I've served in the IDF for 3 years and each time we saw the 0.5'' sniper rifle someone would have to say 2 things...
1. that you dont have to hit in order to kull- the shokwave is strong enough to wound you(but that was budted in th glass myth
2. that a hit in the hand = no hand

Only if you can swing it fast enough. Other than that, no, since there is no sharp edge on a gun. And in case you are refering to the bullet, because there are many other manufacterers that make weapons chambered in the .50 BMG, no, the cartridge will not "cut limbs off," unless the wound required amputation. I suggest you read the ".50 BMG Reality vs. Myth" sticky at the top of the page.

Please look at the sticky at the top of the page about .50 cal myths.

The only way to remove a limb with a Barrett would be to melt it down and use the metal to forge an axe.

1. Already tested on the show, shock-wave didn't have any noticeable effect.

2. In order to de-limb a person you need a round that is roughly as wide as what your trying to remove. A .50 cal round is, as the designation implies, .5 inches wide. All human limbs are several times as thick. Might be able to take off an ear or a nose though if the bullet impacted at the right angle.

Having used the 50 overseas and in competitions stateside I can say with all certainty that 1 is complete crap, no way and two depends on a lot of factors. But for the most part it will tear the tissue up enough that the hand will be amputated. But it will not blow them completely off.

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In order to de-limb a person you need a round that is roughly as wide as what your trying to remove. A .50 cal round is, as the designation implies, .5 inches wide. All human limbs are several times as thick.

Even if you assume that a bullet stays intact, which is a bad assumption, the above is not true. Even the exit wound of an intact bullet is much larger than the bullet, as the shock wave traveling through the body causes a cone-shaped section of flesh and bone to be ejected.

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Even the exit wound of an intact bullet is much larger than the bullet, as the shock wave traveling through the body causes a cone-shaped section of flesh and bone to be ejected.

Wrong. Exit wounds are larger than entry wounds because the bullet flips in the body - or because it hits a bone and forces that out along with the bullet.

The shockwave of the bullet has no effect at all. This myth comes from high-speed footage of bullets hitting apples. Apples and human tissue react differently to bullets.

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Originally posted by cybermortis:
Wrong. Exit wounds are larger than entry wounds because the bullet flips in the body - or because it hits a bone and forces that out along with the bullet.

The shockwave of the bullet has no effect at all. This myth comes from high-speed footage of bullets hitting apples. Apples and human tissue react differently to bullets.

Well, yes and no. The shockwave causes additional injury in certain circumstances. Against fluid filled (heart, head) or solid (liver) organs, the shockwave can produce spectacular results. Against elastic tissue, like muscle, the shock wave isn't going to do much.

some of you got what I've wanted to know... but Ill be mor presice is the exsit wound big enough to sever the head or one of the limbs boicause when shouting on a something full of water with 5.56 m"m teh exsit wound is alot bigger and it gets bigger and bigger the hevyer and biger the bulet

My neck is over five inches in diameter; a .5 BMG bullet has a diameter of 0.51 inches.

In order for the bullet to sever my neck it would have to expand to a diameter of 5 inches BEFORE if started to penetrate.

And if a .50 can decapitate someone, a .30 will take off a hand or foot. And a .22 solid with take the head off a rabbit.

The exit wound may be bigger, but that doesn't neccassly mean that it'll delimb based on that alone. The limb might get a bit flappy as you shot out a good deal of the connecting tissue holding it on, but to ensure that the limb is actually taken off you need a round about as thick as the limb that will take out ALL of the connecting tissue.

this is just my experiance overseas with a 50 cal. at close enough range, the inertia behind it can take off a limb by a near hit. that is why NATO regs state that you are not allowed to shot at a person within a certain distance because it has been deemed inhumain. they may have changed over the years, i havent heard of the new regs yet being that when i was recently deployed i was issued an M-4 and a 240H for crew chief.

"The inertia behind it can take off a limb by a near hit."

Your medication is overdue, isn't it?

Well, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the flightpath of a 50 inch shell. A four-foot wide 'bullet' would certainly remove limbs...and probably a lot of bedrock at the same time.