Interior wall penetration from rifle rounds

[Candiru]

The question often comes up of what kind of self-defense arm is best for use within a dwelling when there's a high risk of collateral damage if the round ends up missing its target. Some evidence suggested that high-velocity .223 rifle rounds might actually go through fewer walls than shotshells or handgun rounds, so I put together some wallboard sections and hit the range to find out for sure. The results were fairly surprising:

http://230grain.com/showthread.php?t=65428

(Sorry for the link, but the image limit imposed by the forum configuration would have made reposting the entire thing here an exercise in frustration.)

[Xanatos]

Not to steal your thunder, but another website that does penetration tests (as well as a ton of other "fun" tests) is: http://www.theboxotruth.com/.

[NWCP]

#5 12GA shot shells should perform reasonably well in a home environment. I remember watching a DVD which covered the testing of various calibers on dry wall and the bird shot fared well. Most defensive load, or FMJ centerfire pistol, or rifle cartridges tended to over penetrate as did buckshot. Being an empty nester I have only my wife and pups to worry about within the house, but the neighbors are a real concern. It would be interesting to see you test some #4, or #5 12GA shot shells. I feel they are perhaps the least likely to wreak havoc on innocent bystanders when engaging a bad guy in your house. Not necessarily the easiest to clear rooms with, but by far the safest when trying to avoid collateral damage. I still keep a 9mm in my nightstand loaded with 124gr Golden Sabers (Old habit are hard to break. ) as well as the model 500 12GA within easy reach in the master bedroom. I tend not to use any of my centerfire rifles for home defense as tempting as they may be. 7.62x51, 7.62x39 and a .45ACP carbine would just blow through the drywall and potentially waste the wrong parties.

[2damnold4this]

Interesting test.

[dondavis3]

Most rifle rounds (and pistol rounds as well) will go thru walls if they do not hit a stud.

Even a .22 round will go thru walls it it only hits sheetrock.

There is always the disagreement about which firearm is best for home defense - long gun or hand gun.

But the best one is the one your trained best with and are completely used to and comfortabile with.

Just my .02 worth.

[L_Killkenny]

Actually, even the lowly .22LR in a handgun will go thru sheetrock, 1" wood and steal siding at HD ranges without even blinkin.

LK

[GeauxTide]

This horse had been beat deader than dead.

[Candiru]

Originally Posted by Xanatos

Not to steal your thunder, but another website that does penetration tests (as well as a ton of other "fun" tests) is: http://www.theboxotruth.com/.

The Box o' Truth was the inspiration for this test. I wanted to do something similar to what was done with their tests, but using studs and a wider variety of .223 ammo.

[Skans]

I found that to be a very good read!! It confirmed what I had thought about 00 buckshot, i.e. that it will penetrate through multiple wallboards and with no ability to control it. It never made any sense to me that shotgun pellets would have much less penetration than bullets.

[tirod]

Bullet penetration is an ongoing and valid subject. It's not beat to death at all - just log into a HD discussion on what caliber and you will find all sorts of nonsense.

There are still thousands out there who claim 00 is better for HD, and the .223 will overpenetrate. Mention using #4, and the catcalls start coming. Obviously there is are a lot of uninformed people out there simply repeating what they've been told.

I, for one, have been no fan of .223 or the AR series - despite 22 years of use and training in the USAR.

These days, it's coming back around. I know the platform a lot better than I thought, and I also have familiarity handling them. If that's what is needed for HD, and other pursuits, why not use it.

As the results show, internet gospel can be wrong. Others have tried to point it out before - the AR in .223 is a good HD package.This is the data that validates what they were trying to explain.

[csmsss]

If the only thing that's of concern to you as a shooter is overpenetration, then you shouldn't be using a firearm indoors. ANY firearm capable of inflicting sufficient lethal force for use in self defense will easily penetrate sheetrock and have lots of energy left over to injure/kill a person on the other side.

