.223 Drywall Penetration Tests

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Since this is still a subject of common misinformation even though there is a ton of available references on it, I thought I would link to some of that information so people could get informed:

One of the best drywall penetration tests around - covers a whole bunch of ammo besides .223 - 230Grain's Drywall Penetration Test

Drywall penentration of .223 test conducted by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice - tested 55gr Federal FMJ, 69gr Federal OTM, 60gr Hornady TAP, and 55gr Remington SP. It also tested each round out of both a 19" barrel and a 14.5" barrel and notes how the velocity change affects what happens to the round.

The well known Box O' Truth tests.

Finally, a Federal publication showing penetration of their various .223 ammo through bare gel, wallboard, steel, and auto glass.

 

[Al Thompson]

IMHO, one key point makes 230grain's test the best going is spacing the walls room width apart. Doesn't hurt that the author posts here either.

 

[ball3006]

I don't understand all this facination with shooting drywall? Pardon my spelling....chris3

 

[merlinfire]

So based on these tests, using heavier .223 bullets or even 7.62x39 is preferable to using FMJ handgun ammo or 00 buck shotgun rounds? that's very surprising, but when you think about it, it does make some sense

 

[merlinfire]

I don't understand all this facination with shooting drywall?

Simulating a home defense situation, and the likelihood for overpenetration that many worry might harm family members or neighbors.

 

[killchain]

I don't understand all this facination with shooting drywall? Pardon my spelling....chris3

People are worried about shooting through a wall (like my apartment wall) and hurting others unintentionally.

I use birdshot in a shotgun for HD. Unless the goblin's wearing body armor, his day is going to be ruined. And if he IS wearing armor, well, he probably isn't wearing 100% armor.

 

[Panzercat]

In before "ZOMG! BIRDSHOT FOR TEH BIRDS!"

 

[kis2]

I JUST had this conversation at work with someone who refused to believe that a .45 could penetrate more than a .223. I encouraged him to do some reading.

Thanks for the links

 

[JDGray]

I don't understand all this facination with shooting drywall? Pardon my spelling....chris3

Unless you live in a cinderblock house, or don't have guns for home defense, you should be aware that you "own" every shot you take.

Me....I don't understand why people shoot balistics gel

 

[CDR_Glock]

Simulating a home defense situation, and the likelihood for overpenetration that many worry might harm family members or neighbors.

.223 is not effective as a defensive round, is it?

 

[76shuvlinoff]

The .45 ball surprised me.

I would liked to have seen the results of the 12ga with an off the shelf load, 2 3/4" 1 oz slug.

 

[Guns and more]

Interesting. I never considered the bullet fragmenting. And some, I assume, are designed to fragment. So, If one is to consider a .223 for H/D, he should load up with the rounds most likely to fragment.

The New Jersey test was the best.
The Toombs test started out with a great idea, but since they shot a lot of holes in the same piece of drywall, it became hard to tell what they were pointing out.
Also, they let their prejudice show too much. Statements like, "9mm jacketed hollowpoints didn't fare much better" didn't add to my knowledge. "didn't fare much better" What does that mean?
Did they break up, or did they sail through?
Just tell me the facts.
The box of truth test was about accuracy, as far as I could tell. Nothing about penetration.

Also, none tested hollow point .45.

Okay, you convinced me. Here's my conclusion:
Fragmenting .223 doesn't penetrate as far as FMJ .45
Apples to apples (in the NJ test) both penetrated.

Now, about that test of 3" 12 Ga. #4 buck against 3" .410 #4 buck............................I can't wait!!

 

[JohnBT]

"Unless you live in a cinderblock house"

Or a house with plaster walls. There are lots of those on the east coast, I don't know about the rest of the country. Plaster is still used on new construction if the owners are willing to pay for it. It gives a home different acoustics. I grew up in houses with plaster walls.

My 1916 home has 14" solid brick walls with an inch of plaster laid on the brick. The interior walls are plaster on lathe. Cinderblocks are hollow.

 

[Float Pilot]

I once accidentally (stupid discharge) fired a 45acp Black Talon round in my dining room.
I was late for graveyard patrol shift and the off-going shift corporal was on the phone being a jerk.
I was still wet from the shower and tried loading and chambering my Colt Commander with my left hand while talking to @-hole with the other hand. When I dropped the slide I also hit the trigger and launched the 45 caliber hollow point right through the wall.

