# How can I fire a pistol without breaking my hand?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-fire-a-pistol-without-breaking-my-hand/211569>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 5, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-fire-a-pistol-without-breaking-my-hand/211569 "2003-11-05T16:35:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-fire-a-pistol-without-breaking-my-hand/211569/21 "2003-11-10T07:59:02Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Um, if you are flat against a wall and a locomotive hits you at 1cm/s, I’m pretty sure you will suffer damage.

Yeah, and that proves what?

You’re jumping into a whole 'nother kettle of fish with that comment, since the method of damage was not really due to the locomotive alone, but also the action of the wall on your body. Similarly, if a bullet were expanded to the size of a pillow, it’d do a lot less damage to you, so the shape of the object matters quite a bit as well. A good example is in a sharp blade versus a stick of the same weight.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-fire-a-pistol-without-breaking-my-hand/211569.md?page=1)