So Just How Much Damage Can A Rifle Round Do?

We’re in the middle of the TC3 Course and during the wound cavitation / packing lab, the question always comes up regarding exploring wound channels, both from the entry and exit wound. We use yoga blocks as an inexpensive training aid and while its not quite as dramatic as ballistic gelatin, its less expensive and when done right, gives a realistic picture of the actual damage from a round.
I inserted a pork shoulder bone into the yoga block and shot it with a 125 grain soft point from an AK at approximately 25m. The bone shattered and had to be hunted down and re-inserted for the pics.

The block was shot a couple of times without the bone in to demonstrate a through-and-through with minimal tissue disruption, and as you can see, even a 30 caliber bullet is a small hole. When hitting bone and introducing bullet fragmentation, things change:

This is the exit wound, including the round itself, debris and fragments of bone all causing cavitation. The shoulder bone itself was shattered on the tip(stuffed back in the block for a visual representation to the class), exposing marrow and also keeping bullet jacket fragments:

Its a cheap way to test the effectiveness of your defensive loads. Pretty nasty, huh?

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

12 Comments

  1. Matt Bracken February 28, 2021 at 10:34

    Don’t. Git. Shot.
    Work on stealth, concealment and all types and forms of camouflage like your life depends on it.
    Because it does.
    And remember, when it comes to wearing those hard plates, there is no Battalion Aid Station back a few blocks. No medevac helo. A rifle wound 1″ outside of the hard plate will kill you just as dead as a heart/spine shot, just a little more slowly.
    Don’t. Git. Shot.
    Don’t train like RoboCop. Train like a paranoid ninja. Be as invisible as possible.

    • cowboycraig February 28, 2021 at 11:14

      What you are saying reminds me of a “training error” in martial arts. We all train “without hurting each other”. When attacked (for real) it’s a huge mental barrier to hurt another person. If your pissed and hate the attacked it helps but muscle memory is muscle memory.
      10 years of training and ability suddenly gets in the way.
      Training can be adjusted to get around this – but it has to be deliberate. It’s like training for knife fighting – how do you “train” to slash someone or cut their hand off at the wrist? When it happens it will be a first (maybe) – but needs to be integrated in training to not hang us up.
      In Somalia some bandits found life jackets and thought they were body armor. They stood out in the open and fired at us. It isn’t good to “Think you are bullet proof”.

    • Coop Willis February 28, 2021 at 16:41

      Been listening to you say “Don’t Git Shot” for ten months at least. I concur 100%. I have been lucky enough to harvest three Bull Elk, one Bull Moose, several large Mule Deer bucks, and a few medium size Mule Deer bucks here in Montana. Took about 25 Whitetail bucks back in Texas. 7mm Remington Magnum cartridge I use is amazing to me. Federal 175 grain Soft Point/cheapest cartridge Federal makes, has worked well for me. My old Remington 700 BDL with a Leupold 3×9 scope is heavy but it is a shooter. It just “Croaks” whatever you shoot. Even if a Hard Plate stopped the bullet; I don’t think anyone would survive the concussion. Not a lightweight battle rifle, but you have to hide behind a pretty big tree to be safe from it. Great phrase: “Don’t Git Shot!”

  2. Anonymous February 28, 2021 at 11:00

    5

  3. Johnny Paratrooper February 28, 2021 at 12:26

    No hunters in the class? I know what a .308 and a 5.56 does to a large Deer and a Coyote.
    Forget that…
    Ever seen the wound channel from a 12 gauge foster slug? Or the tracks from a 12 gauge buckshot?

    • NC Scout February 28, 2021 at 12:30

      There are, but many who ain’t.

      • Johnny Paratrooper February 28, 2021 at 12:31

        That’s good. I am glad we have both. Lots of knowledge being exchanged.

        • hitman February 28, 2021 at 17:26

          It’s not always about the amount of physical damage done. Have seen Deer run for an amazing distance with a lot of damage. Hydrostatic shock plays a big role too. The cleanest kill I ever had was on a small whitetail buck in Montana. Had a .338 Mag, Browning A-Bolt loaded with heavy bullets for Elk. Hit him a bit high and clipped the top of the heart and the bottom of the spine, and it was like the trigger was his off switch. My hunting buddy swears to this day that that buck never even twitched after I pulled the trigger. There was very little damage, the exit wound was only slightly bigger than the entry wound.

  4. ensitue February 28, 2021 at 12:49

    Shooting two deer w/a 6″ 357mag taught me that, with a pistol, conditions must be optimal for a successful outcome. Light rifle rounds, AKs etc. are designed to be used in conjunction with combined arms to take and hold an objective ala Soviet doctrine but will take medium sized game up to elk at close range, under ideal conditions. Bullet placement is the telling part of the tale but MassXSpeed rules the day.

  5. Ralph k February 28, 2021 at 22:14

    I think you would have been better served by posting the photo of Gaige Grosskreutzs’ wound to his right arm, the animal that was ready to kill the Kenosha Kid, Kyle Rittenhouse, earlier last year. One picture is worth a thousand words. Lets face it, when you want to put people down, use a rifle. Apparently, the projectile didn’t hit the bone, as in your demonstration photos, but the result was satisfying nonetheless. Not sure how the yoga community will respond to your use of the foam prop, maybe imagine you in savasana pose permanently. LOL, they will kill you with kindness…Peace brother.
    Namaste.

    • NC Scout March 1, 2021 at 06:34

      People already saw that and to be honest, it wasn’t that impressive. Guy still has an arm and still openly talks about killing you and I.
      Had he been hit with a real defensive round (anything other than FMJ), it would be worth looking.

  6. James Carpenter aka "Felix" February 28, 2021 at 22:20

    Killed deer with .303, .30-30, .30.06 and .44mag. Elk/Sheep with .30-06. Black bear with .44mag
    All calibers did well if I did. And since I’ve always done my own cleaning and most butchering, wounds and bullet behavior have been an incidental study.
    Like Matt Bracken sez, don’t. git. shot. None of my quarry would have made it with “first aid” (even a vet on standby :-)). Bullet placement is everything on game. Accuracy counts. I’ll leave it to supposing that in a gunfight your enemy could get lucky, save you from any prolonged “suffering”. Or only so-so, with “only” a peripheral wound channel being survivable. I can’t imagine the recovery/rehab time involved if surrounding tissues were “bloodshot”. But anything that penetrates the skull, heart, lungs, spine or major artery… hasta la bye-bye if my meat gathering is any indicator..
    Access to fast medical care in the coming troubles is not to be counted on.

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