Bullets can penetrate most walls, doors, and floors, but brick, concrete, and cinder blocks effectively stop most common calibers. However, each bullet takes out chunks, so it can only protect you for a few feet. Wallboard, also known as plasterboard and gypsum board, is a common product name for paper and clay. Bullets can sometimes go through multiple walls, and a weapon fired outside could penetrate the windows or exterior walls of a property, leaving you or someone you love with severe injuries.
Most offices, facilities, and workplaces are not designed or constructed to be bullet-resistant. Bullets can penetrate one or two residential walls, the outer wall of the home, and potentially enter the house next door. Most bullets cannot penetrate a brick wall unless fired from a high-powered weapon such as an assault rifle or sniper rifle. The reduced velocity of the bullet prevented it from “punching” through the drywall, and the bullets may have been rotated off their longitudinal direction.
In conclusion, bullets can penetrate most walls, doors, and floors, but brick, concrete, and cinder blocks effectively stop most common calibers. Bullets can penetrate walls, doors, and floors, but they can also penetrate windows or exterior walls if fired from a high-powered weapon.
📹 Home Defense: Over Penetration Through Walls
Paul tests how effective walls in your home would be against stopping bullets. Shirts and patches from Tristar Trading Co: …
What material can bullets not go through?
Bullet-resistant materials, also known as anti-ballistic materials, are rigid but can be supple and can be complex or simple. They are commonly used in law enforcement and military applications to protect personnel from death or serious injury. In 2018, the US military began researching the use of artificial silk as body armor. Bullet-resistant body armor has been in use since 1984, and its use has led to a significant reduction in officer deaths, saving over 3, 000 lives.
The National Institute of Justice first developed standards for bullet-resistant body armor in the 1970s, which have been revised five times since 1984. The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center tests body armor to ensure compliance with these standards.
Can a bullet go through a house wall?
Bullets can’t penetrate a brick wall unless fired from a high-powered weapon like an assault rifle or sniper rifle. However, some bullets may penetrate a brick wall if fired with enough force and accuracy. Brick walls are highly effective in keeping bullets from passing through, with calibers ranging from 22 to 12 gauge slug. For bullets to go the distance, a 50-caliber round is the best bet. A brick house will stop most bullets from passing through, but this depends on the thickness of the wall and the caliber of the bullet. The answer to whether a brick wall can stop a bullet is the same as for a bullet.
Can a 9mm bullet go through a brick wall?
Most household objects are not reliable in stopping bullets, as they can easily puncture walls, doors, and floors. Brick, concrete, and cinder blocks can effectively stop most common calibers, but each bullet takes out chunks, so they can only protect for a limited time. A full water heater can stop handgun rounds, stacks of paper are effective, and trees are highly effective. The best place to take cover behind a car is behind the engine block and wheel, as bullets can penetrate other areas. Hard armor, which can stop almost everything, is recommended over soft armor that only stops pistols. This guide refers to shotguns, mainly 12 and 20 gauge, and pistols, including common calibers.
Can fabric stop a bullet?
A Kevlar panel is a bulletproof vest made from multiple layers of woven Kevlar fabric. The panel’s thickness is determined by testing against different types of handgun and rifle ammunition, matched against known threat protection standards. These standards are referred to as Level IIA, Level II, Level IIIA, Level III, and Level IV. At the highest threat protection levels, Kevlar soft armor panels may be supplemented by ceramic hard armor plates.
The interwoven strands of Kevlar thread create a tough screen that prevents bullets from passing through the panel. The energy of the bullet is dissipated outward instead of punching through the fabric.
Can AK-47 go through brick?
In a scenario involving an AK 47 invading Colorado, a Romanian AK pistol was used to smash the first brick, leaving only a few pieces. The second brick, despite being jostled by the bullet, remained intact. This is due to the fact that ceramic ballistic armor works, and the brick house can stand up to invaders for a few rounds. The brick wall, which is made of ceramic material, can be used to protect against bullets, as it is resistant to the force of the bullet. The brick house can be a valuable tool in defending against invaders, as it can provide a solid structure for a few rounds.
Can drywall stop a bullet?
Ballistic panels, also known as bulletproof drywall, are essential for preventing 9mm bullets from penetrating standard construction drywall. These panels are invisible and can be easily forgotten, making them a crucial component of any ballistic barrier. Unlike cinder block and brick, standard construction drywall can still penetrate more than two dozen sheets of drywall and even several layers of plywood. Adding a single 0. 25 inch ballistic panel to a wall or reception desk can significantly reduce the risk of 9mm bullets.
However, Total Security Solutions CEO Jim Richards notes that ballistic panels are often neglected by companies without a system approach to bullet-resistant security. This is due to the focus on windows and doors in the ballistic security field, where bulletproof panels are often overlooked.
Can a bathtub stop a bullet?
Don Sherman, the ballistic lab manager at Wayne State University, has provided tips on hiding in a gunshot situation. Some safe hiding places include a refrigerator, paper-filled filing cabinet, or a full bookshelf. Solid wood doors are safer than sliding doors in closets. If you can’t slip away, grab a steel or cast-iron tub to distract or frighten your assailant. Dr. Cynthia Bir, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, oversees live-fire testing for the study.
The items were shot with 124-grain 9mm full-metal-jacket ammunition from a distance of six feet. The cast-iron skillet in the kitchen didn’t stand up to the gunshot, but a 14-pound box of kitty litter could save your life if you can reach the laundry room. A 1, 000-plus-page textbook also succumbed to the bullet.
Can a frying pan stop a bullet?
In the event of a gunshot, it is inadvisable to reach for a cast-iron skillet in your kitchen. As an alternative, one may utilize a 14-pound box of kitty litter in the laundry room to permit the bullet to traverse the space. Similarly, a 1, 000-page textbook may also be preserved if held correctly. Popular Mechanics, with 23 issues, can hold over 2, 700 pages, thus making it a viable option for recycling when formulating a survival plan.
What material is 100% bulletproof?
Bulletproof materials are not truly bulletproof, as they are bullet-resistant. They are ranked based on ballistic standards, which test the durability of bullet-resistant solutions. These standards rank materials based on their ability to withstand a certain number of rounds from bullets of a certain caliber fired from a specific type of weapon. The Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) set of ballistics standards, the largest and oldest independent testing laboratory in the United States, offers a comprehensive and flexible standard to judge bulletproof materials. UL ranks materials on eight levels, providing customers with a measurable way to understand the bullet resistance of a product, allowing them to purchase a product fit for their specific needs.
