Shot to the head

[The Tree]

i have seen in pics and also in films that when people are shot to the head their heads explode.does this actually happen in real life?

[Philtaz]

Some do, some don't. Depends on the calibre of the round, velocity, angle of strike. All are factors that determine the extent of the injuries.

[mr_pointment]

do you get kicks on that Tree?how old are you?

[Skids]

To back up Philtaz, a high velocity rifle round of, say, 5.56mm (NATO standard) will cause a small entry wound and a large messy exit wound. Low velocity rounds, such as 9mm, fired from hand guns or sub-machine guns cause a greater amount of damage on entry and can get lodged within the tissue. Larger, more powerful calibre rounds, such as the Magnum range, (.357, .44, .45, .50), would make someone's head very messy.

[FelixtheDog]

As long as you're over 18 & have a strong stomach, have a look at the results of projectiles on human tissue at www.rotten.com

[The Tree]

A friend of mine told me to have a look at that site.i was looking at it when i posted the question.some of the pics just seem so unreal.i was just curious if a gun could actually cause that much damage.i mean some of the heads in them pictures are pretty much non existent.i have seen some pics on tv here and there and seen heads with bullet holes and i just thought that them pictures on rotten must be made up.i always thought it was a hollywood myth but i suppose it does make sense if the gun was powerful enough.cheers everyone

[funkymoped]

thats odd !!

i posted an answer very simular to "skids" but its not here anymore.... the mind boggles.

boggle, boggle, boggle.....

[gusjux]

If you've seen the zapruder video in slow mo you can see jfk's brow scatter. "back and to the left..back and to the left.."

[noxlumos]

Half of the things on rotten are just made by bored students so I'd be careful what you believe you see there.Skidz has made the most sense so far, it depends very much on what you shoot someone with, the range and the position of the shot. Some parts of the skull are much thicker than others and it varies hugely the effect that's obtained.Is this just a curiosity question or do you actually need to know as I think perhaps some of the US crime sites have details about differeing types of firearms damage.

[funkymoped]

skids, you mention the .50" round.

regardless of what gun that round is fired from, im 99.9% sure it would remove at least 75% of the head.

the "barrat light 50" is a weapon used by the americans. its designed as a weapon to destroy aircraft, radar stations, fuel dumps etc. (accurate to over a mile !!)

imagine a head shot at say 2/300 yards !!

[spudqueen]

My Gran was shot in the head when she was 19 and her head certainly didn't explode, she survived, which is a good thing or I wouldn't be here now. She was working on a travelling fair on the shooting range (in the days when they used real bullets) and some drunk missed the target and shot her.

[qapmoc]

Hi gusjux, funny that really, doesn't the official version of the events have it that the shot came from behind. Yeah I know the answer, the US political system in its usual ''blind the public'' mode, makes you wonder doesn't it, for 28 years the video has been available and showed what really happened and it is still not widely known.

[thepodgod]

As per many posts, it varies greatly. To be on the safe side, use multiple rounds, ensuring at least one enters the cerebral cortex. When it comes to disposing of the body, you might want to try an acid bath. The bones will take much longer to decay, suggest you feed these to your dog.