How Do They Register Bullet

[Updated November thirteen, 2018]

An important consideration in home defense is the prospect of the penetration of a wall past an errant projectile. The primary objective in a defensive situation is to destroy tissue that is vital to the adversary's mobility. Just when an object or projectile strikes vital neural pathways (encephalon, spine, some nerve groups) or major claret pipelines (heart, lungs, some arteries and veins) that crusade rapid blood loss volition the pressurized system of the man trunk shut downwardly. The chief responsibility of the home defender is to strike the target. Letting get with a round when you do not accept a reasonable expectation of hitting the target isn't a responsible action. Withal, being human, we may miss the target, so it's wise to know what a projectile (bullet, slug, or shot) may practice when it connects with common edifice materials. Likewise, too being responsible for every round we shoot, ane of the raters in this test pointed out that the defensive shooter may also like to know what he can expect of materials that might hide or protect him if he or a loved on is under burn from an intruder.

To find out how handgun projectiles reacted to impacts on diverse materials, we first fabricated wall segments with commonly found wallboard and pine boards, then fired a few hundred rounds of armament to destroy the structures. At the cease, we came upwards with mutual-sense recommendations that can solve the problem of overpenetrating handgun bullets that might be used in domicile defense force. Remember, these tests cannot be compared to the FBI test program. The FBI was looking for penetration. That agency needed loads that would reasonably be expected to penetrate light cover and still strike a heavy blow. Nosotros were looking for handgun loads that don't meet the well-known FBI penetration criteria.

The Home Materials Tested

Wallboard

Information technology should exist no surprise that bullets, slugs, and buckshot go through wallboard — information technology'due south just paper and clay. Other generic names are plasterboard and gypsum board. Common production names are Sheetrock and Gyproc. As one of the raters noted, at that place is no magic bullet that will not penetrate this material in the home and relieve you of the responsibleness of aiming straight. Nosotros used half-inch-thick wallboard arranged in sections five sheets deep. There was a 1-inch gap between each set of wallboard stacks. Total penetration depth was measured for each circular of loads.

Pine Boards

These were once a universal testing medium, and they only measured penetration. One rater noted that the studs in a wall volition be facing rather than length wise. The four-by-4 posts were spaced 1 inch apart to allow grit and shavings to autumn away from the projectile. One of the raters noted that all boards are not the same and that a quarter-sawed lath would be denser and tougher. Also gauging their effectiveness as a barrier in walls, our pine-board penetration results can also stand up in for how bullets would do on solid-forest doors, but not lightweight interior hollow-core doors.

Overpenetration

The trouble of overpenetration of bullets in the dwelling house or apartment has been discussed many times. The fear of a bullet carrying far by the area of a gun battle is real. Wounds received by innocent persons who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time are non uncommon. Still, nigh of these occur in the open or on the street and are a outcome of missed shots, rather than overpenetration. Also, the bully majority of gunshots are the upshot of criminals shooting victims and other criminals, rather than honest citizens protecting themselves. Then, incidents involving homeowners firing through walls and a bullet exiting the home and causing harm, injury, or death are rare. The same is true for injuries caused inside the home. We believe this is because the vast majority of armed citizens are mature, careful individuals. But the same, tragedies do occur, and we decided more three years ago that the subject area was a fertile field for examination.

We looked at the whole picture show and tested ammunition from several angles. Nosotros tested common personal defense armament that we had given good ratings to in the past and learned how they might fare in penetration testing against domicile materials. We went far past the usual water testing, since ballistic water testing wasn't applicable to most of what we were doing. We constructed targets using typical home materials and commonly used homebuilding parameters. At this indicate, allow united states of america to re-emphasize that carefully placing a bullet in an assailant allows the projectile to expand properly — and there will be no overpenetration trouble. Working on marksmanship skills is the soundest advice nosotros can give.

Beyond Marksmanship

Side by side, knowing the altitude betwixt ane occupied structure and the next nearest one is helpful, because distance robs errant shots of power and trajectory, considering we usually fire at an angled attitude, slightly upwardly or slightly down and seldom perpendicular to the target. Thus, chances are the bullet will come to residuum in something earlier information technology reaches an occupied dwelling house. The bullet may strike the roof, or it may dig into the floor. Or y'all may have a long hallway with a brick wall at the end to stop or slow a bullet. A studio flat with thin walls is another matter.

Also, it'due south important to realize how ridiculous cinema depictions of gun-battle participants using a chair or mattress for cover really are. Bullets zip right through these constructs. Some furniture may be heavy enough to plow a bullet, and the pino-lath results are a proficient way to approximate those effects without having to shoot up the walnut dining-room table.

Every bit for the difficulty of creating realistic test media, we noted that every test plan we read in the popular press was inconsistent, with every author having a different idea of how to guess the risks of overpenetration. As an instance, i of the considerations never mentioned in the popular press is the existence of firewalls betwixt walls in apartment complexes. Edifice and structural firewalls in North America are usually made of physical, concrete blocks, or reinforced concrete. These structures are very good at stopping or slowing down bullets.