Will 9mm penetrate a wall?
The videos on GunTalk’s YouTube channel demonstrate that the majority of ammunition, including 22 caliber and 9mm frangible ammunition, is capable of penetrating all three walls, even in instances where the walls are constructed with multiple layers, such as two interior and one exterior.
Can dreadlocks stop a bullet?
Doctors have suggested that hair weaves can stop bullets in some cases, but there is no evidence that this is the case. Hair plays a significant role in human regulation of body temperature and providing a buffer against unwanted objects. It also reflects an individual’s style, status, values, religion, and beauty standards. Dreadlocks, a hairstyle where strands of hair are combined into rope-like sections, have been worn for thousands of years across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Despite their global history, misconceptions about dreadlocks and their wearers are often based on stereotypes and biases. Dreadlocks can form organically, without combing or brushing, but people still maintain their hair and clean it. Many people who wear dreadlocks rely on more styling and manipulation, either by building the locks strand by strand or with the help of a professional loctician.
📹 How Many Houses Will A Bullet Actually Go Through???
How how many houses will your self defense caliber go through? Let’s find out! If you would like to help support the channel …
Thanks for including the M1 Carbine in the presentation. I looked into taking a defensive carbine class, and was told my M1 was not suitable for the class because the 30 Carbine round could not penetrate heavy clothes and was useless for defense. I walked away from that instructor. I know you’ve covered the M1 in other articles. Thank you.
Paul, I just listened to some “other” guy talk about over penetration and he said its a myth, then proved himself wrong in a test. Then back-peddled…all this to say, It is so nice to hear your teaching voice once again. It’s like having that horrid teacher in 4th period, the class seemingly takes 120 minutes. Then your day ends with your favorite teacher.
I’ve surveyed my house. With the exception of some appliances and heavily populated book shelves, oh and a big piano, there is nothing to stop bullets from flying clear through the house except for where there are major structural supports like steel beams. It’s kind of scary in a way because someone outside can just shoot in. The only real cover would be down in the basement.
Good stuff as usual Paul. I have a suggestion for you. Although you did a great job hitting hidden targets and bullet deflections being uncontrollable. To help with your aiming point when shooting at Soda Bottles etc that are hidden by walls etc. Go to the hardware store and get some marking flags. You can tape one to the top of each of the bottles, with the flag sticking up above the obstruction. Also to adjust for the height you could use a black magic marker and divide the walls into target zones. A tape measure will give you the bottom of the target and you could translate that to the front wall. It wont be perfect but it will give you a better aiming point.
Nice! I bought my first shotgun a while ago and I’d seen the old articles. Without mentioning them, I begrudgingly allowed myself to be steered by the counterman into picking up some low recoil buckshot. I still planned on going back to get some #8 birdshot, but I’ll see what I think after perusal this one! Summary: Probably still going with the #8. Given the lack of distance and extra walls between me and my neighbor in my most likely scenario it should be the best of both worlds. That critical defense out of the AR is tempting, but clearly still devastating on a miss. Thank you very much for those 3 articles combined, it has illustrated very well the pertinent information I needed. That being said, I’m still the judge. Keep up the good work.
This was useful and interesting, thank you. We’re still in a day and age where film and TV has the acts flip an IKEA table of the kind you can penetrate with a finger, and block everything but harsh words. I strive for realism in my writing and creating with no excuse-making to have people survive the way they do.
Watching this, I pause, re-holster the pew pew that I left next to toilet. Back perusal. Paused again, checked the contents of my scatter pew pew, NO. 4 buck, all good. I resume again. Now it’s over and I’m changing my magazine and reloading the other one with hollow points. I’m on crutches Paul! You’re making my do way too much work! P.S. Thanks for all you do Paul, and my armpits hurt worse than my injury…
“Menzies says police located the bullet and were able to trace the holes two doors down. “A male individual had his firearm and fumbled with it and accidentally discharged the firearm, which sent a bullet through his house, through the neighbours house and into a third house where it lodged into a wall.” It was deteremined that the bullet was accidently fired, and went through the firearm owners house, through the neighbors, and into victims bath tub, where it had stopped.” Bullet went through at least 4 exterior and 2-4 interior walls on its way. It happened few years ago in my town, what kind of firearm was never disclosed publicly, it obviously was a rifle but caliber is unknown.
I did a similar test just for fun, using 7/8″ stucco and 5/8 sheetrock (pretty much the standard in L.A.) Stopped or seriously slowed most of the non magnum handguns Ok, did nothing for rifles. Didn’t test shotguns cause I ran out of wall surface. Interesting, the walls stopped rounds coming from outside to in, better than from inside to out. I suspect a deformation thing on the hard cement. Thoughts anyone?
I’m now going to but some Honady Critical Defense .223 55 gr FTX, and a new/dedicated mag… I do have a question I’ve never seen anyone address… How would Frangible rounds do? In specific I am wondering about Winchester white box 5.56 45 gr Jacketed Frangible…. How are these different in performance against cinder block, and the meat target, and meat target/drywall/innocent bystander, compared to: Hornady Critical Defense .223 55 gr FTX (no need to re-shoot this since it is right here, unless you want to shoot the cinder block), and compared to the PMC Bronze .223 Remington 55 gr FMJ-BT (does the BT stand for Ballistic Tip? If so, how are those different from a FMJ… It looks different than other .223 I’ve shot).
LMFAO. Angry mob of soda. Fantastic presentation. Really makes you appreciate penetration potential of ammo in the house. The cloth/blankets as a bullet stop on the meat target is the reason when I chamber a round in my carry gun in the home I always aim at a chest of drawers with clothes and towels in it in case of an accidental discharge to stop and catch the bullet.
Most houses arent built of brick in a great many jurisdictions due to building codes dealing with earthquakes. However, there is a brick facia product that is made of some kind of hard stone, and looks like brick, but comes in a plate for lack of a better word, and is glued onto thg he exterior board. Wonder how that would hold up to ammunitions.
