Gunshot Wound to Thigh

[vio4n]

So I have this character in a WWII setting where he's running and is shot in the thigh by a gunman in a tower roughly 24 meters away and at a height of 11.6 meters. The hypotenuse of this triangle of impact I've created is 26.6 meters. The firing range of the machine gun itself can get up to half a mile at average (around 800 meters) so there was

Comments

[beesandbrews]

What if instead of a through and through, the shot is a graze? It would, I have read, hurt like fury, bleed rather a lot, and leave you more options. Otherwise, a skinny kid is likely to be hurt rather badly. You risk besides the severed artery, a broken leg bone.

[vio4n]

Alright, that will work well, thanks.

[mlknchz]

Machine guns fire rifle caliber ammunition, 7.62 mm or larger at high velocity. At less than 100 feet, that would likely take a child's leg clean off.

[vio4n]

I see. But about what beesandbrews said above; perhaps if it grazed his leg?

[mlknchz]

Sure...a graze wouldn't do too much damage. But I have to say, someone missing with a machine-gun at under 100 feet isn't all that plausible, regardless of how often you see people dodging automatic weapons fire in the movies.

[longlivehumour]

Maybe you could set it up so that the gunner isn't ready (daydreaming about girlfriend, asleep) or even misses deliberately, since it's a kid. Either way, he shoots wide, the bullets smash into stone, and the stone fragments are what cause the injury - bad, but not as bad as being shot. (I tried to research this aspect but the only non-fiction account I found is the Wikipedia article on the Milltown Cemetery attack, where several people were injured by fragments of gravestones. It definitely does happen, though.)

[duochan_maxwell]

I'd go with the grazing if you don't want your character to die. The character is a kid suffering from malnutrition, and is pitched against a mounted machine gun in a tower - the shooter will probably have to miss on purpose

[anonymous]

Late, but