# "Head blown off by shotgun" -- Literal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583 "2015-04-13T18:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/21 "2015-04-14T00:39:59Z")
I’ve seen it, the answer is no for this case. Spoilered for grossness. Dude strangled his estranged wife, then gave himself a 12 ga. haircut. The shot took off the entire left side of his head. The right hemisphere of his brain was laying on his left shoulder, the right side of his skull was intact. The missing side of his head was ALL OVER the room. I was the EMT called to establish the two were deceased, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/22 "2015-04-14T00:55:24Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > … BION one of the buck shots actually … BION? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/23 "2015-04-14T00:57:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > BION? believe it or not, probably ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/24 "2015-04-14T00:59:44Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > You’d think a kill shot placed by the head’s owner would be a no-brainer… Indeed.😃 “Is it true that there’s a point on a man’s head where if you shoot it, it will blow up?” ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/25 "2015-04-14T01:06:53Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > believe it or not, probably Yes ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/26 "2015-04-14T03:17:32Z")
Ok, I’ll bite. If you wanted to literally blow the head _‘off’_ I would imagine that holding the muzzle against the neck would be the ticket, though I’ve never even seen photos of that. I have recently seen a video from some third world shithole of someone being shot point blank in the forehead with a shotgun. Think that scene in Terminator 2 when Arnold [shoots the T-1000 point blank outside the elevator doors.](https://educationrealist.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/t1000split.jpg) Except with guts instead of silvery mimetic polyalloy. No, not gonna give a link. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/27 "2015-04-14T04:19:41Z")
Shotguns have different types of barrels - known as choke. A gun for duck hunting keeps the shot closely together. The ones police are issued (or were) as “riot guns” disperse the shot to cover a large area. And then there is the idea of sawing off the barrel (which is generally illegal in the US), which gives max dispersion. > **[Choke (firearms)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choke_%28firearms%29)** > > A choke is a tapered constriction of a firearm barrel at its muzzle end. Chokes are most commonly seen on shotguns, but are also used on some rifles, pistols, or even airguns. Notably, some .22 LR match rifles have a constricted bore diameter near the muzzle.\[citation needed\] > Chokes are almost always used with modern hunting and target shotguns to improve performance. Its purpose is to shape the spread of the shot "cloud" or "string" to gain better range and accuracy, and to deliver the optimum... ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/28 "2015-04-14T17:48:02Z")
Harry Callahan says a .44 magnum will “…blow your head clean off”. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/29 "2015-04-14T17:51:20Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I have heard the phrase “He got his head blown off by a shotgun”, or some variant, before. I’m wondering if this is literally true. Can a shotgun blast actually blow a head to smithereens? > > Don’t need answer fast… We can wait for Dick Cheney to chime in with his answer… ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/30 "2015-04-14T21:40:59Z")
For those too squeamish to have found pics (no, none here, either): I once saw the remains of a cab driver. The shoulders and below were perfect. All that was left above the shoulders was the vertebrae. Yes, shotgun. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/31 "2015-04-15T05:35:12Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > AKA [James Vance](http://depletedcranium.com/possibly-the-most-frivolous-and-ridiculous-lawsuit-ever/). Wow, is the picture of the guy after the shotgun attempt for real? He looks like a puppet off of _Team America_ or something. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/32 "2015-04-15T05:53:38Z")
How much of a face can you create with nothing below the eyes intact? I found it interesting that, even after he finally killed himself (without hearing any music) the nutso family continued their “case”. Kinda like the family of the brain-dead 13 yr old finding somebody who would keep the corpse on heart-lung indefinitely Big-time denial… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583/33 "2015-04-15T13:22:47Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > I was the EMT called to establish the two were deceased, FWIW. Did you check his pulse? 😛 > [@usedtobe](#): > > And then there is the idea of sawing off the barrel (which is generally illegal in the US), which gives max dispersion. Nitpick: a short barrel does increase dispersion but the main point of sawing off a shotgun is to make it more concealable and easier to wield in close quarters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-blown-off-by-shotgun-literal/717583.md?page=1)