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Just after Captain America's shield was introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger, Peggy Carter shot few bullets at it which created few minor distortions on it.

From Adamantium page of Marvel.Wikia,

Proto-Adamantium
This is the original Adamantium created by Dr. MacLain. Proto-Adamantium is the official name for the metal that makes up Captain America's Shield. It has never been recreated and is the absolute most invulnerable item in all of existence.

From Captain America's Shield page of Marvel.Wikia:

The true shield was once slightly dented by an enraged Odinforce empowered Thor, using Mjolnir, but he later reconciled and pounded out the small dent.

How were few bullets able to dent Captain America's shield then?

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    They don't look like dents to me so much as streaks or marks from the bullet scraping along. But I don't know if that's a normal thing to expect a bullet to do.
    – Izkata
    Commented Oct 25, 2013 at 3:00
  • I believe the shield is made of all the Vibranium known, not Adamantium. Just saying...
    – Ihor Sypko
    Commented Oct 25, 2013 at 15:09
  • @IhorSypko Depends on the version of the shield. In some incarnations, Vibranium was fused with another element to create Proto-Adamantium
    – Izkata
    Commented Oct 25, 2013 at 23:56
  • What I want to know is what sort of ANYWHERE leaves loaded and cocked pistols lying around on a table?!
    – Schwern
    Commented May 5, 2016 at 19:03
  • @Schwern A Stark weapons lab is exactly the sort of place that leaves loaded weapons lying around.
    – bp.
    Commented Jan 6, 2017 at 4:49

2 Answers 2

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I can think of two answers, one in-movie, and one out.

In-movie answer: The bullets don't actually damage the shield. What you're seeing there is just lead from the bullets smeared on the shield. It'll probably polish off with a little effort.

Outside-movie answer: The filmmaker didn't know about (or possibly care much about) the established mythology of the shield.

I really think that's not supposed to be seen as "damage" to the shield.

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    I think the in-movie answer here is all that's needed here!
    – AidanO
    Commented Oct 25, 2013 at 15:23
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The bullets didn't damage the shield. They couldn't. But you have to understand everything from the movies and the comic canon are not quite the same.

In order of relevance:

The shield you see in Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America, and the object from Marvel Earth-616 are not the same device.

  • The MCU shield is composed of a Vibranium-alloy, which appears to act as a very strong version of titanium with the added ability to absorb kinetic energy and vibrations, hence the bullets strike the shield and fall to the ground beneath it, exactly as they should.

  • The shield has to be considered an alloy because if it was pure Vibranium there would have been NO SOUND as the bullet struck the shield. (this was probably not done because of the cognitive dissonance it might cause in a audience without any scientific training. They expect to hear the bullets striking the shield, so they do.) We forgive Stark for playing fast and loose with the language when he says it's pure vibranium...

  • The Shield from the MCU should not be anywhere near as indestructible as the one from the canon Marvel Universe, lacking the Adamantium mixture, but should be strong enough to handle most things the MCU can throw at it. It has shown it was able to handle a casual strike from Mjolnir without taking any damage.

As to the "damage" from the bullets. From the screenshot obtained from your video, the shield may be marked by residue from the bullets striking the shield but it appears unaffected in any other way.

enter image description here

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