system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Terminator] why/how do human melee hits stagger Terminators more than gunshots do?

Not shotguns, but handguns, smgs, assault rifles barely make a Terminator flinch. In Terminator 1, 2, and Salvation, you see humans hit T800s and while they don’t do damage, it at least staggers T800s more than bullets do. 

In Dark Fate, Dani tackles Rev 9’s endoskeleton. Sure, it was weakened, but T800s in the older movies were weakened when they got into fights with people yet they weren’t weak enough to get tackled by a human. Wtf?
gpt
Guns do damage by piercing organs- if they can't pierce the skin, they're just small bits of metal. A terminator can shrug them off.  


A human, however, can push. While they can't hurt the terminator, they can shove it off balance without doing do.  


Basically, it's the difference between being stabbed with a sword and hit by a 2 by 4- without armor, the sword will do more damage. With armor, though, the 2 by 4 is more likely knock you on you ass.