interesting wall problem

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mole

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People talk about wall penetration in a home defense situation, but what about ricochets? I currently keep a 9mm pistol and a pump 12 guage by the bed at night. I keep #4 in the shotgun and 147 grain hollowpoints in the 9. In a little while I'm going to move into a different house. This house was built during WWII when lumber in the area was scarce, so the solution was to build with brick. All walls are solid brick. They are plastered with that cement like stuff that leaves it looking like the wall has a serious case of goosebumps (I've only seen it in older office buildings before). Nice house, cheap enough rent. If I were to miss in a bad situation, that bouncing nine could do some serious damage. The though of many pellets playing pinball in my bedroom isn't too nice either. The shotgun is the primary gun of course. Should I go with some lighter shells for the shotgun and put away the 9? I know birdshot isn't a good stopper, but a ricochet of that seems much less dangerous. Any recommendations?

Thanks,
mole
 
Interesting question. It is not one I have heard pop up on the different forums. Most people are concerned about going through interior walls and possibly harming others in the house. It should also be considered an issue for many exterior walls too. as many frame homes can have little umm, "resistance" to a fired round. I have seen frame construction with thin drywall, fiberglass insulation, a blackfelt board exterior sheathing, and vinyl siding on top. Quite frankly I think I could penetrate that a powerful airgun. I wonder if my sister would let me try on her rec room? I sure that someone could break in with a only a utility knife.
Back to the question, I am not a ballistics guy, and I am sure others would chim in with more intelligent responses, but I doubt that the shotgun is going to cause serious problems. I would bet that a large amount of the energy will be spent on first impact on the walls. The pellets will flatten and the plaster and brick will also absorb some of the energy. If they do ricochet, I would think that most of the energy would be gone if they hit you or someone else.
As far as the handgun, many people have reported being hit with richocet fragments at ranges after shooting at metal targets. Most have said they had minor to no injuries. I think I would keep a round that would expand or fragment loaded in the gun. I think that once again most of the energy would be spent hitting the wall. I'm guessing that if you struck the wall fairly flat, most energy would be gone on impact. Maybe if you hit at a narrow angle. like shooting at someone in a hallway, you would more likely have it glance off the wall. It probably would still have a lot energy then too. But even then, in that situation, the round is still moving away from you.
It probably is good to think about what happens to that round. It is a basic rule of safety to know what is beyond your target. However in a life or death situation, I don't think I would be too worried about that the richochet issue. p.s. I have plaster over brick walls too.
 
I would think that you would want heavier rounds like #00 or slugs. they would be moving slower and therefore bounce less.

This is just an idea, I AM NOT A BALLISTICS EXPERT.
 
You can buy frangible ammo for your pistol (expensive - but you don't have to practice with it). The #4 shotgun pellets should dissipate most of their energy on the initial impact with the frangible surface of the walls (the stucco/cement/mortar should give under the pellet impact then break away from the underlying brick).

I would much prefer to be in a house like you describe, than a typical frame house, when shooting becomes necessary. The problem of shooting through several walls and hitting innocent victims is one I do not believe is addressed adequately in the gun community.
 
Brick might be solid, but it is not hard enough to creat the ricochet problems you are concerned about. IMO
 
Having shot alot of inanimate objects

(Don't ask why!)

Bird shot will bounce off, but with virtually no residual energy/velocity.

00 buckshot, will bounce off also, but still lose almost all if its energy (alot will be lost when the pellets deform).

As far as the 9mm, it will depend alot on the angle it hits at;

If straight on, it may penetrate (a little), and bounce off with almost no energy.

But at an oblique angle (say 45 degrees or less) they will ricochet and carry sufficient energy to do some damage, although quite a bit less than they had initially.

This, again is from some "informal" testing, and YMMV.
 
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