The bullet went through 1/2 inch of sheet-rock, through 6 inches of fiberglass insulation and then through the plywood T-111 siding. Fortunately, it then went dead center down the street to locations unknown.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When I was working in one village north of the Arctic Circle, my house (cabin) was made from 12x12 timbers. With lots of crappy looking urethane foam sprayed outside.
It had been built by a couple of school teachers who thought (rightly) they needed something fortified against bullets. They even had a few stray pieces of steel plates hanging on the inside walls at odd locations.

One New-Years-Eve I heard what sounded like nailing or hammering sounds against the sides of the cabin. I looked out the upper floor window and there were two drunken idiots shooting at my house with a 22 rifle...
While they were reloading, (and drinking from a large whiskey bottle) I opened the upper window and fired a couple 44 mag rounds into the ice near their location. They dropped the rifle, loose 22 ammo and bottle and started to retreat at high speed while slipping on the ice. One of them then turned around and retrieved his whiskey bottle before chasing after his fleeing accomplice.

Had I been playing a stereo or radio, I would have never known those two morons were peppering those 12x12 spruce timbers with 22LR rounds.

 

[figment]

one of them then turned around and retrieved his whiskey bottle before chasing after his fleeing accomplice.

rotfl!

 

[JDGray]

"Unless you live in a cinderblock house"

Or a house with plaster walls. There are lots of those on the east coast, I don't know about the rest of the country. Plaster is still used on new construction if the owners are willing to pay for it. It gives a home different acoustics. I grew up in houses with plaster walls.

My 1916 home has 14" solid brick walls with an inch of plaster laid on the brick. The interior walls are plaster on lathe. Cinderblocks are hollow.

Yeah, thoses houses too Doubt a stray shot would make it out of a cinderblock, but you get my point.

 

[lemaymiami]

That phrase "you own' every shot you take" really caught my eye.... Some years ago during a career in law enforcement, I was called to the scene where one of my officers had fired a shot at some car thieves. He was not my best guy, had been around for some years and was usually the least likely to go looking for trouble.... Never the less he did find a load of young guys in a stolen car and went after them. Between 9 and 10 in the morning on a busy day, it was a few minutes before others were able to support him, so he was on his own during the entire chase and the bad guys finally bailed out in the middle of an nice residential area. By himself with four or five in the car, he fired a shot at one of them that initially turned toward him. At that point all the young men scattered and the officer was left with a recovered car and the need to do a "use of force" report on the shot he'd fired. I listened to his initial account while other officers were on foot busy chasing down all the young felons as they ran through the houses.... He was able to justify the discharge (barely...) but the possibilities were very bad.

The first question I asked him stopped the officer cold and he looked like I'd just walked across his grave.... "Where did that bullet go"? was the question and he was looking toward all those nice houses down range... I don't think that in the excitement of the car chase and its aftermath that he even considered it until I asked him about it.

We never did find where that round went (and no one ever reported a bullet hole in house or window...). The look on my officer's face as he looked down that street in the direction that he'd fired the shot said it all.... and I think that's a lesson for all of us.

You absolutely do own every shot you fire, and whatever the consequences that result, no matter what the circumstances....

 

[bigalexe]

Ok here is a test I did that should probably illustrate the point, yes I really did this and no I don't remember where pictures are. The test was done for the local science fair.

I wanted to test if spacing between two obstacles through which a projectile passed mattered significantly on the effect of overall penetration. My test rig was firing a crossbow through 2 pieces of drywall spaced anywhere from 2" to 24" at some regular interval I can't recall. My meter for overall power was measuring penetration on a final target.

Result: I discovered no correlation because I found instead that 2 pieces of drywall at any distance apart from a distance of under 10 yards are NO MATCH for a crossbow with a field point.

Where's the gun relation?
That experiment was done with a crossbow. A crossbow bolt has far less energy than any bullet I can think of. So if you are doubting the capability of projectiles to penetrate drywall then I suggest you reconsider.

On a side note the experiment did not place, my catapult experiment a few years earlier fared much better but that is another story.

 

[Guns and more]

Oops.
Nothing to see here folks, move along.

 

[HJ857]

you should be aware that you "own" every shot you take

In training classes it's stressed that every miss costs you a million bucks in liability. I mean that literally. Even if it doesn't, should you be put in that situation, you should always assume that you will be liable for your misses.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Yeah, I've been on the range many days and heard the range officers yelling as we were firing, "Where does a missed round go?"....."To court!!!"

 

[txhoghunter]

CDR Glock, yes the .223 is quite an effective home defense round. With fragmenting rounds, it can be a great stopper. Why would you think it is not a good defensive round?

And as this test proves, overpenetration with it, even though it is a rifle, is less than other firearms that many use for HD.