I live in Germany and in general we have sturdier internal walls, usually plaster boards with some kind of light concrete/gas concrete inbetween. Older houses often even have thick brickwalls. It’d be interesting how these walls would perform in regards to overpenetration. I would imagine that bird- or buckshot wouldn’t have a chance to get through, but I’m not sure about pistol cartridges like 9mm, .45 or .357.
Hi Paul, could you please lower the volume during the shooting scenes in some articles, where it is not needed to make a point. I really like having your articles play while i work on other stuff around the house, so i have the volume up pretty high to hear you. With my loud speakers it sounds like a drive by and i think i have heard my upstairs neighbours hit the deck a few times, or maybe their are just playing basketball, who knows. Anyway, thanks for hearing me out.
Thank you for the article, there was a lot of time and effort made producing it, I’m guessing your Irish Wolfhounds always like ‘meat target day’ unless there is to much contamination in the meat for them to have it? I live in a 16th century ‘cottage’ made from 2.5 to 3 tf stone walls, plus some load bearing walls on the inside. Mind you there virtually zero chance of getting shot in my house. Although plenty of shotgun and plus some rife owners around here though. so you never know. 🙂
What is your preferred whitetail deer hunting ammunition for 30 caliber rifles? I have a .243 and Remington Core Lokts fragment on impact, often rupturing stomachs even with perfect entry exit wounds. I switch to monolithic copper federal premium ammunition and shot four deer. Recovered three, no big exit wounds with lots of blood loss. Very difficult track jobs. I will be getting a .308 this year and would like reliable ammunition for it.
This a great demonstration proving that a .223 aka AR-15’s with Hornady Civil Defense ammo is a great home defense combination despite what all the politicians scream when they want to confiscate them. Effective on the primary target and limited over penetration. Thanks again Paul for an enjoyable and educational article.
This was an interesting test and much appreciated for the results we can learn. Also, I like the new camera angles and the quality was great! With that said, the over penetration issue that a lot of folks make a big deal of, isn’t a real big issue for me so I’d have no problem using an AR15 with 77 grain otm’s or 12 gauge with either 00 or #4 buck. I just prefer my home defense weapon to be more than a pistol round and give the highest percent of mortality rate for the intended target as most likely if it got to this point, the intended target obviously didn’t have my or my family’s well being in mind.
Excellent presentation. The only variable that I can think of that wasn’t really explored was stand-off distance, i.e. what if there were a few feet between your intended target and the wall, then another few feet between the wall and your innocent bystander. Would the tiny amount of extra time for the projectiles to tumble and lose energy make any difference? I’d guess probably not, but it would be nice to see.
So Paul, what would make a bullet not want to travel through walls? I had a negligent discharge (I’m still ashamed about it) like 4-6 months ago. I was in my bedroom and accidentally flung a 9mm hollow point into my bedroom wall. I was really worried because I seen articles of 9mm hollow points just ripping through multiple walls. But the bullet I let off, only went through one wall and stopped. It went through a mirror and a single wall and I think it stopped. We couldn’t find the bullet, but we also couldn’t find any other holes. What would make a 9mm stop after one wall? I found that seriously weird and still think I just haven’t found the exit hole even though I spent a long time looking for it. Inside and outside the house.
The leftover Jasmine T-shirt needs to be sent to the Yankee Marshall. He’d appreciate that- maybe more so if you’d have someone paint a Marvin the Martian on the back holding out flowers with a gun behind his back. I digress, how much do you need to do this with pistols? I ask because due to the virus I have a friend who told me that he wanted FMJ for his .45 because he didn’t want to kill anyone who attacked his house. Yes, I do disagree with that on many levels, but comparing FMJ and HP loads of various calibers through Sheetrock walls + meat targets is your gig.
You should include something like my 357 Defender slugs in a test like this. They are 12ga slugs that will break apart in one 1/2 sheet of drywall. They will rip a hole big enough to put you arm through on your meat target. But will lose a ton of there energy as they pass through the 1st wall if you miss.
There are alot a guys putting bad info out there, that could potentially get someone hurt or killed! Paul’s info is always grounded in science, with visual illustrations to back it up. Additionally Paul’s training and experience offers an additional level of knowledge, that you can’t aquire by going to the range on the weekend, or reading a book. Great job as always paul.
Man that area looks so beautiful. I’ve been thinking of a new state to move to BUT i’m afraid to move to any states that are controlled by democrats. It sucks. There are places in California that are so down right beautiful BUT I wont move to any state that wont allow AR 15’s or has insane gun laws. How are the gun laws in Oregon?? I think its almost like California laws right?
What about firestop? It’s a different type of insulation required in many buildings. It prevents fire from spreading from one part of a large building to another, usually rated by how long it holds back a fire. You’ll find it quite often in office buildings. It’s pretty tough stuff and usually somewhat thick, though it comes in many forms. If you live in an apartment, it may be inside the walls dividing units. I’d like to know if it’d stop #4 buckshot.
Overpenetration is the boogeyman everyone is afraid of and no one has met. Estimates vary, but if you assume an average person occupies about 0.25 square meters of space, and the Earth’s total land area is approximately 148 million square kilometers, then the packed humans would cover a tiny fraction, likely less than 0.000001% of the Earth’s surface, so the likelihood of a bullet passing through your intended target and hitting someone else is incredibly unlikely. Pick an effective caliber, practice putting shots on target, plan your home defense strategy, and stop worrying about overpenetration.
As a European (and proud member of the “what if” brigade), I hope you will one day publish articles like this one, but with the kinds of exterior wall material we mostly use: cinderblocks, bricks, concrete and maybe even limestone blocks (what if I shoot an intruder in a Parisian apartment ?) or daub (what if I shoot someone in a traditional house in Alsace ?). In France, wood is only commonly used for exterior walls in the mountains.
Excellent article. When you get to your “topic for another time”, maybe you can do a segment for us unfortunate fans who live in the Chicago area, where our biggest concern isn’t bullets leaving the house, but bullets coming into the house from outside. Interior walls don’t do much to stop a bullet, but how much energy will a bullet lose going through the exterior wall first?
The conclusion – for a home self defense from your fierce wife and her vicious boyfriend use 7.65 browning or .380 ACP hollow point expandable ammunition. While for a real deal when ambushed by ISIS in the forest use 7.62×39 kalashnikov, .30 Carbine, 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel FMJ steel core military ammunition. Period.
