. That is one of the stupidest things I have heard of late. And that is saying something.

I dunno.....could be error on the part of the storyteller. I just got off Youtube, some dude named Keith Warren claims to have done similar on a doe hunt in Michigan. Trying to find that specific video.

I recall the video, my take on it was the guy was trolling for controversy and Youtube hits.

The bullet was in one eye and out the other or something like that. He makes no claims to NOT hitting it when he's in the field. It's only later that he comes up with the idea. It was bullshit.

I fell for it and tend to agree... through both eyes.

And shooting deer with a .50 is wasteful.

Quite skeptical.

Had one for a few years and having shot targets at 1-2-300 yds, you just get bigger holes in paper, not blowouts. Still only going 2700 fps.

If a Fish and Game department anywhere in the lower 48 is using a 50 BMG for any goddam thing, their budget needs to be looked at with a fine toothed comb.


Probably a bullshit story but if the equipment mentioned is true, that's just dumb as hell.



Vacuum effect? Horse squeeze.

If the vacuum effect were true, all those WWII planes with six .50 cals firing at once would have been enough to create a mini black hole. I dont recall any stories of that happening.

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaBoy:
If a Fish and Game department anywhere in the lower 48 is using a 50 BMG for any goddam thing, their budget needs to be looked at with a fine toothed comb.

Based on what he said, and watching that hunter's video, I'm betting they're one and the same.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
So I've just had a coworker come up and tell me about a video he just saw (sorry, no link) of a game warden (apparently doing some sort of herd culling) taking a close-range (<100m?) headshot on a doe with a .50 BMG.

He claims the warden misses the deer, but the 'shock wave' from the round kills the deer. Fur is observed flying from the deer's head, and when the warden goes to check it, the eyes appear to have been "sucked out".

Now I'm no expert but this just seems to fly in the face of physics. Sorta like those stories that claim 120mm DU sabots pass clean through light armor and suck the crew out the exit hole. I get it....the round is moving pretty quick and it's pretty big. But I'm more inclined to believe the round passed through the deer and didn't expand or whatever.

Whadya think?

1) The 50 BMG is actually a fairly efficient design with good aerodynamics and excellent sectional density. Which is why it is such a good cartridge for extreme distance shooting. Due to those aerodynamics the shock wave produced is quite small and IMO won't even blow out a candle unless the wick is hit.

2) the 50 BMG is ONLY issued for rifle use to US Military for use in a long range sniper weapon. All other US military uses are for a Machine gun. US Park Rangers are NOT issued any 50 BMG firearm and have a rather low pay grade. So, use of a 50 BMG by any park ranger isn't just doubtful, it is highly improbable and use of a privately owned firearm by Park Service personnel is very likely banned.

3) Conclusion. This story is BS Piled Higher and Deeper. I also suspect that someone was about 3 beers over his limit when they "saw" that video or they are just making shit up on the fly.

While I heard this myth while I was in, I can tell you that I passed under a 50 while it was being fired and was uncut while still retaining my eyeballs. My helmet cover was unscathed as well. Its a fun tall tale I suppose.

Now 10mm..

While I hate to give him more views, here's the video.

You can see in the field he's talking about how he thought there'd be more damage. Key word being "more". Later on he suddenly thinks he missed and vacuum killed it? Air pressure? Please.

I think it might have gone in the corner of one eye and out the other, possible breaking it's neck. You see "stuff" fly and you certainly see it react violently.

You can skip to the 3 minute mark and miss a lot on nothing.

Thanks for posting the video. IT shows exactly what will happen when a 50 BMG hits the brain of a Deer. Brain is liquified by the shock wave and hydrostatic pressure blows out the eyes. Basically it's the same as shooting a 2 litre bottle of pop with a 308, the bottle gets blown into bits.

If the hunter(s) could find no actual entry/exit wounds, it’s most likely that the bullet entered and exited through the eyes, and which would explain the damage to them. Although we would expect experienced hunters to be more knowledgeable than the average person, nonspecialists can make very poor guesses about terminal ballistics questions.

I was involved in the investigation of an incident in which a disgruntled soldier fired a round from one M60 tank into another, killing four (?) men sleeping there. At the time the first theory was that an uncontained round had spontaneously detonated inside the victim tank and that the hole in the turret was caused by the exiting projectile, sort of like the idea of a 308 Winchester cartridge lying on someone’s work bench going off and the bullet’s punching through a couple of houses. That wasn’t, BTW, the agent’s idea; an Armor branch major told him that that’s evidently what happened.

Another time there was an attempted break-in at a store where I worked (one of several in its early history). There was a hole in a domed Plexiglass skylight cover that the burglar(s) had drilled through, and the plastic from the drilling had evidently set off the alarm when it fell down. The police who responded to the alarm call concluded that the hole had been made by a falling bullet that someone had fired up into the air, and that there was no attempted crime(!).

This "vacuum effect" crap is horse shit. If it were a real thing there'd be hundreds, if not thousands of combat injuries from .50 or even larger projectiles.