I was wondering about things in some of the western stories here on SOL involving shootin'.
First, does getting shot throw a body across the room? Lacking first hand experience, I asked the experts, namely our fellow readers. The census was no. From a physics standpoint, the impact won't be greater than the recoil. (Equal and opposite actions and all that. Sand don't forget mass.) Also, the bullet is gonna pass through. Yes, it'll tear the heck out of you, but its gonna go through, unless it hits bone but it won't throw you across the room. Getting hit by a car will move you a lot more. As one responder said, watch a hunting show or Google 'meat target'.
Second question, in the old west, if you shoot somebody in self defense, do you really get to claim their gun, clothes, horse and everything in their room? In addition to our fellow readers, I posed the question to a professor of history at the University of New Mexico. He's either on a break or figures I'm some crackpot to ask in the first place cause I've not heard back. Seems likely the only place this is codified is here in fiction land. We've pictures of dead outlaws in their clothes, but that's about. Now, if you have to shoot some guy out on the trail and you ride off and leave his horse tied to a tree, the bag of gold and his gun on the ground, don't say much about your smarts. Especially if his gun, gold and horse are better than what you've got. Oh, are his brand new boots your size?