I like your teaching methods. 1. You went all out to get as close to the real situation as possible. 2. You definitely know, your stuff. 3. Good job! Questions: These test were great, specially for people who live in rural areas…those weapons would be used. Could you please do the same tests for guns that would normally be used in a large city, where u have neighbors all around. Could you please test pistols like Glock 19, Gen 3, (California legal) with the 124 g, Hallow Points. 9×19 Thank ls again! Keep up the great work! And effort. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Since you had sooo much fun with the judge, why not try a S333 Volleyfire? Double barrelled last ditch effort revolver in .22 Magnum. Good candidate for patreon purchase…can’t be that expensive. I’ve seen it from a 2019 shotshow article with almost 700 people wanted it tested and your name came up in the comments. watch?v=Slp9pAEk1Ns
I want 7.62x39mm as an overall “do anything” caliber (home defense, end-of-the-world survival, fun at the range, CQB, or medium-range precision shooting up to 300 yards are all possible with this firearm). If you want it in a lightweight and maneuverable package, PWS MK111 is the answer. At just 6.0 LBs in weight and with an overall length of 28.5″ collapsed and 32.0″ extended, the MK111 is extremely maneuverable and tactical while retaining great ballistics for the 7.62x39mm round. 7.62x39mm is the ideal caliber for this platform because of the fact that it is the most effective rifle caliber in such a short barrel (11 in). Most load types of 7.62x39mm only loose about 2-4% muzzle velocity and power when being fired out of this 11″ barrel versus a “standard” sized AK 16″ barrel. Meanwhile, the American standard 5.56x45mm round looses over 10% of it’s muzzle velocity when dropping from a 16″ to 11″ barrel with most types of 5.56 ammunition. This completely ruins the characteristics of the 5.56 round. It is made to be a high velocity, flat firing, fairly long range round. Cutting the barrel so short completely negates the advantages 5.56 possesses as a lighter, faster round. The AK 7.62 round on the other hand is designed for high stopping power and short-medium ranges, making it the ideal candidate for a variety of violent situations. Yes, you can find Home Defense rounds designed to expand if you need them to (to massively reduce the possibility of over-penetration). No, I don’t work for Primary Weapons Systems.
Bad soda bottles BAD! hahahaha. Great article by Paul as usual but I would like to see this test using a AR15 with 16 inch barrel w 1/7 twist. Running the Liberty Civil Defense 55gr monolithic HP. Look at the article of what that little 55gr round does to the gel block should give anyone perusal a better idea of how leathal a .223 can perform with lower percentage of collateral damage. It is what I have loaded in all of my AR-15’s for good reason. It kills whatever it hits without too much over penetration. Same goes for my choice of EDC HK P30v3 .40. Liberty’s 60gr .40 2000 fps 500+ FPE is about as leathal for anyone with bad intentions can be given without over penetration. With any round, with the exception of a .117 BB gun, there will always be the potential of over penetration but from experience using .223 and .40 Liberty ammo it is just plain nasty to the recipient. You get hit anywhere your going to stop what you were planning next. Catch a round CM or in the CNS, game over, thanks for playing, toe tag will soon be applied. So, Paul if you could do a similar article using different calibres from Liberty ammo. You did one on the 9mm and was a great article but would enjoy seeing the .40, 10mm and the .223, even the 3 Animal Instinct rounds if possible and of course doing the article Paul style! Love your articles, your more attention to details the better will give the untrained a less chance of accidentally shooting me or you! hahaha
Could we please do a .30-06 FMJ vs 10 meat targets? I keep hearing that those things never stop, which I’m positive is true to an extent, but I’ve heard a Vietnam vet claim 7 V.C.(I believe this if the bullet didn’t yaw, people are mostly squishy), 2 thick trees(1 and a half tops? The bullet should have been tumbling after hitting bones, or definitely after the first tree), through both sides of a UAZ(basically just paper, but after all of that?) and is still flying to this day(embellishing for comedy) Is there any validity to this, or just a cautionary tale and/or exaggeration?
The buckshot demonstration is why I’ve always told people that they’re idiots for loading their shotguns with 00 buckshot when #4 buckshot will do the job perfectly well without killing people in other rooms. I am curious however how Aguila minshells would do in such a test as they are mixture of #1 and #4 buckshot. Like the buckshot demonstration, the 5.56mm demonstration is another example of why ammunition choice is absolutely critical for those who choose to use an AR-15 or similar 5.56mm carbine for home defense. I use Monarch 55 grain soft point personally (basically it’s PPU 55 grain soft point) for my 7″ AR pistol and 77 grain Horanady Frontier BTHP match ammo on my 16″ AR after looking at a lot of ballistic gel tests specifically for those two barrel lengths and because those ammo types are also what shoot best out of my AR’s.
I am laughing out loud at the massive insulation roll vs the .25 acp .. so much for insulation as bullet proofing.. maybe if the insulation is made from kevlar.. long live the European brick house construction. (outer brick wall, air gap, insulation, inner brick wall, plaster, then paint/wallpaper). Incidentally: also holds up better vs tornados. Still not enough to stop military 7.62 x 51mm, but ‘common’ pistol rounds should be stopped I recon; though full auto will chew up the bricks.
Great article. How about a sequel on the following; test with the common calibers 22 (lr and mag), 32’s (apc and mag), 9mm, 38 spl./357 and 45 acp. Maybe in another sequel do an indoor test with a sound meter with thecalibers because I doubt anyone who’s wife (or dog, no comparison implied) awakens them is not going to take the time to find and put on their ears before getting their pistol. I have often thought how vicious a sound indoors the larger calibers would make. I know an indoor test might not be possible but would sure be interesting.
I struggle choosing between my M1 Carbine and my AR (both with Hornandy CD). I prefer my M1 because it’s little easier for my wife to wield (and it’s less scary looking from her POV) and because I love the M1, but over penetration is a serious issue in my house. Sounds like the AR is the better choice. Too bad. I love seeing that M1 in the corner!
U.S is a very large country.. I bet one’s average Alaskan/Minessota/North Dakota lodging would do a touch better.? Sorry everybody, had to get it out.. Carry on, please. Btw.very entertaining article and informative. Even as a hunter I didn’t know small shot can penetrate that much hard but brittle object like dry wall.
