effect of shots to arms and legs

[Luger]

I'm aware that a shot striking the arm or leg of an attacker is not going to cause rapid incapacitation (except maybe for psychological reasons). But anyway: What is the effect of a shot like this?

As far as I understand, a handgun bullet will just punch a hole in soft tissue. The size of the permanent cavity will be about the diametre of the bullet. So I guess, a handgun bullet hitting a big muscle will not stop an attacker from using an arm or leg?

But what is with a handgun bullet striking a big bone like the femur? Will the attacker still be able to stand, walk or even run? Or is he likely to fall to the ground?

And what happens with a bullet fired from a rifle or a shotgun slug?

PS: English is not my native language. I'm sorry for my grammatics.

[Chuck Haggard]

"It depends".

My dad, one bad day in Vietnam, was running from cover to cover when he was struck with two what he assumed were 7.62x39 rounds, one passed through both thighs, one passed through his right calf and entered his left calf sideways leaving what eventually was a scar that looked pretty much like a 123gr 7.62 boattail bullet. Having been shot before in his life he slowed down not a bit, looked at himself when he got to cover, and got back in the fight.

One bad night on my job a friend of mine was checking a back yard of a house due to a report of a possible prowler stealing lawn furniture, as he was sneaking around to the back of that house he didn't know the bad guy had spotted him and was waiting in ambush in the bushes of the house next door. Bad guy jumped out and unloaded a H&R nine shot .22 at him, hitting the good guy with six out of nine rounds. One of those rounds struck the officer dead center of his knee cap, another just above the knee and broke his femur. The officer dropped in his tracks, and then emptied his model 67 at the bad guy striking him once through the left lung with a 125gr JHP.

All through the '90s our local bangers would sanction each other, within the same gang I mean, and big demerits would get you a pistol shot through the calf or thigh. Normally those dudes limped into the ER under their own steam with very little dysfunction, it certainly didn't slow many of them down even a little bit, but not always. Sometimes the femur would be hit, and with a service caliber handgun this can be a devastating hit, dropped a guy in his tracks and breaking the bone into chunks. This sometimes led to the bone cutting the artery even if it wasn't directly hit by the bullet. Cutting the femoral artery leads to rapid and massive blood loss that will kill a person rather quickly.

Even without people dying from a gunshot to the leg, many have lifelong complications and are never really whole, with problems including knees that are jacked up or need a total replacement, the bones of the leg being permanently shortened, permanent nerve damage, etc.

The damage caused be tween handgun rounds and rifle or shotguns rounds is as normal, long guns tend to really tear stuff up badly, and I have seen more than one such GSW leave the victim with the loss of the limb if they survive the event.

[nycnoob]

All through the '90s our local bangers would sanction each other, within the same gang I mean, and big demerits would get you a pistol shot through the calf or thing.

Did you mean thigh? Or do big demerits get you shot in "the thing"?

[Chuck Haggard]

Did you mean thigh? Or do big demerits get you shot in "the thing"?

Yup, autocorrect that I missed. Thanks!

[Unobtanium]

My former roommate was shot in the upper outer aspect of his thigh with a 125gr FMJ-FP 357SIG at near point-blank range from a G33. It penetrated the outer aspect of his thigh, through about 3" of muscle. The effect was a hole in his pants, a little blood, and a walk to the hospital a block away unassisted. Later in the coming days/weeks/months there was some neuropathy to the direct site/near, which has disappeared completely as far as I know.

Another of my friends was shot in Afghanistan in the thigh. This was a 7.62x39 FMJ, as best he figures it. It broke his femur, and he fell. He did not realize he had been hit/his leg taken out of commission until he again tried to stand, and fell. I am sure it hurt like hell later. He walks and runs and lifts heavy weights and junk just fine now days.

None of my friends, nor myself, have taken a shot to the "thing", though, although I would predict immediate incapacitation due to a psychological component, followed by fear/depression/lots of pain.

[Luger]

Ok. So if the femur is struck, the person will probably fall and not be able to get up again.
If the femur is not struck, the person will probably be unimpressed and able to just walk away.

[Al T.]

If the femur is not struck, the person will probably be unimpressed and able to just walk away.

IMHO, correct. Buddy of mine got hit with a .38 LRN 158 grain bullet in the upper thigh and it took him awhile to notice.

[Rich]

IMHO, correct. Buddy of mine got hit with a .38 LRN 158 grain bullet in the upper thigh and it took him awhile to notice.

A guy was shot dead center in the knee cap with a 9mm bullet = 147gr Flat Nose hard cast lead . He notice it right off the bat.

I thought since the bullets had a flat nose and being hard cast lead it would penetrate the knee.

But the bullet slid to the back of his knee and down towards and out of back of his ankle.

Makes me wonder about using hard cast lead bullets in 9mm,40S&W,10mm on big game / bears will it drive through the bone or take the path with lease resistance.

[Chuck Haggard]

Ok. So if the femur is struck, the person will probably fall and not be able to get up again.
If the femur is not struck, the person will probably be unimpressed and able to just walk away.

Unless the motor nerves or arteries are hit, then he might be crippled for life, or bleed to death in the next few minutes.

[DocGKR]

Extremity hits by handgun projectiles to non-critical soft tissue are generally no different in damage than poking someone with a knitting needle. Hit an large blood vessel, fracture a weight bearing bone, or injure a major nerve, then you will typically have a much greater effect...