[sholling]

Excellent test. In my opinion the "box" is often heavy on hype but sometimes short of real world value. By spacing the walls instead of just stacking sheetrock the OP has preformed an actual valid and far more useful test. Thanks OP!

[sholling]

Over penetration isn't the "only" concern but it should always be a factor under consideration when choosing a home defense round for an urban or suburban environment. Not to take it into consideration would be completely irresponsible.

[Al Thompson]

Really excellent test and article. Thanks!

[Kmar40]

Most rifle rounds (and pistol rounds as well) will go thru walls if they do not hit a stud.

Even a .22 round will go thru walls it it only hits sheetrock.

My hand goes through walls. One time, my head went through a sheetrock wall.

I think son's Red Ryder BB gun will shoot through a sheetrock wall.

I don't think my kid's gun that shoots those plastic frisbee things will go through a wall though. I don't think I would use it for home defense though. The projectiles tend fly where ever they want to go.

[Bill Daniel]

What about fragable? spelling bullets for home defense?
Bill Daniel

[gngtools]

Thats a lot of work. Thanks for the info.

[tirod]

The box of truth gets to that - frangible rounds, ie., .223 soft points, tend to fragment really fast hitting sheet rock. Glasers, too.

The telling point is that two layers doesn't seem to be enough to stop them, pellets, or much else used as a HD firearm. What is important is that two layers really slows them down - FMJ or 00 seem to go through multiple walls.

Since we know even the best choice in ammo will penetrate walls, act accordingly.

If it's a single story house, at least drop to one knee, reducing your profile, and then you are shooting UP - which reduces collateral damage among neighbors. Pactice knowing where your fields of fire are, to avoid shooting your family in adjacent rooms. Getting low still helps.

I'll avoid the complicity of homeowners who do nothing to improve their security, and have no training for family members who will probably run screaming into Mommy's bedroom for safety. In the large scale, sheet rock penetration is down the list of problem areas in home defense.

It's inherent in the conversation to ignore asking "How did they get in to begin with?" There seems to be too much reality asking that.

[berettaprofessor]

Nice work!

[Skans]

I've never understood all of the concern over bullets penetrating sheet rock. Maybe this is because of the way my house is configured. 3 out of 4 bedrooms are bordered by 2 concrete block walls each. One bedroom has one concrete block wall and a bathroom between it and the other beedroom, which means at least 4 pannels of sheetrock, studding, cabinetry, ceramic tile, etc. The sheet rock is all 1/2 inch anyway. Exterior doors are all steel with solid wood core.

Only two bedrooms are occupied and the rest of the house is really set up so that if you are shooting at an intruder, it would be in the living area and away from the bedrooms.

There is no way a stray bullet is going to make its way into a neighbor's house, even if I'm shooting 30-06.

[BobbyT]

Any plans to continue the testing with other rounds?

I'd be interested in seeing the effects of 7.62x25, and #5 buckshot.

[pvt.Long]

.410 bird shot works realy well for home protection. It has enough power to stop some one but not enough to penetrate dry wall.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

It has enough power to stop some one but not enough to penetrate dry wall.

Explain to me how that works. It doesn't have enough power to penetrate something I can put my fist through; but it has enough power to reliably stop a 200lb mammal?

Or by "enough power to stop someone" did you mean that it could in theory stop someone once in awhile, either through a miraculous golden BB shot that resulted in a physiological stop (body cannot continue attack regardless of what attacker wants to do) or psychological effect (attacker decides to end attack for his own reasons after the shot)?

[greensteelforge]

Frangible ammunition does what it is supposed to. If the appropriate ammunition is used, nearly any self defense caliber is heavily disabled after initial strike. I'd be curious to know how frangible pistol ammo, and trap loads would stack up (a trap load will hit plenty hard at indoor ranges).

[pvt.Long]

if you are hit by any shotgun shell it will stop you dead in your tracks and i have personal expirence with a 410 and a wall in a mobile home.