So Paul, are you going to be making a “brick house” or perhaps “concrete walls” article as well? I know you said the majority of houses in the USA are made to the specifications shown but I’d be interested to see how a more Urban environment would play out. Let’s say you manage to scare off someone to your yard and you follow to chase them off, but they start shooting. … Okay I’ll admit it, I mainly just want to see you shoot bricks and concrete slabs with a bunch of stuff. And regarding the 5.56 bullets tumbling after going through walls, would 7.62s do that too? I’ve seen a recent surge in AKs and I figure it might be worth it to show those in a test as well? Or at least entertaining! Anyways great article, enjoyed it!
So I wonder what the most economical material is to fill interior walls to achieve sufficient bullet resistance? Bricks are pretty cheap and easy to work with, but might leave gaps with the 16″ studs. how effective would 7 layers of 1/2″ plywood be? 7 layers of 1/2″ drywall? Steel plates are probably expensive and hard to cut to the right sizes and shapes. Sandbags?
I requested it on a VERY old article but given this is newer and more applicable to the topic, I will ask it here too: Can we get a article regarding low-powered (IE .22 and .38 special) hollowpoints penetrating CHEAP drywall, to simulate the worst-case scenario — you miss your intended target and you live in a cheap apartment and you have a neighbor or roommates? I’m hoping I’m wrong and there is a caliber and bullet type that will stop in a person (which you have shown is the case with most HP) but if I miss, what are the odds that I should just not bother with a gun in home defense if I want to stay out of jail for hitting my neighbor? Asking because I want to purchase a gun for the range, I was thinking a 357 because you can load it with 38’s so I can practice with both and load it with 38’s at home and 357 on the go, but a .22 is starting to look like a better solution since power over distance is not a priority and it’s more important that it doesn’t OVER penetrate, and of course, the safety of my neighbors is priority — if it fragments enough to not penetrate a drywall using hollow point I would love to be able to rely on that rather than my knife for home defense. Long shot, I’m sure that a regular round would have NO trouble penetrating, but if it’s a low power caliber .22 and hollow point, maybe it’ll fragment on impact and get caught between the two sheets? If not, I’m SOL and will need to just depend on my knife if someone broke in and using the gun solely for the range like I intended; I can grab that 357 instead of buying the .
You need to make a article on using penetration to your advantage. I have seen several articles on how bad penetration can be but very little on how much of an advantage it is if used correctly. Before you do, you need to see the recent article of the Metro PCS employee who took on an armed robber and winning but missing a good opportunity to end the fight sooner and much safer. I think that supplying good info on using the penetration of both a handgun and rifle to end the fight would make a good article and be of help to your viewers. It was published on Feb 22 2020 by Active Self Protection here on YouTube. Search for “Metro PCS Employee Absolutely Saves The Day.”
Can you do the same test in reverse? In other words, shoot the exterior wall first. The reason I’m asking, is that drive bys have become so common place now, even in sleepy little towns that were once very safe. We recently had one here, with a house shot by around 20 rounds of .380, and shot into that house for intimidation as the occupant had called the police on a drug gang. Quite a few of the bullets went through not only the outside wall, and the first interior wall, but also into the kitchen and back bedroom. This was a typical mill village home built in the 1910s-1930s period. I would say that the houses are typically 15 yards from the street. I know that it is a lot of work to do what you do, and I enjoy and appreciate what you do and look forward to your articles. My reasoning for not simply extrapolating data from this article to the drive by scenario, is that with the exterior wall being thicker material, I think that fmj rifle bullets would yaw in the exterior material before exiting to go into the 2nd and 3rd wall, and the 5.56 ammo would start to frag, limiting penetration and damage to the meat target . I would think that fmj pistol ammo would be similar to the current article, but maybe deflected a tad more. Any expanding or fragmenting rifle ammo would be disrupted greatly, in one way or the other. Now, for more aggravation, if you have access to regular building brick ( little red / brown bricks ), to stack in front of a small section, and shoot that with the most damaging ammo from the standard construction, that would be a plus, but of course I’m going overboard here with that.
I’ve gotten into a couple of debates with folks who had claimed that using an AR15 for protection in the home was FAR superior to using a pistol or PCC because of the high likelihood that the 5.56 FMJ rounds would pretty much fragment entirely making over penetration much less likely. I guess that myth is pretty much busted. Oh and please bear with the duck calls you’ll hear on the range today.
I got royally flamed a few years back for saying an AR15 for home defense in an urban and even suburban environment was a little bit overkill. I based this on what Ive seen from personal experience. Everyone said “the tests are all over youtube and you’re wrong”. Well, the tests are on youtube and…like I said, It’s a bad idea. Your mindset when you are kicking in doors overseas on the war offensive should be totally different from when you’re worried about a singular meth head stealing jewelry and your kids are in the next room. I’m not risking killing my kids over a stolen TV. Learn to fight. Hell, get a sword. I’ll save 5.56 for protecting the perimeter of my house/land. Not clearing my house. but hey, like Paul says, “you be the judge”
That gypsum dust blowing out from the shot shells looks really cool hitting the neat target. I knew the bird shit wouldn’t do much but I thought I was wrong when I watched it, but it really just made dents, little damage, it fooled me! I wasn’t to be fooled with the #4 tho. That is my preferred round for almost anything except varmint hunting where only a shotgun is allowed (livestock near by, no long range shots to ensure you haven’t confused a ground hog with a young calf laying in the grass) #4 seems just as deadly as 00 but with 27+ pellets of #4 vs 9 pellets of 00. Its a no brainer but no one uses #4, most ppl don’t even seem to know it exists
I have been examining alternative building materials to the conventional ‘stick’ framed home clad with sheetrock for the purpose of a near future home build. I have been impressed by the performance (thermal mass, insulation, sound, moisture and air barrier, fire and wind resistance, ease pf construction) of Insulated Concrete Forms(ICF) which is a polystyrene form filled with between 4 and 12″ of concrete. Ballistic data is available for concrete and a modest amount of concrete (6″ I think) is successful at stopping all hand gun rounds unaided by additional material.
