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RunnerPaul
I could say something about this, but I'll just let the video speak for itself:
Machine Gun vs Katana
Wounded Ronin
Firstly, this has already been posted all over the internet.

Secondly, what was the point of that? Considering that HMGs can kill vehicles, why was there some kind of idea that a katana would magically be exempt from the laws of physics?

It's like taking a ferrari, blowing it apart with a .50 cal, and being like, "SHOCK! HORROR! .50 CAL KILLS FERRARI! LET'S WATCH IT OVER AND OVER IN SLOW MOTION AS WE STEW IN DISBELIEF!"
mfb
woo-pah! i think any shock or horror is supposed to be generated by the fact that the first round didn't snap the katana in half.
Austere Emancipator
I think reasonable people are supposed to be more surprised by the fact that the katana stood up to as many as 3 direct hits from the M2 before it completely broke than by the fact that it did break.

[Edit]mfb's 1337 editing 5k1lz pwn me.[/Edit]
mfb
heh. i did a search for 'katana' with your name as a filter to find that link.
Austere Emancipator
So did I. I was just reading other stuff so I didn't get to post the link before you, and then you edited the other text in while I was editing my post to include basically the same reply to Wounded Ronin.

I guess it's true that weird minds think alike.
mfb
vreep wombat indeed.
RunnerPaul
Figured that it might have been posted here already, but unfortunately, trying to search for threads on this board that contain the terms "machine gun" and "katana" is... well this is Dumpshock after all, you do the math.
Sandoval Smith
I did a thread on this at New Years (since the video was shown as part of a New Year's Oddities and Ends program). I was pretty surprised that even firing at the edge, the sword was able to take multiple bullets.
Foreigner
I think a T-shirt I saw about 20 years ago summed it up rather well (actually, I'm not certain of how long ago it was, but it was right about the time that Hollyweird was really into the ninja mythos):

Guy taking up a ninja stance in the background; in the foreground, there's a hand and forearm visible--the rest of the body is not pictured, but the angle of the arm and hand implies that whoever it is is well out of the shot.

In the hand, there is a rather large revolver; the hammer is cocked, and the weapon is pointing in the general direction of the chest of the would-be ninja.

The caption was:

Ninja, SCHMINJA. You can't KARATE-CHOP a BULLET....

(My apologies for the weird text, but IIRC, that's the way it was printed onto the shirt.)

--Foreigner
Kenshi
If you watch the ENTIRE video, you can see (and it's confirmed) that at least one of the rounds was cut in half by the blade.
Lindt
Just note that the shrapnal would have renered your flesh from your bones. But what do you expect when (somewhat) soft lead meets (rather) hard steel. Im just amazed that out of the 9 shots fired that 4 of them hit!
Snow_Fox
Let's see, a sword with a 3 foot blade against a maxum machine gun.

Ok kids. the europeans tried this one for real in 1914. Wanna guess why we don't use swords on the battlefield anymore?
Crusher Bob
Because the time cutting properties of all that dikoted steel waving around tend to have your guys fighting the completely wrong war.

Boy were those Gauls surprised when the BEF tripped over them...
Kagetenshi
QUOTE (Snow_Fox)
Let's see, a sword with a 3 foot blade against a maxum machine gun.

Ok kids. the europeans tried this one for real in 1914. Wanna guess why we don't use swords on the battlefield anymore?

It has a teensy bit more to do with range, travel time, and training required than comparative durability, I'd say.

~J
FlakJacket
That and the fact that swords tend to be just that little bit thinner than the average soldier.
Austere Emancipator
QUOTE (Kenshi)
If you watch the ENTIRE video, you can see (and it's confirmed) that at least one of the rounds was cut in half by the blade.

Some of us watched the entire video repeatedly, going back and forth the slow motion bit dozens of times just to see exactly what happened with each of the bullets. Indeed exactly one bullet is cut in half, and two others are largely fragmented.

QUOTE (Lindt)
Just note that the shrapnal would have renered your flesh from your bones.

The two bullets which mostly fragmented would cause something like an ultra-high velocity shotgun effect. The one which was cut in half would just cause 2 wound cavities, each of which with about the same potential for doing damage as a .378 magnum solid.

(Yes, I realize you probably weren't being literal and were basically just saying the same thing I am, I just think it can't be said often enough or strongly enough: this would never improve the odds of the katana-wielder, it might in fact worsen them even if there's just one incoming bullet which just happens to hit the sword edge-on.)
Critias
And that's why Jedis use light-sabers, not katanas.
Sandoval Smith
As with my New Year's thread, did anyone actually claim that just because the sword did not immediately break, that that was proof of the mighty bullet repelling abilities inherent to anyone holding a katana?
Kagetenshi
Sure it is. Clear proof that if you clamp your katana somewhere, the guy with the MG will fire at it instead of you.

~J
Spetulhu
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
Sure it is. Clear proof that if you clamp your katana somewhere, the guy with the MG will fire at it instead of you.

~J

Isn't that almost as silly as the katana wielder chopping the machine gun in half instead of killing the guy carrying it? nyahnyah.gif
Kagetenshi
Actually, I could see that in the extremely specialized circumstance of having enough reach to hit the gun but not the guy.

Well, that and wanting a nonlethal takedown for some reason.

~J
Tarantula
I was going to say, they should rematch and have an expert swordsman use the katana to try to render the machinegun unable to fire with a swing.
Austere Emancipator
QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
Actually, I could see that in the extremely specialized circumstance of having enough reach to hit the gun but not the guy.

Well, that and wanting a nonlethal takedown for some reason.

Yeah, because a Judo Chop™ that will disable an M2HB would be pretty lethal indeed...

QUOTE (Tarantula)
I was going to say, they should rematch and have an expert swordsman use the katana to try to render the machinegun unable to fire with a swing.

Easy, just ram the blade point-first into the feed mechanism.
Tarantula
No no no. You have to swing! And he needs to have a headband, and spend maybe 30minutes psyching himself up for this feat. Oh, and yell and grunt a whole lot during the entire process. And be an older bald guy.
Nikoli
nonono, he has to be a young looking wild red haired swordsman with 2 scars on his cheek forming an X
Wounded Ronin
Shattering Blow, duh.
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