Pistol-Cartridge Penetration Results

LOAD	VELOCITY	WALLBOARD PENETRATION	PINE BOARD PENETRATION	RATING
22 LR CCI Stinger 32 gr. HP	1150 fps	8 in.	2 in.	A
22 LR Winchester 37 gr. HP	988 fps	ten in.	2 in.	B
22 LR Winchester twoscore gr. Yard-22 LRN	939 fps	9 in.	ii in.	B
22 LR Wolf 22 LR 40 gr. LRN	905 fps	8 in.	two in.	A
22 Magnum CCI 40-gr. FMJ	1079 fps	12 in.	six in.	C
22 Magnum Hornady 45 gr. FTX	1090 fps	12 in.	five in.	C
32 ACP Fiocchi 60 gr. JHP	1101 fps	11 in.	5 in.	C
32 ACP Fiocchi 71 FMJ	1078 fps10	10 in.	6 in.	C
380 ACP Hornady ninety gr. FTX	890 fps	6 in.	half-dozen in.	A
380 ACP Fiocchi 95 gr. FMJ	909 fps	8 in.	vii in.	A
38 Special Glaser Safety Slug Blueish 80 gr.	1110 fps	5 in.	iv in.	A
38 Special Glaser Safety Slug Bluish 80 gr.*	1190 fps	six in.	4 in.	A
38 Special Remington 110 gr. JHP	882 fps	7 in.	8 in.	B
38 Special Winchester 158 gr. RNL	707 fps	6 in.	6 in.	A
38 Special Winchester 158 gr. LSWCHP +P	830 fps	x in.	9 in.	B
9mm Luger Dynamic Research Tech. 85 gr. JHP	1145 fps	10 in.	8 in.	A
9mm Luger Fiocchi 115 gr. FMJ	1121 fps	12 in.	9 in.	C
9mm Luger Buffalo Diameter 115 gr. JHP +P	1300 fps	x in.	8 in.	A
9mm Luger Buffalo Bore 115 gr. JHP +P+	1383 fps	12 in.	12 in.	C
9mm Luger Fiocchi 124 gr. Extrema JHP	1107 fps	x in.	9 in.	A
9mm Luger Federal 147 gr. Hydra Shock	1010 fps	12 in.	9 in.	B
357 Magnum Cor-Bon 100 gr. Pow'RBall	1462 fps	half-dozen in.	6 in.	A
357 Magnum Winchester 110 gr. JHP	1262 fps	eleven in.	7 in.	B
357 Magnum Remington 125 gr. Golden Saber	1220 fps	12 in.	9 in.	C
357 Magnum Speer 158 gr. Aureate Dot JHP	1130 fps	12 in.	12 in.	C
45 ACP Glaser Safety Slug Blue 145 gr. +P	1311 fps	6 in.	4 in.	A
45 ACP Glaser Safety Slug Silver 145 gr. +P	1350 fps	seven in.	four in.	A
45 ACP Buffalo Bore 160 gr. TAC Low Recoil	967 fps	10 in.	7 in.	B
45 ACP Winchester 230 gr. FMJ	790 fps	12 in.	7 in.	B
45 ACP Hornady 230 gr. XTP +P	909 fps	12 in.	12 in.	C
Notes: The half-inch-thick wallboard sheets were arranged in blocks of five sheets, separated past a i-inch gap. The penetration measurement indicates the full depth the bullet reached in wallboard. The pino boards were four-by-4 posts separated by an inch gap. The 38 Special results were from a revolver with a ii-inch barrel. The 38 Special results for the second Glaser Safe Slug were fired from a 4-inch butt. Among the 45 ACP loads, information technology's worth noting the Glaser Silver penetrated 10 inches into water. The Glaser Blueish 45 ACP +P penetrated 6 inches into water. Abbreviations:* HP = hollow signal. LRN = lead circular nose. FMJ = total metallic jacket. JHP = jacketed hollow indicate. LSWCHP = lead semi-wadcutter hollow point gas cheque. Ratings in this table are every bit follows: A = Ideal for the task, with peradventure less penetration than we like but a good compromise. B = A good defense load with more penetration, but still a reasonable selection. C = As well much penetration.

Pistol Cartridge Notes

Based on our results in this test, we would suggest confronting using circular-nose lead or full-metal-jacketed bullets for habitation defense force, if overpenetration is a worry. RNLs and FMJs are effective in the big bores, just the JHPs are is more effective and ricochet is less of a concern. We noticed that RNL bullets sometimes bounced when fired into difficult woods. Avert these bullet designs except for cheap practice.

One point we desire to advise you to consider is the choice of bonded bullets. As an example, a broad-oral cavity hollow point such as the 115-grain JHP used in Buffalo Bore's +P 9mm load breaks up rather apace when fired against cinder cake and doesn't penetrate every bit much in wood every bit the slightly different Buffalo Bore +P+ load. The +P+ load uses a bonded bullet blueprint, which stays together, equally is the intent. Regarding bonded-cadre bullets then, we need to carefully appraise our choices. For home defense, do we actually demand a bullet with high penetration against intruders backside wallboard? Generally speaking, what we found was that bullets on the curt end in water testing are the least offensive in dwelling penetration. Information technology is clear than the bonded bullets are designed for penetration of sheet metallic and window glass and perform equally designed. Whether this is desirable is upwardly to the homeowner.