Thanks! A great reminder our homes are not intended as shields against incoming attacks by firearms. I know what to do, though. I’ll have to build a new wall six feet out and stack up bottles of soda. I’m figuring soda because making up meat targets and filling with those will be prohibidly expensive. Next, I’ll have to call up our local distributors and price a couple of semi loads of soda … Any preference on brand? Is Coca Cola superior to Pepsi, or vice versa?
Excellent demo as usual from Paul but, call that an exterior wall? In the UK an exterior wall is made of 2 layers of bricks with insulation in-between with plaster on the inside and either pebble-dash or stone-cladding depending on taste (whether you have any or not) on the outside. Also interior walls are often brick if its a supporting structure. Im wondering how much safer I am indoors during a gunfight compared to our average cousin based in the USA? BTW hi from England.
A news story I just read reminded me of this demonstration. On July 12, 2020 a Yorktown, NY man decided it was okay to target practice with a .22 in the hallway of his house. Some rounds went through his wall, through the wall of the house next door and narrowly missed a woman bathing in her bathtub.
Hi Paul. One thing I have never seen on YouTube is a ballistics test of the old 38 S&W cartridge. There are still many thousands of guns chambered in this round out there. I recently inherited a mint condition Smith and Wesson Terrier 5 shot snub nose revolver in 38 S&W. I wonder how it really does compare to the 38 Special? The few articles to be found online indicate it’s worse than throwing rocks! Yet somehow the British used it in great numbers for close to 100 years!
It’s my first time perusal this presentation and as always am very impressed with your attention to detail and facts!! I live in a duplex that has what appears to be outside brick or brick face. Since this article is 3 years old I wanted to ask if there is one that you already made which would help someone like me who has chosen a 12 gauge pump shotgun for home defense. I am ready to go with the number 8 bird shot but the brick makes me wonder if could go with something stronger without risking people outside? Thanks again for everything you do and God Bless 🙏
Would like to see how frangible ammo fares in these tests. Right now I have visions of taking out too many neighbors while taking shots at someone in my house. Sheesh! Also – In a SHTF situation… There we are, defending our homestead of mindless hoards from the safety and comfort of our 2nd floor windows, only to find ourselves being aerated as all incoming rounds over penetrate through our exterior walls…and into/through us 😳😳😳😳😳
What is your problem Paul? Posting this reality crap is just disrespectful to all the other websites who post …. well whatever they post. It flies in the face of the accepted norms on YouTube. Why don’t you do the right thing and dial all this testing back, and stop clouding the issues with facts. I am very disappointed in your thoroughness and honesty… its just not good for…… well its just not good. I would continue with this rant but your article about the M1 carbine caught my eye… so I have to check out what kind of factual BS your going to spout off about that…
If there is one takeaway from this article, it is the importance of marksmanship. In most cases, your round will have greatly reduced fatal over penetration as long as you hit your intended target. There is exceptions to this. Slugs will absolutely over penetrate your intended target. 00 buck will absolutely over penetrate your intended target. 556 fmj will absolutely over penetrate your intended target. 04 buck has slightly reduced penetrative properties after hitting your intended target 04 bird has significantly reduced over penetration danger. most self defense ammunition such as soft points, hollow points, and expanding ammunition will have greatly reduced penetration following a hit on your intended target. However, every round listed will have far greater risk of collateral damage due to overpenetration *if you miss your intended target*. Remember only you can decide how important overpenetration is to you. If you reside in a brick house, or any neighbors are miles away, or you reside underground in the batcave, you can probably use something that has much higher penetration and stoping power, such as 00 buck, or even slugs. If you live in an apartment and the nearest neighbor is one interior wall away, you very much should be worried about overpenetration, and may consider using 04 bird. In either case, your round may not stop a threat if you miss. Your round is more likely to kill an innocent if you miss. You are more likely to need to fire more rounds if you miss. Adequate training is just as important, if not more important than selecting what gun-ammunition combo to use to defend yourself.
Just commented on another of your articles but ill put it here too where its more applicable. I once witnessed a S&W 686 with hollow points accidentily discharge in a home. It went thru an open closet door thru a line of several clothing items, thru the back of the closet and continuing out the back wall to the back yard. There were small black holes thru the clothing and a small exit thru the back wall.. but outside there was about a 6 inch area of the wall and vinyl siding gone. It seemingly would have went thru several walls inside and still exited fast enough to kill someone unlucky enough to be wrong place wrong time. Never found the round in the yard but the wall had a huge hole lol. Crazy..
Darn it. I’m the 3rd little pig with insulation between all of my interior walls and all solid wood doors including closet and pantry doors. Plus my house is surrounded by brick. A caveat is there is a lot of double pane glass. Did I mention a lot? I’ve learned from articles that standard brick is nearly useless at high velocity projectiles in a tornado. But it’s better than plywood. That’s why they tell us to get in the bathtub and cover with a mattress. Or get in a totally rebar reinforced concrete basement, including the roof. With a solid wood interior opening door. So it cannot be sucked open. I live in Tornado Alley BTW. Which is not what it used to be. Thanks Paul. I’ll extrapolate the brick protection to be middle of the road depending on whether it’s first or last hit. And if the brick is hit directly. The mortar is probably useless.
Nice demo, people need to have some sort of idea of what a firearm will do. High penetration is not a bad thing, it’s just one more thing you need to tailor to your needs. If you live by yourself in a brick home way out in the sticks penetration is your friend, it leaves the bad guy no place to hide. If you live in a cramped apartment downtown NYC not so much. During rifle training we were told to invasion a vehicle as transparent and place the rounds toward the torso of the person with rapid precisely aimed shots completely ignoring the vehicle. Thanks Paul.
Hey Everyone! You guys know I don’t like long articles and this one is WAY too long but it’s the only way I could do it & show everything I needed to. I know some of you enjoy longer vids so this ones for you lol! I wanted to cover everyone’s home defense caliber & hopefully I did that. Thank you for the support, you guys are the best!
We found out exactly what your test covered. My daughter was sleeping at 2AM when she was struck by a FMC 9mm in her right side. That 9mm ball round went through a neighbor’s mobile home wall, through our MH wall and then a 1/3″ plywood bed backing before hitting her. The bullet entered her front lower right quadrant and ended up next to her spine, but thank the Lord, it didn’t enter her abdominal cavity. Yours is the first test that I have seen that included wall insulation. Well done!
