Is it true that a 50 caliber sniper rifle can kill you before it hits you?

Question

A friend told me it could do this, as well as rip of arms, legs, heads etc. Is it true?

Answer 1

The .50 cal is made to go through armor.. Not body armor, ARMOR, as in a tank... It's a very serious weapon that will tear someone in half if it hits in the right spot..

Answer 2

Think he means,It will kill you before you hear it...

Yes if hit in the limbs it will take your arm or leg off...

The shock to your body if hit...can and may kill you...

If hit in the head...your head will explode like a watermelon...

It is so powerful that a 50 will turn a log sandbagged bunker

into matchsticks in about 30 seconds...

"When a .50 speaks...Everyone Listens"

Firing a .50 is almost as good as an o****m.

Answer 3

No. A .50 Caliber rifle bullet is  enormously destructive, but does not do any damage to a target until it impacts it. The sound is very loud and scary, but you wouldn't hear it anyway. The bullet moves so fast that the sound of the rifle would follow a moment or two later, depending on the actual distance.

As for the destructiveness of the bullet itself, it is very unfriendly to whatever it strikes.

Answer 4

What?  No, I don't see that being possible.

However, it very well could kill you before you HEAR it, especially if fired from a long distance.

Answer 5

Certainly No. But if you know that a 50 caliber rifle is being fired with a 50 caliber bullet in it at you you'll probably be scared to death.

Answer 6

no, but if it hits you in the arm, you lost about a quarter of our torso, either way, you're a goner!  I missed a running rabbit once, by half a foot, it still peel the skin of it!

Answer 7

Near misses by any small arm will not kill any mammal.  Since it does travel faster than the speed of sound (1100 fps), it can kill before the target hears it.  

There is nothing mystical about the 50 caliber cartridge.  Compare it to a 30 caliber (30-06).  The 30-06 pushes a 150 grain bullet at about 2740 feet per second and the 50 caliber pushes a 650 grain bullet at about 2810 fps.  Many other cartridges are faster.  

The 50 caliber bullet is .51 inches wide, so it does not make huge holes in armor, but can create large exit wounds like any other cartridge.  This includes detaching limbs and heads.  While the armor piercing bullet will go through about an inch of mild steel, it will bounce off of modern armor plating at short range.  That is why rockets are used on modern tanks today.

Ranb

Answer 8

If you are talking about the weapon, i think it would be kind of difficult but if you were struck in the head with the Butt of the weapon it could possibly kill you. But, my answer to your written question is ,NO! Now, the 50 caliber round that is fired from this weapon can do massive DAMAGE. It can remove legs,arms,and other parts of the human body.