# Can you make a gun that blows people back like what happens in movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291 "2023-08-09T03:55:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291/21 "2023-08-11T11:23:15Z")
After following this thread for a couple days, I brought the question up to a friend at lunch. He is a firearms instructor for local law enforcement. He surprised me with a different,“back of the envelope” analysis. To paraphrase: “When do we see a person knocked backwards for a significant distance? When a running back hits a defender in open field after building up speed. A RB may be about 240 pounds moving at 15 mph. Take a 12 pound bowling ball (1/20 the mass) and move it at 300 mph to get the same total force. I’m sure you could easily do this with air pressure. Not sure how to make it man-mobile, though.” 300 mph is about 440 fps, which is less than half as fast as a handgun bullet. I have NO idea how much air pressure would be required. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291/22 "2023-08-11T14:02:37Z")
Question answered, so just a comment. The amount of poor firearm handling and effects are legion in film. I know they hire gun experts, but seem to rarely listen to what they say. The only realistic films show people dropping like bags of wet cement when killed. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291/23 "2023-08-14T10:56:14Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > “When do we see a person knocked backwards for a significant distance? When a running back hits a defender in open field after building up speed. A RB may be about 240 pounds moving at 15 mph. Take a 12 pound bowling ball (1/20 the mass) and move it at 300 mph to get the same total force. I’m sure you could easily do this with air pressure. Not sure how to make it man-mobile, though. That is basically just a Napoleonic era cannon. And cannon balls don’t knock people over, they tear off limbs or punch straight through. As seen on the [armour](http://itshistoria.com/military/armor/) of a very unfortunate cuirassier hit in the upper chest during the Battle of Waterloo. [![](https://itshistoria.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Napolean-Armor-cannon-Ball-puncture-1024x576.jpg?ezimgfmt=ng:webp/ngcb1) ](https://itshistoria.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Napolean-Armor-cannon-Ball-puncture-1024x576.jpg?ezimgfmt=ng:webp/ngcb1) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291/24 "2023-08-14T11:42:36Z")
Pretty impressive! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291/25 "2023-08-15T16:46:28Z")
I imagine that the cuirass was the only thing holding his torso together afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291/26 "2023-08-16T12:35:37Z")
**Can you make a gun that blows people back like what happens in movies?** Well… [![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b5/cd/62/b5cd62b1e5ab88a6dc51d954e045f1bd--adams-family-the-addams-family.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b5/cd/62/b5cd62b1e5ab88a6dc51d954e045f1bd--adams-family-the-addams-family.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291/27 "2023-08-16T21:19:21Z")
There’s also this one then… [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71WVa4hB7BL._AC_SX679_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71WVa4hB7BL._AC_SX679_.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-a-gun-that-blows-people-back-like-what-happens-in-movies/988291.md?page=1)