Can a small arms bullet knock you off your feet?

[Traveller]

roverspeed said:

What effect would the shockwave of a supersonic round have on an individual?

None, unless the round is the size of a small aircraft. With shells traveling > 2800 FPS, you start getting hydrostatic shock effects, combined with the temporary and permanent wound cavity.

Hydrostatic shock

Thunderscreech - The Effects of supersonic shockwaves

Edited by Traveller on Thursday 16th August 12:41

[Ayahuasca]

Seven simultaneous .52 inch lead balls from a Nock Volley Gun might just do it.

[Traveller]

Ayahuasca said:

Seven simultaneous .52 inch lead balls from a Nock Volley Gun might just do it.

Never mind the target, the shooter will be enjoying hospital food for a long while.

[Hugo a Gogo]

this video shows various calibers hitting a 60 litre barrel of water (so, 60 something kg, a lightweight girly-man size)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzzDaOfbPZA

it falls over at one point, when it has been burst

[Saddle bum]

jimbobsimmonds said:

It's simple physics!

Newton correctly stated that for each and every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (or words to that effect). Which means that the person being hit receives the same amount of energy as the person who fired the weapon... So unless you are knocked off your feat firing a weapon you will not be knocked off your feet when you are hit. And last time I fired a weapon it did not knock me over in a dramatic fashion (I have not been hit by a round yet so cannot completely validate this hypothesis with my own research).

Not so.

Recoil is measured as a force, not energy. It is momentum.

(Mass of proj)x(Velocity) = (Mass of rifle)x(Velocity)

Besides which, the energy in a moving proj degrades as its velocity decays. So the poor sod receiving the bullet does not cop the full muzzle energy.