Anatomy Lesson

[Old Doc]

Ever notice, how many movie cowboys, particularly the good guys, get shot in the shoulder? It's incredible, here is this large body mass and invariably that piece of lead finds it's way to the shoulder, more often than not, the left shoulder. In that area is a large junction of nerves branching from the spinal column, which controls the muscles and function of the arm. It is called the brachial plexus. I remember many years ago, my anatomy professor lecturing on this plexus of nerves and stating that everyone was born with this anatomy except cowboys because, when shot in this region, there never seemed to be any lasting damage.

[Will Ketchum]

I have alway thought the same thing   Not only the nerve damage but a 250 gr. bullet hitting the shoulder socket isn't to be taken lightly especially in the 19th century where there wasn't such a thing as reconstructive joint surgery.

Will Ketchum

[hawkeye2]

I'm OK, its only a flesh wound!  I've al;ways wondered how a bullet could "crease" the hero's skull and he would be back in action in a couple of minutes in an age where there was no Tylenol.

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[Old Doc]

I'm OK, its only a flesh wound!  I've al;ways wondered how a bullet could "crease" the hero's skull and he would be back in action in a couple of minutes in an age where there was no Tylenol.

Not to mention Johnson and Johnson Band Aids.

[Digger]

I commented to my aunt during a recent episode of Cheyenne that he ought to just about have that shoulder chewed off by now, since he takes one there every other episode.

[Old Doc]

As a kid in the early fifties, I read a lot of Tom Mix comic books. In every comic, someone hit him over the head with a gun butt leaving him unconscious. I was aware that Tom Mix, despite being in comic books, was no longer alive and concluded with my child's logic that he must have died of a fractured skull.

[Shotgun Franklin]

I'm not really sure I know of a good place, on my body, to get shot.

[Rafe Covington]

I'm not really sure I know of a good place, on my body, to get shot.

Been there and done that, there aint no good place to get shot.

Rafe Covington

[Drayton Calhoun]

Remember the short lived series Shenandoah? It started out with Robert Horton getting 'grazed' on the noggin and he wound up with amnesia. They never mentioned chronic migranes!

[litl rooster]

I'm not really sure I know of a good place, on my body, to get shot.

ditto

[Claypipe]

Ever notice, how many movie cowboys, particularly the good guys, get shot in the shoulder? It's incredible, here is this large body mass and invariably that piece of lead finds it's way to the shoulder, more often than not, the left shoulder. In that area is a large junction of nerves branching from the spinal column, which controls the muscles and function of the arm. It is called the brachial plexus. I remember many years ago, my anatomy professor lecturing on this plexus of nerves and stating that everyone was born with this anatomy except cowboys because, when shot in this region, there never seemed to be any lasting damage.

That's because they were all shot with .38's! Just funning ya a tad.

If you ever get to read "Hell, I was there!" by the late Elmer Keith, he has a chapter in his book that addresses the differences in stopping power between 30 caliber and 40 caliber projectiles. He talks of a case of mistaken identity, where an American of African descent cowboy was repeatedly shot by a Chicago policeman with a .30 caliber Luger. The Cowboy lived long enough to plug the officer dead with one shot from his .45 Colt SA and give an address to where his personal effects should be sent.

And perhaps not a fair analogy, but, look at the Moro warriors of the Phillippine Insurrection. One such warrior was shot 6 times with the officer's .38 revolver, 4 of those in the FBI kill zone, still he moved forward with the intent of beheading the officer. The warrior was rifle butted to the ground, and subdued, by accompanying two sailors. And still he lived another 24 hours before expiring. This was the reason why the Army switched back to a .45 caliber handgun. Many officers purchased handguns such as converted Starrs to defend themselves in the Phillippines

Just my two cents,
CP

[Shotgun Franklin]

If I just have to be shot, I demand the right to pick the place and round.

[Claypipe]

If I just have to be shot, I demand the right to pick the place and round.

We aim to please! Where do you want it? Can I interest you in a 10 gauge buckshot round? Or would you prefer bird shot?

CP

[Shotgun Franklin]

I'm thinking something from Crosman, maybe in the boot heel.

[Old Doc]

I once experienced the sensation of being shot without actually being shot. My father had gotten his car stuck in the snow and I was trying to help him get it out by pushing the car from behind while he rocked it back and forth. At some point the spinning tire dislodged a rock about the size of a walnut and propelled it backward into my thigh. I fell to the ground screaming in pain and let loose a string of profanity, much to the displeasure of my religious father, who did not understand what had happened.

[Forty Rod]

We aim to please! Where do you want it? Can I interest you in a 10 gauge buckshot round? Or would you prefer bird shot?

CP

In Baltimore with a marshmallow gun. 

BTW, I don't plan on ever being in baltimore again as along as I live.

[Drayton Calhoun]

The nearest I've come to being shot was by .44 mag that hit a tree about two feet above my head...disconcerting to say the least and didn't do the tree much good either. Of course it was just a 'bark wound' so it was back in action in no time at all...