First, there's the laceration and crushing from the round's traversal through the flesh.
Then, there's the cavitation, which has two parts. The first cavity is the permanent one: the open space left from the laceration and there's a second, temporary cavity. As the round travels through the body, it's crushing the flesh and pushing it out of the way very quickly. That flesh maintains its momentum for a fraction of a second, billowing out from the path of the bullet. The flesh can tear and cells can burst as the tissue erupts outward and then slams back.
Finally, there's the shock wave. The cavity pushes outward, compressing the flesh and the energy in the compressed flesh keeps traveling outward until it dissipates. The round has so much energy that even when passing by the surrounding tissues, it can cause neurological damage.
When a target is hit directly, the M2 can turn its skeleton into a shotgun blast taking place inside the body. The harder the bone that takes the hit, the more energy is imparted to the skeleton before the bone breaks. On really hard bones, like the hip socket, the huge, fast-moving round can leave all or most of its energy in the bone and connected flesh.
This will basically liquify the enemy it hits as the energy travels through the nearby muscles and the organs in the abdominal cavity.
In fact, the .50-cal. hits with so much energy that it would likely kill you even if your body armor could stop it. The impact of the armor plate hitting your rib cage would be like taking a hit from Thor's Hammer. That energy would still crush your organs and break apart your blood vessels and arteries, it would just allow your skin to keep most of the goop inside as you died. No laceration or cavitation, but so much crushing and shock wave that it wouldn't matter.
Class is over. #stayzero #maduece #zerofoxtrot #stayzero