http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BNAoOaYyEg&feature=fvw

Well, here's a video to give you an idea.

Also, note how the soldier runs away before he fires it. It is NOT pleasant to be near one of those things when it goes off.

I'm qualified on the Carl Gustav M2 / M3 MRAAW, which is our nearest equivlent (well, aside from the M72, which we don't use much - very inaccurate). When you're the loader, you literally have to hug the gunner when we shoots, or you will actually get knocked around by the backblast - the air rushing in to fill the space it just got forces out of is enough to suck the snot out of your nose.

According to the pam you need about 50 meters clear behind you for safety when you fire, realistically it's more like 20. I once took a piss behind the rocket range, and 100 meters away, downhill and into bush I still felt the heat when it went off. When I shoot it, I wear earplugs AND muffs.

Yeah, I'm pretty confident saying I couldn't dodge that thing to save my life. Literally.

Holy shit. If RPGs are that "bad", what does heavy artillery do?

Turns a target into a nice cinder. :D

I'm talking about what happens to the shooters.

Well they are built on a much heavier gun and being manned by multiple people, so not too bad I suppose.

Well, for one thing you fire artillery isn't a rocket so it doesn't have backblast.

Speaking of back-blasts. My favorite scene in the remake of "The Invaders From Mars" involves a rocket launcher, a large on with a bi-pod. The Marines are firing away at the Martians with their rifles, when the General calls for the rocket launcher. The operator moves to the front, and you see every Marine dive for the walls on either side of the rocket launcher. A great scene.

David.

I just thought of a good one.

Sometimes in action movies, someone will shoot their opponents gun out of their hand, but the gun will remain undamaged, and the person won't take any injury, though they may pretend to take some form of injury or just go Macaulay Culkin and look in awe at their gun which has disappeared. How in the HELL is this possible? It's not, that's how!

Spends most of its recoil moving a large chunk of itself attached to various pistons, as a rule.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...les_June_1.jpg

See that long silver rod on top? That's how far the breech and barrel have moved back.