Nosotros were also curious about how tougher materials, such as cinder blocks, would defeat bullet passage.These are most frequently found in a single layer attached to the exterior wall of a frame building. Then wall studs, plywood, and insulation form the interior walls. Nosotros shot the blocks stacked in groups of four or more. Another consideration is that when the bricks are in sections, mortar holds them together, and the support of the construction keeps them resilient. We too shot some exterior facing bricks, simply didn't record penetration information for either of these because information technology wasn't measurable like the wallboard and pine boards were. Nonetheless, we did collect our visual impressions of what various projectiles did to bricks.

The calibers below 38 Special only fabricated small pock marks in the bricks. Start with the 38s, we saw damage. The 9mm and 45 ACP damaged bricks, but inappreciably plenty to become through. After 2 to four shots, the bricks cracked. A unmarried 357 Magnum took a large chunk out of a brick and frequently broke it. We found that one to two rounds in the same spot often broke the brick upwards and crumbled information technology.

In the instance of cinder blocks, the 45 ACP JHPs only made a pock marking and only part of the bullet penetrated on the first shot. The fast-stepping 9mms were much the same. The 357 Magnum 110-grain loads did no more than. The Remington 125-grain Golden Saber 357 Magnum struck the cake three or four times without smashing upshot, but it did well in previous water testing. The 158-grain Speer JHP 357 Magnum load made a large cavity in the block with the first shot and an opening into the hollow between the 2 sides of the block with the second shot, and sometimes with the outset shot. The third shot with the Speer disrepair the cake. This Magnum is just too much with heavyweight loads. The Winchester 230-grain FMJ 45 ACP also broke the blocks up with very few shots.

Rifle & Shotgun Side Testing

While we had the building materials out, we likewise fired a few shotgun and rifle loads to see how they compared to the handgun loads most folks would likely cull for dwelling defense. Likewise, as nosotros noted in the article about lightweight AR-15s for home defense elsewhere in this issue, it is possible to choose 223 Remington loads that pose less danger of overpenetration than some pistol rounds. If you have the carbine, a light load, and your Wolf Ears ready at home, you are way ahead of the game for self-defense.

For instance, we fired a Fiocchi 40-grain Five-Max round (3600 fps muzzle velocity) and saw it began to fragment in the first department of the wallboard testing. Some pieces fabricated the second section, but none fully penetrated, for a wallboard measurement of iii inches, or less than any of the handgun rounds. This is a skillful, prophylactic bullet for interior apply. Too, a Black Hills 55-grain jacketed soft signal 223 round (2840 fps muzzle velocity) just penetrated half dozen inches in wallboard, which would put it among the everyman handgun rounds in penetration statistics.

Also, if anyone doubts how awesome the shotgun really is for home defense force, some of our results will be eye openers. Wallboard was blasted to pieces past nigh of the loads tested, with Wolf buckshot and a Wolf slug going besides deep, 12 inches. Slugs demolished cinder blocks with a single shot. Winchester Reduced Recoil buckshot was a picayune more under command, penetrating 10 inches in wallboard.

The buckshot loads bounced like crazy in some cases. We stood back at least a fifty feet when testing. Some of the buckshot flattened on cinder blocks and bounced back 10 to 12 feet. This would not exist the load of choice in a crowded environs around buildings with cinder-block walls.

We have never tested birdshot for personal defense, so nosotros had to do a few runs with 12-judge Winchester 7 shot on the water jugs beginning. This load has widely been recommended for home defense, but in water testing, nosotros saw only iv to vi inches of penetration with merely i or two pellets exiting the first h2o jug. Perhaps the common wisdom foresaw how 7 shot performed in wallboard — it only penetrated 2 inches.

Our Team Said

Most of the handgun loads proved capable of penetrating several house walls, as noted in the chart to a higher place. Since we've all been conditioned to remember of penetration as the practise-all and exist-all of bullet functioning, it's hard to think backwards when penetration must be limited.

Among the 22 LR rounds, we don't recommend whatever for home self defense force. Only if your pistol of selection happens to be a 22 and you want to reduce your risk of overpenetration, nosotros'd choice the CCI Stinger 32-grain hollow point.

A ameliorate choice for a home-defense cartridge might be either of the 380 ACPs, the Hornady ninety-gr. FTX and Fiocchi 95-gr. FMJ.

There are good selections from the 38 Specials. The Glaser Safety Slug in fourscore-grain weight offered plenty of velocity but not as much penetration. The Winchester 158-grain lead roundnose is a like performer in a more than traditional form.

The DRT 85-grain would likely be our first pick from the 9mm Lugers, merely the Buffalo Diameter 115-grain JHP and Fiocchi 124-grain Extrema JHP would be proficient choices as well.

If you lot shoot the big 357 Magnum wheelgun, your lowest-penetration pick would be the Cor-Bon 100-grain Pow'RBall.

Amidst the 45 ACPs, the Glaser Safety Slugs stand out.

Written and photographed by R.K. Campbell, using evaluations from Gun Tests squad testers.