Dude the exit hole from the bird shot made the whole article. Jesus what an exit. Then when I think it’s over this pal say’s ” alright now where going to try the Homemade exploding shotgun slug 😂 like wtf are you doing making a homemade exploding slug is bigfoot in those woods with you pal . Holy shit lol . Good article 👍
this is a demonstration of the ‘worst possible case’ where there’s JUST 2 walls. Obviously, as he mentioned in a real house there would be multiple walls, as well as furniture, appliances, decorations, etc… Also inside the walls there would be stuff like electrical lines, water pipes, ventilation ducts, and various types of insulation. Another thing to consider is the type of sheathing and siding used. (stone, brick, metal, vinyl, wood plank, wood shingle ect…) Is it an older home with REAL plywood instead of OSB? is there Lathe and plaster on the interior walls? There are many variables to go over. This article is good at showing how a lot of rounds react to a ‘modern construction’ home using standard materials and methods.
Hey bud, you did a great job on this, and the vid clearly serves it’s purpose in comparing one caliber to another penetrating walls. It doesn’t matter how different real world walls might be, all we needed to know is how different rifle/shotgun/pistol rounds perform against each other. I’ll never think an AR-15 is a worse home def. gun than a shotgun again, and I certainly will avoid discharging my SKS in the home. 10/10
Most everything with firearms testing ends up being generalities. There are always a zillion or two zillion varibles. I appreciate your efforts building the walls and doing the demonstration. I found it very interesting. I was once present after a situation took place where a intoxicated guy fired a .357 mag round through his livingroom wall. (cleaning the gun he said) The round exited his apartment, crossed an open space of maybe 18 feet or so, penetrated the next apartment exterior wall, passed a nursing mother on her sofa within a few feet, went into her interior bedroom wall passed through and stopped in the next bedroom wall. Fortunate for all the parties concerned. My EDC is 10mm. My home defense is .45 Your demonstration affirms my choices pretty much. Thanks again, food for thought.
One of my biggest concerns with a home break in. Living in a subdivision has houses close together. Guess I just can’t miss. Jokingly told my wife I need to install a steel plate built inside the wall at the end of our long hallway and paint a bullseye on the drywall once it’s dry walled over 🙂 “Excuse me Mr. Robber, would you mind taking two steps to the right? Perfect. Thanks!” pew
I enjoyed perusal this. Thank you. Anything that goes through a wall with enough force to kill someone on the other side of a wall is overpenetration and opens up a shitload of liability as whoever pulls the trigger is legally responsible for what happens next. I would have liked to have seen pre-fragmented rounds like Glaser Saftey Ammunition. Interior wall penetration is also an issue for any home where rounds could penetrate to other rooms that could hit other people. I was surprised by some of the hollowpoints not expanding as I would have expected. From a home defense perspective, a bullet going through a target causes less trauma than a bullet that stays in a target and the target absorbs all of the energy of the bullet. I’d like to see demonstrations like this whereby we identify ammunition that will not over-penetrate even an interior wall. Protecting our rights to keep and bear arms requires us to be vigilant and do everything we can to prevent accidents (regardless of intention) from ever happening, as well as minimizing our legal liabilities when we do exercise our rights. Every accident that happens (regardless of intentions), feeds a legitimate narrative that threatens our rights. We need to train responsible gun ownership and demonstrations like this are important. I was surprised and impressed to see what the 22 did! Best regards, to all, Semper Fi
This is why we should build ALL houses out of S-glass textolite composite sandwiched between layers of 60mm AR500 steel plate, with layers of depleted Uranium interspersed. On exterior walls should be scales of Heavy type Explosive Reactive Armor plate designed to disrupt both kinetic energy and shaped charge rounds. Finally, interior walls and the inside of exterior walls should have Kevlar anti-spall layers. And obviously, it will be painted in anti-flash white.
It still shows everyone what these type of weapons are capable of and how many walls they can go trough, So you can pick a home defense weapon suited for your living arrangements, If you live in an apartment building im sure a lower caliber weapon would be more proper so you don’t accidentally kill your sleeping naibours. Im sure that was his Intent on the article.
That was an excellent test and much appreciated. The wall test gave a great visual to the penetration power of each round where it concerns home defense in a crowded neighborhood like the one I live in. Because of this article I am rethinking my choices concerning home defense. Intruders who are foolish enough to break into anyone’s home play Russian Roulette when they do so, but, It wouldn’t be good to have a personal defense decision affect a neighbors safety either. Thanks for the article………. Thumbs up and subscribed.
I appreciate the time and expense you’ve gone to for this experiment… don’t ya love science? 😆… the obvious inaccuracies not withstanding, we still get a pretty good idea how an in home shooting would react on the infrastructure. I would have liked to see the M855 as this is a common enough round though I always use the 193 in my home defense carbine…
Fun article, but you should have left out the random placed studs. When you design an experiment you want to eliminate variables. Now when you shoot the different ammo you can’t really compare the results because you’re like “I don’t know. It might have hit a stud.” So what good are the results of the test?
My home def round is 12G #6 turkey load, I feel after a similar testing that it provides me good power without to much over penetration, and its a load i normally have left over from hunting. I showed my young son what #4 buck and 00 Buck could do to a 70’s sedan door and where the #4 buck dented and scraped the 00 just blew through, I feel that if I had to use my defense gun and used turkey load you could not say i planned to shoot somebody, 00 buck might be harder to explain, unless your state requires buckshot for hunting, then its what you usually have on hand. But even 12G #8 will kill you . Great article, i was expecting the slugs to do more, but then the 3.5″ might do it. Good Job.
Cool test, the only unrealistic element (which actually even further dispels the myth of blowing through every house on the block) is how close the “houses” are spaced together. While I live in Pittsburgh and many of the hoses are in fact very close, there’s normally at least 4 – 5 ft between each house on the most cramped developments.
Too bad that these “houses” are New York style. Not that this is a major thing but distance between houses can have a dramatic ballistic impact on bullets. If it is 15 to 30 yards to the neighbors house, smaller caliber pistols may lose significant energy and have less penetration power. This is just another factor that needs to be considered.
