History Main / FingerInABarrel

* Thoroughly and dramatically debunked (not that it needed all that much debunking) by Matt Carriker, who tried to block pistol barrels by stuffing them with everything from concrete to iron rods to other, bigger bullets. He eventually managed to block a bullet by *welding the barrel shut*, but even then the gun didn't explode.

* Apparently, the real-life [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet Gyrojet guns]] (a family of guns that fired tiny rockets) could ''actually'' be defeated this way, [[ArbitraryMinimumRange since unlike a normal firearm, it had almost no muzzle velocity.]]

* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'',

* During the climax in ''Disney/TheRescuers'', an owl stuffs a lit rocket down Medusa's shotgun, leaving her with AshFace and tearing the gun to shreds.

* ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' tested this trope, and it's busted. The victim will lose his finger if not his hand, gun still works if not a bit damaged, and the shooter is always uninjured. They also made a parody of this trope: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d_4BY9dLtA The Mythtoons]], with Hunter Hyneman and [[ScrewySquirrel Savage Squirrel]].

What if someone's pointing a gun at you [[NoRangeLikePointBlankRange at point blank]] and you're not NighInvulnerable or ImmuneToBullets? Well, you can hope the gunshot [[InstantDeathBullet won't kill you,]] [[ConvenientMisfire the gun fails,]] or, if you're in a cartoon, stick your finger in the barrel.

Subtrope of JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs and GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. Compare BulletCatch and BananaInTheTailpipe. BarehandedBladeBlock is the JustForFun/SwordCounterpart. PointThatSomewhereElse works a lot better, and less riskier on your fingers.

Obviously, in RealLife, a terrible idea. Trying this will almost always lead to the [[Fingore loss of a finger]] at the ''least'', while the shooter and gun are unharmed.

What happens is that the shooter fires anyway [[WhatAnIdiot (even though they shouldn't)]]. The victim and his finger are uninjured, [[NonfatalExplosions the gun explodes,]] and the shooter is injured and has an AshFace. In RealLife, the victim may be alive, [[{{Fingore}} minus a hand]], while leaving the shooter uninjured and the gun intact. A variation is using another object instead of a finger to do the same thing.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''has Homer putting a flower into several of the police's guns (see real Life for more why). One of them fires anyway, and gets a flower embedded into his head.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''has Homer putting a flower into several of the police's guns (see real Life for more why). One of them fires anyway, and gets a flower embedded into his head.

* In ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', when Stitch steals Jumba's plasma pistol, Jumba jams a carrot in the barrel right as he fires. This causes the gun to go into an overload spiral, eventually exploding violently and leveling the house.
** Earlier, when Jumba and Pleakley first get the drop on Stitch before Lilo gets in the way, Pleakley sticks his finger in the barrel of the gun while Jumba reads up on his Earth history. Problem is, the barrel's about five times wider than Pleakley's finger, so it wouldn not have done much anyway.

* The '60s hippies placed flowers in national guard rifle barrels to prevent a discharge psychologically, not physically.

* A non-barrel version in ''Film/IndependenceDay''. One mothership charged its main gun and Casse found his missiles malfunctioning. In a HeroicSacrifice, he flew his plane right into the firing port, causing the energy blast to explode prematurely and sending the whole mothership crashing down.

* In ''[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin Vol 1]]'' Tim manages to cork the gun barrel of Dorrance's right hand man by throwing a screw into it from a couple of floors up which caused the gun to backfire somehow. He later went on to develop a fast expanding and drying epoxy to toss at guns which would cause them to backfire since it blocked and warped the barrel.

* In ''Film/LethalWeapon3'', when Riggs takes away Roger's bottle because he's had too much to drink, Rog pulls a gun on him to make him give it back. Riggs, just pokes his finger in the barrel.

* When Riggs takes away Roger's bottle because he's had too much to drink, Rog pulls a gun on him to make him give it back. Riggs, just pokes his finger in the barrel.

Subtrope of TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs and GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. Compare BulletCatch and BananaInTheTailpipe. BarehandedBladeBlock is the JustForFun/SwordCounterpart. PointThatSomewhereElse works a lot better, and less riskier on your fingers.

Subtrope of TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs and GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. Compare BulletCatch and BananaInTheTailpipe. BarehandedBladeBlock is the SwordCounterpart. PointThatSomewhereElse works a lot better, and less riskier on your fingers.

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* The 60's hippies placed flowers in national guard rifle barrels, not to physically prevent a discharge, but psychologically

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* In ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', when Stitch steals Jumba's plasma pistol, Jumba jams a carrot in the barrel right as he fires. This causes the gun to go into an overload spiral, eventually exploding violently and leveling the house.
** Earlier, when Jumba and Pleakley first get the drop on Stitch before Lilo gets in the way, Pleakley sticks his finger in the barrel of the gun while Jumba reads up on his Earth history. Problem is, the barrel's about five times wider than Pleakley's finger, so it wouldn not have done much anyway.
* During the climax in ''Disney/TheRescuers'', an owl stuffs a lit rocket down Medusa's shotgun, leaving her with AshFace and tearing the gun to shreds.

* Apparently the real-life [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet Gyrojet guns]] (a family of guns that fired tiny rockets) could ''actually'' be defeated this way, [[ArbitraryMinimumRange since unlike a normal firearm it had almost no muzzle velocity.]]