# What would it feel like to be narrowly missed by a bullet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657 "2006-08-14T13:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/1 "2006-08-14T13:15:31Z")
Apart from _relief_, what would I feel if a bullet (please feel free to give examples for various types and calibres) missed me by passing, say, six inches above the top of my head? Lets say it was fired from twenty-five yards away and the gun has a magical silencer on it, so that the experience consists entirely of the passing bullet and not the sound of the gun firing. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/2 "2006-08-14T13:39:47Z")
It’s a kind of buzzing sound, not unlike a bee, or mosquito. You, probably, don’t recognize it for what it was for a second or two, then it’s kind of an ‘oh, shit’ moment. I’ve heard it twice that I can recall, and it’s very memorable. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/3 "2006-08-14T13:47:13Z")
Did you _only_ hear it? Wasn’t there anything to _feel_? ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/4 "2006-08-14T14:07:16Z")
I don’t recall any feeling, air movement I guess you’re referring to, just the brief sound. I really don’t know how close they were, just the awareness that it had to be too close. I’ve worked the butts on rifle ranges and you don’t normally hear that sound if the projectile is several feet away, unless it’s ricocheting, and a ricochet has a different sound. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/5 "2006-08-14T15:05:20Z")
I second **A.R. Cane**. You don’t really feel it, you hear it. I **really** second the “oh, shit” feeling you get immediately after you realize what just happened! ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/6 "2006-08-14T15:08:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I **really** second the “oh, shit” feeling you get immediately after you realize what just happened! Wasn’t it Winston Churchill who said that there was no greater thrill than to be shot at and missed? ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/7 "2006-08-14T17:20:19Z")
You DO feel something. First, your heart beating super, super fast. Second, you might feel a little poo-poo ‘down there’. But that will only be the first time. The second time there is probably no poo. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/8 "2006-08-14T19:45:20Z")
Rifle rounds traveling at supersonic speed don’t telegraph anything. Everything–acoustic sound and shock wave alike–travels behind the steel projectile. The OP seems to be referring to long-distance stray or subsonic rounds. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/9 "2006-08-14T21:44:01Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > Rifle rounds traveling at supersonic speed don’t telegraph anything. Everything–acoustic sound and shock wave alike–travels behind the steel projectile. > > The OP seems to be referring to long-distance stray or subsonic rounds. Correction: Actually, a “shock wave” envelops the round/bullet, although its leading edge is comparitively tiny, albeit measurable. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/10 "2006-08-14T21:55:08Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > Rifle rounds traveling at supersonic speed don’t telegraph anything. Everything–acoustic sound and shock wave alike–travels behind the steel projectile. > > The OP seems to be referring to long-distance stray or subsonic rounds. Not necessarily; even if it all travels behind the projectile, it will presumably catch up with you at some point, shortly after the projectile has passed by. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/11 "2006-08-14T21:56:18Z")
There have been many stories in the press over the years of people who had been shot and didn’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/12 "2006-08-14T22:09:25Z")
It makes my nose itch and my eyes tingle, possibly from aerosolized gunpowder? There is also a sensation of something invading your space, kind of like seeing a wasp out of the corner of your eye. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/13 "2006-08-14T22:31:28Z")
While living in Houston, I was once shot at several times and narrowly missed. It felt remarkably like crapping one’s pants. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/14 "2006-08-14T23:02:32Z")
It would feel like divine intervention. You know what divine intervention means? It means that God came down and stopped these motherfuckin’ bullets. [/Pulp Fiction] ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/15 "2006-08-14T23:09:40Z")
Didn’t the Speilberg-Tom Hanks movie "[Saving Private Ryan"](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00001ZWUT/002-0957561-3752869?redirect=true) use that “crack -buzz-whizz” sound effect for the close combat bullet sounds. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/16 "2006-08-14T23:15:21Z")
Sorry. I don’t see this as a General Question. Moved to IMHO. **samclem** ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/17 "2006-08-15T00:53:31Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Not necessarily; even if it all travels behind the projectile, it will presumably catch up with you at some point, shortly after the projectile has passed by. Hence “stray.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/18 "2006-08-15T01:22:38Z")
I heard a zzzt **PANK** as it passed and hit my car door. Man, was that a conversation piece from then on! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/19 "2006-08-15T02:11:08Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > I heard a zzzt **PANK** as it passed and hit my car door. Man, was that a conversation piece from then on! OK spill. You can’t leave us hanging like this. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657/20 "2006-08-15T02:42:40Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > OK spill. You can’t leave us hanging like this. Oh, you know. It’s late at night, you’re in the parking lot of a bar that is usually avoided by most, a fight brakes out inside the bar and spills out into the parking lot. I, myself, am so far uninvolved. Just another minor rumble with fifteen or so players. At some point a mere few seconds into the parking lot scene, shots ring out. I believe it was the second one whizzed by me and hit the drivers door of my '70 Le Sabre, leaving a hole you could stick your pinkie into. More shots rang out but none that I can say were near me. I can however report that a guy I knew casually started yelling and hopping around holding his left butt-cheek. Figuring him to be wounded, I worked my way across the parking lot to were he was currently dancing. I was correct in thinking he had been hit but… no wound. He was carrying a set of hemostats in his left rear pocket and they were bent at about 45 degrees. After the smoke cleared (I can really make this statement) someone asked “What about your car? Did it break the window?”. Quickly checking, I found that having the window up after locking the doors had saved the glass, and the hemostats had saved his ass. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-feel-like-to-be-narrowly-missed-by-a-bullet/368657.md?page=2)