When I was a young my father had a van with a blown motor. I was shocked at how my 9mm shot all the way through the cab, both seats and the center console. At that moment I learned tv was full of shit with people hidding behind car doors or entire cars for protection. 🙂 the only semi safe place is behind the motor
I only have 2 real issues: 1) the spacing between walls, between houses, additional walls in the house, and where you are standing in relation to the first wall; and 2) reusing the same walls because the rounds are weakening each time you shoot. Plus, exterior walls are not all exactly the same and you are missing other layers of materials that are usually there.
Wall spacing would makea difference but consider you live in an apartment. Would you rather your neighbors be using a 12ga with 2×4 magnum duck and goose shot or a 9×18 that either one I HIGHLY recommend. Or would you rather them using anything else you tested? Consider that you will be home with your family when shots are fired.
Great article but only really applicable to apartments. Or “beehives” as I call them aka contractor cookie cutter house on development properties, lol. Now, if you had 30 yards between each wall, it would be more realistic to some of us, however I fully realize how impractical that would be to try to recreate and test on your own.
Overall this was very interesting and well made. That being said, I dont think you should have added a variable (wall studs), when testing one round against another since it makes it impossible to make a fair comparison. Also, as others have noted, this does not acuratly represent “houses penetrated”, but rather wall layers penetrated. there is no representation of interior walls, or distances. I understand that in order to do an “accurate” test, you would have to shoot through an actual neighborhood, which is obviously unfeasible. Over all, great tests, but a bit of a misrepresentation.
U.S. Marine here, Just wanted to point out the distance between houses is not to accurate unless you live in Queens, also Brick and Stone Would play a bigger factor as well as the rounds your hearing all this about are going to be Law Enforcement Grade Ammo, I.e. Hard Tipped Ammo let’s just say. Hallow Tipped Ammo is not related to the thru the neighborhood theory, if we constructed our houses like they do in the middle east rounds would not go thru as many houses, but im glad my house is not made of Mud and Rock lmao. Although the 10MM and the AR w/77 Grain was pretty Sick !!!
Is this really a fair test? Walls in homes are not that close together. So while the bullet may go thru the first wall there is traveling time before it reaches the next wall. Each wall penetration causes the bullet to slow down to some degree. Not saying it will not go thru multiple walls (depending on the gun of course), just saying “is this test an accurate test?”
So much work you put into this. Very cool of you to go to so much effort. There’s definitely a lot of variables but nonetheless it demonstrates the point very well. Damn I knew 10mm was powerful but good grief I never would’ve thought! No surprise with good old .45 ACP short-fat-& slow. Very cool to see what the various shotgun rounds will do. Valuable knowledge for setting up a tactical load in the magazine.
The only thing is with all the studs all over the place you have no idea if one of them hit a stud and the other didn’t, so it’s hard to get a read on what really is going where, maybe should have done 3 shots each, not to say it isn’t informative and really interesting. Fun to watch comingfrom someone who’s been hunting and shooting since I was about 8 or 9
That is regular insulation the color is not the standard pink or yellow we’re use to seeing, but it’s the same exact stuff no difference, I’ve installed plenty of it, just saying. Over penatration is always a huge fear, like the comment below where a girl was shot from over penatration from a neighboring house, Terrifying that an innocent daughter was struck by a stray bullet, I think any father would agree, id rather it be me than my daughter ! JUST GET SOME GOOD PEPPER SPRAY IF POSSIBLE, OBVIOUSLY I’M FIREARM HAS TO BE YOUR LAST CHOICE ! UNLESS YOU’RE A TINY LITTLE WOMAN WHERE THERE’S NO OTHER WAY ! THERE ARE articleS OF STUPID PEOPLE WITH FIREARMS, HARD TO EVEN CONTEMPLATE HOW STUPID THESE PEOPLE ARE HAVING A WEAPON GO OFF IN AN APARTMENT TYPE BUILDINGS WHERE BULLETS CAN TRAVEL RIGHT THROUGH THE WALLS, Always know what is behind said target !
American houses = Barbie doll houses. They cost tens of thousands of dollars but you can be killed with a light bullet😂. Nonsense Ukrainian houses cost 10 000 – 20 000 $ and you wouldn’t penetrate one wall with two AP .50 CALS BECAUSE THERE’S LIKE 20″ CONCRETE IN OUR HOUSE 😌. THANKS GOD THOUGH Just imagine the nonsense of all this
Are those studs 16″ on center ? What about wiring? What about t-111 siding or Hardy Board hardness? What about Possible paint on surface, several possible layers? What about glass windows? What about window Drapes? What about a window air conditioner? What about 2×6’s instead of 2×4’s for construction? What about spray in insulation instead of standard? What about Fire retardant thick Sheetrock? What about a large Painting on a small wall? What if Hickok 45 got a shot off before you did?
Nice. Informative, well spoken, & let’s gun owners see what happens when an indiscriminate bullet, (Accidental Discharge) exits your gun. Can’t say it enough, treat your firearms with respect, don’t get lazy, & train, train, train. Go to a range that will let you practice from a sitting, prone, etc, position. Run in place, do some push-ups, get your heart beating, like it will most likely be doing, should an intruder enter your house. Do whatever you can, to put yourself in a real world situation. & most of all, support gun ownership. NRA, GOA, USCCA, etc. Support legislation, that protects the 2A. Never vote to have your guns taken away. The anti-guns people are in charge, & they are attacking the 2A. They are in a full out, abolish the 2A, stance. Only way to stop them, is to vote them out of office. 2022 is your chance to make a difference. Liberal Progressives, are destroying American. If they are successful in abolishing the 2A, they will not stop there. What amendment will they attack next?? “Shall not be infringed,” means nothing to them. EVERY gun owner, even the Fudds, is now the most important American. Our stance on the 2A, can be what saves America from total destruction. If we can stop the Liberals from taking our guns, we can stop the rest of “Their” insane agendas. 2022 first, 2024 next. We ARE the last line in defence.!!!!! VOTE THEM OUT!!!
If there’s a million variables then you didn’t do enough work. I can’t believe your saying you did a lot of work for this article. Are you kidding? What work? 😂 What do you do for a living that you think that is work? 😅 Then you didn’t Even do it right. 😅 If your trying to get views based on,”you did alot of work” you need to stop that, nobody thinks that’s any kind of work my lazy friend”…. If you did so much work, why do we have to use our imagination? 😂