After a random search for the “speed of a bullet at impact 50 feet away”, I noticed that the speed of a bullet can be 2x to 3x the speed of sound. So I wondered if folks who have, unfortunately, been shot actually feel the impact of the bullet before they hear the sound of the gunshot.
I actually just googled this question as well, and it seems my supposition is correct. Probably should’ve done that first, but still a good place for any color commentary on the topic.
I don’t know about bullets, thankfully, but my experience of trauma is generally the impact is the first, often confusing, sensation.
I imagine the whole process of a gunshot trauma, whether unexpected or not, would be a very fast, jumbled collection of experience where the detail of what came first may be of little concern.
ETA - Correction - I did idiotically shoot myself with a framing gun once. My first indication that something was wrong was indeed the sound of the gun firing. There was no sensation of the three inch nail entering my calf. (The only place on my body with three inches of meat - so lucky?)
I agree with that, but you’d still (technically) feel the bullet hit before hearing it. Or to look at it differently. If it were an (instantly) fatal shot, you’d drop dead without even knowing something happened.
Oh I think so. But you might not feel the bullet directly so much as find you our leg suddenly isn’t working right, for example.
At 50 ft. how much difference in time is there? Aren’t we talking about a difference of about 1/50 or a second? I
You also have to consider the victim’s nerve conduction velocity, which contributes to the delay in perceiving pain after the bullet’s impact. At around 50 feet, the pain signal may reach the brain at roughly the same time as the sound of the gunshot. However, at 50 yards, it’s more likely the victim would feel the pain before hearing the shot.
Even beyond that. There is brain processing involved before the pain stimulus is consciously perceived as pain. (The pain withdrawal reflex occurs before pain is even consciously perceived.)
Yeah, that was my search, but how about 1500 feet or longer? And what if someone was just randomly looking at their finger just when someone else shot at them, decapitating said finger? Would the unfortunate victim first observe the finger coming off vs. feeling the hit vs. hearing the gunshot? I imagine the first 2 would happen first, depending on nerve/brain processing time difference, followed by the 3rd.
Cockroaches have an insanely fast reaction time to minute air disturbances thanks to their sensitive cerci (arthropod sensory organs), which bypasses the brain altogether. This triggers local reflex arcs causing near-instant leg movement. They run and don’t know why. This is why it’s so hard to squash roaches—the little buggers!
I think my cats must also have cerci—their reflexes are so quick they appear to go backward in time. They hit their dinner bowls before I even ding the bell.
And independent of which bit hit conscious perception in what order, what would be the version the brain told the mind was what perceived? Remember that lots of perception is our brains making shit up.
The first thing I thought of was the episode of MASH that referenced this phenomenon. Even the episode name came from it.
From the article:
Hawkeye’s old friend Tommy Gillis (James T. Callahan) appears at the 4077th. A reporter in civilian life, he is a combat soldier working on a book about life on the front lines called You Never Hear the Bullet. The book relates that, unlike in the movies, a soldier who is killed does not hear the bullet.
Just to demonstrate that the fact that a bullet can hit (and kill you) before you hear the gunshot is something that has been featured in popular culture before.
The youtube channel Garand Thumb did a video where they hid down behind a berm and had several different caliber bullets fired over the berm from various distances (this should automatically come with one of those “don’t try this at home” warnings, for obvious reasons).
It should be noted that when they get up to the M-16 and its 5.56 round, they would hear the crack from the supersonic bullet and then would hear the gunshot.
That’s important for the myth being discussed, because even through the bullet will hit you before the sound from the gunshot does, the miniature sonic boom from the bullet going supersonic will reach you at the same time as the bullet, since it’s a cone-shaped shock wave coming off of the bullet itself. So you’d hear the crack and feel the impact at the same time, and then with a noticeable delay, you’d hear the actual gunshot from the rifle.
Lotta folks upthread sorta merged “feel” as in mental awareness with “feel” as in experience the physical damage. You just said it very neatly.
IMO the order is
- Actual impact occurs with resulting bodily damage.
- Bullet’s sonic shockwave arrives at ears.
- Brain processes pain at impact site & noise from bullet’s sonic shock.
- Mind recognizes “Oh shit, I’ve been shot! Ouch!!!”
- Explosive pressure wave from gun firing arrives at ears.
The exact order of 4 & 5 depends on the range from gun to target. But as to steps 1-4 far more time goes by inside your brain / mind than in the rest of the process.
It should be noted that “pain”, “feeling damage” and “feeling an impact” are three different sensations transmitted by different sets of nerves with different conductive speeds. Pain, in the sense of “it hurts” is activated by c fiber nerves, which have quite low conductive velocity. That’s why people will do things like step on a nail, realize they are hurt and only then feel pain - the distance from foot to head is enough for the difference in timing of nerve impulses to be obvious.