Car doors

[tackleberry45]

Confusion. I was goofin around out in the sticks with some friends and shot several rounds of .45 through car doors from about 20 - 25'. I was using Rem GS 185. I have seen threads where a .45 is not supposed to be able to do this. Granted I was shooting into 70's era cars that were one step from the recyclig heap, they are still metal though. Where exactly is the logic I have seen in threads about needing something like a .357 Sig to penetrate a car door.

 

[igpoobah]

Car doors are just light gage metal. Punch through easily.

 

[igpoobah]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/buickot3.htm

 

[GigaBuist]

Where exactly is the logic I have seen in threads about needing something like a .357 Sig to penetrate a car door.

I believe that the thinking is that you want something like .357 Sig when you are going to be hitting a car door or windshield at an angle. Pretty much anything will punch through a car door when hit at a right angle. Pretty sure I've seen even .22LR do it.

 

[obxned]

I've shot old cars with a bunch of different ammo in a bunch of calibers. A car door is not near as tough as you think.

 

[silversport]

Well they go through the outer skin okay but what is left over of the ones that make it to the inside...not much...unless it's Hollywood.
Bill

 

[igpoobah]

Well they go through the outer skin okay but what is left over of the ones that make it to the inside...not much...unless it's Hollywood.

Depends on what they contact on the way through. If all they see is sheet metal and cardboard door panels, going clean through the other side is very possible...

 

[sm]

Re: Car Doors

There is a difference if the glass is rolled up, or rolled down inside the door.
Glass does interesting things to projectiles.

 

[kingpin008]

Well they go through the outer skin okay but what is left over of the ones that make it to the inside...not much...unless it's Hollywood.

Sure about that? Check out the link to The Box o' Truth in the comments above. Shows more than one caliber easily penetrating through car doors with enough mass and velocity left over to pass through targets inside the car, and dent the passenger door on the way through.

 

[brentn]

I think police officers do it becuase it probably works for them.
Crown vics have alot more done to them than just the engine I'm sure. Steel plates in the doors maybe?

 

[silversport]

I am just saying it is not very reliable...I never said it couldn't get through but there is so much stuff inside the door, why would you waste your shots there...just a thought...and yes, I have tried it (on the "range")...
Bill

 

[silversport]

Squad cars can have plates in the doors if they are ordered that way...I don't think most if not all DON'T have any armor in the doors...
Bill

 

[silversport]

...I read the link to say that the bullets fragmented and came apart going through the door...the target shows debris damaged the target as much as anything else...I would not COUNT on bullets through a car door doing anything...if that is the ONLY option open to you...and it rarely is, I guess give it a try.
Bill

 

[Mad Magyar]

It reminds me of Skeeter Skelton writing about how is .38sp's were bouncing off car doors & windows. His account was hilarious while trying to apprehend the BG's. I'll try to locate it....

 

[ZeSpectre]

Just fyi, police departments -can- get "sandwich" plates mounted in the doors of the cruisers. So far I've seen exactly ONE set up that way. There may be others but it's really not common.

As others have mentioned, the big deal with cars is the glass. The rest of most cars these days (or for the past 15-20 years for that matter) are an amalgam of plastic, paint, and advertising.

 

[tasco 74]

i'd hate to depend on my 99 sable for cover!!..... the skin on that thing is like tin foil........ it would be kinda fun to shoot it with some 150 gr. cast swcs at about 1250 fps just test it ............

 

[Baneblade]

We recently put 13 rounds (40 S&W) through a vehicle.... Some of the rounds penetrated and some didn't. There are too many variables in a door to say one type of round can go through and another won't. Windows and their mechanical equipment, wiring, side impact beams, interior plastic and molding, hinges, etc.

 

[Dustinthewind]

.9MM .357mag .45ACP .45Colt .44Mag will all punch through one side of a car and out the other. We had several old cars stashed down by the creek on my grandparents farm and experimented thoroughly with them. If you have to use a car for cover the safest way to do it is put the engine between you and the threat.

 

[10-Ring]

I've shot at a fair number of car doors over the years & car doors aren't as bulletproof as one might think. But really, if it came down to it, any cover is better than no cover. If you recall the No. Hollywood shootout, LEO's were behind wheels for cover because rounds were piercing their units pretty easily.