[jyl]

I was guessing a 7.62 round probably penetrates like two feet in soft tissue - GI Joe is presumably firing a mix of full jacket and tracer. So scaled down, 24" / 6 is 4", and sticking things 4" inches into a large dog - 700 times a minute - would seem pretty discouraging to said dog.

But wait, the mass of GI Joe's bullet is only 1/216 the mass of a full size bullet (1/6 cubed). Maybe the velocity is the same as a full scale bullet - 1/216 the mass of powder propelling 1/216 the mass of projectile. So kinetic energy is 1/216 the KE of a full scale bullet. Does that mean it only penetrates 1/216 as much? Now we're only sticking things 24" / 216 = 0.1" into the dog, which isn't nothing but if the dog is excited, isn't much. Probably wouldn't even dent the skull.

I'm starting to think GI Joe could possibly fend off a curious squirrel or sparrow. Maybe not a cat, since a cat would stalk and pounce before GI Joe could get off more than a burst. Not a dog, for sure, absent an eye shot.

[Edited to correct math, GI Joe is 1/6 scale not 1/12 scale!)