History Main / LittleUselessGun

This probably comes from the somewhat vague notion of "stopping power". Bigger bullets tend to have a lot of stopping power, even being capable of being an InstantDeathBullet on occasion, while smaller ones are more likely to cause death from bleeding some time later. For example: President RonaldReagan didn't even notice that he had been hit by an assassin until a touch search minutes later, however the wound nearly killed him within the hour.

-->'''Armourer:''' Walther PPK. 7.65mm with a delivery like a brick through a plate-glass window.
*** Despite the armourer's claims, in reality the 7.65mm (.32 ACP) has only a marginally higher muzzle velocity than a .25 caliber round.
*** Actually, it has about twice as much muzzle energy. Basically, one .32 ACP bullet is about two .25 caliber bullets.

* completely subverted in MenInBlack with the noisy cricket. It's the size of a small, cheap water pistol, and it blows a hole through a completely sealed door.

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]
* "Stopping Power" doesn't necessarily translate to lethality, but it's still an important factor in choosing a defensive firearm. In such an event, the objective is to stop the immediate threat as soon as possible, and a bigger bullet generally translates to more energy transferred to the target, increasing the liklihood that the attacker will be incapacitated quickly. Nobody's saying that small calibers are harmless, but there's a reason no police departments issue .25 caliber sidearms to their officers.
** Especially since the goal of a gun fight is not to ensure your attacker dies, but to ensure ''you'' live. It doesn't really matter if the bad guy dies if he ends you in a brutal fashion before finally dying.
* Ladies and Germs, behold the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.7_mm_Kolibri_Car_Pistol Kolibri pistol]]. With a '''2.7mm''' caliber, smoothbore barrel and maximum of 1.5 inches of penetration in pine board, we have a sterling real life example of a LittleUselessGun. Strong language would've protected you better than this pea shooter. By the way, the inventor of the tiny pistol [[UnfortunateImplications intended it for women]].

* In ''BackToTheFuture Part III'', Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen threatens Doc with a derringer, mentioning a guy who took ''two days'' to die of his wounds.

*** It still has more muzzle energy due to it being a bigger bullet moving faster.

* "Stopping Power" doesn't necessarily translate to lethality, but it's still an important factor in choosing a defensive firearm. In such an event, the objective is to stop the immediate threat as soon as possible, and a bigger bullet generally translates to more energy transferred to the target, increasing the liklihood that the attacker will be incapacitated quickly. Nobody's saying a small calibers are harmless, but there's a reason no police departments issue .25 caliber sidearms to their officers.
* Ladies and Germs, behold the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.7_mm_Kolibri_Car_Pistol Kolibri pistol]]. With a '''2.7mm''' caliber, smoothbore barrel and maximum of 1.5 inches of penetration in pine board, we have a sterling real life example of a LittleUselessGun. Strong language would've protected you better than this pea shooter. It says a lot about the inventor of the tiny pistol that [[UnfortunateImplications he intended it for women]].

* Subverted on ''BlackLagoon.'' While Fritz Stanford is bragging about the enormous handgun he plans to use to kill Revy, she's loading her regular handgun and shoots him before he can finish speaking. Before she finishes him off, she tell him that "if you can hit your target, pretty much any gun will do the trick."

-->'''M:''' This damn Beretta again. I've told you about this before. You tell him - for the last time.
-->'''Armourer:''' Nice and light - in a lady's handbag. No stopping power. [snip]

* In ''KissKissBangBang'', Gay Perry has a tiny Derringer that he refers to as his "faggot gun", because "it's only good for a couple of shots and then you gotta drop it for something better". Given the film's penchant for subversion, the little gun ends up being quite fatal.

* Inevitable in TabletopGames that don't have bleeding rules.

* The ''{{Simpsons}}'' had an episode where they were parodying Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer; they get involved in a bar room shoot out and proceed to sit there calmly while derringer bullets bounce of the furniture, the glasses holding their beer, and their skin.

* In the ''SinCity'' comic, ''A Dame To Kill For'', the main character, Dwight, is shot up pretty badly. [[HeroicSociopath Marv]] comments: "You're lucky all she had was a little .22."

* In [[TheDresdenFiles Turn Coat]] Morgan tries to shoot [[spoiler:Molly]] with a .22 and when Harry arrives he reasons that Morgan was just trying to distract her because the gun couldn't have been lethal "even if he tried".

* Ladies and Germs, behold the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.7_mm_Kolibri_Car_Pistol Kolibri pistol]]. With a '''2.7mm''' caliber, smoothbore barrel and maximum of 1.5 inches of penetration in pine board, we have a sterling real life example of a LittleUselessGun. Strong language would've protected you better than this pea shooter.

* "Stopping Power" doesn't necessarily translate to lethality, but it's still an important factor in choosing a defensive firearm. In such an event, the objective is to stop the immediate threat as soon as possible, and a bigger bullet generally translates to more energy transferred to the target, increasing the liklihood that the attack will be incapacitated quickly. Nobody's saying a small calibers are harmless, but it's telling that no police departments issue .25 caliber sidearms to their officers.

* "Stopping Power" doesn't necessarily translate to lethality, but it's still an important factor in choosing a defensive firearm. In such an event, the objective is to stop the immediate threat as soon as possible, and a bigger bullet generally translates to more energy transferred to the target, increasing the liklihood that the attack will be incapacitated quickly. Nobody's saying a small calibers are harmless, but ask yourself why no police department issues .25 caliber sidearms to their officers.

This probably comes from the somewhat vague notion of "stopping power". A bigger bullets tend to have a lot of stopping power, even being capable of being an InstantDeathBullet on occasion, while smaller ones are more likely to cause death from bleeding some time later. For example: President RonaldReagan didn't even notice that he had been hit by an assassin until a touch search minutes later, however the wound nearly killed him within the hour.

*** Despite the armourer's claims, in reality the 7.65mm (.32 caliber) has only a marginally higher muzzle velocity than a .25 round.

* completely subverted in MenInBlack with the noisy cricket. It's the size of a small, cheap water pistol, and it blows a hole through a completly sealed door.