Deadlands (Weird West and Wasted West, not the flimsy reboot that's out now) did a pretty good job of making guns quite scary. Basically, a person takes a Wound for every ~6 damage inflicted on him, and at 5 Wounds, the relevant piece of the body falls off (head, torso, limbs). Your standard six-shooter inflicts the total of 3d6 for damage, but here's the catch: the dice Ace (or explode or what-have-you), so every 6 nets you an additional roll that adds to the total, so every once in a while, your standard issue .38 revolver would plunk 10-15 Wounds into some poor jerk's guts, and here's your new character sheet.

"This is probably a stupid question, but . . ."