Penetration issues

[dasmi]

Ya, that title sounds a little perverse, I know
anyway, moving on.
I'll be moving into an apartment soon, and I'm worried that should I ever have to use my gun (Ruger Service Six, .357 magnum) in my home, the round might exit the intruder, and go through a wall and kill a nieghbor. Worse would be if I missed, of course. So, which bullet type would be likely to not make it through a person and wall, and also what are the chances of stray buckshot from a shotgun (which I'll be buying soon) penetrating a wall?

 

[whm1974]

Buckshot will go through drywall. The wad itself will go right through drywall.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/

At close range birdshot will do just as well as buckshot.

Not cheap but Glaser and Magsafe were designed for penetration issues.

-Bill

 

[Mannlicher]

Oh my god, another 'overpenetration' thread

 

[Bear Gulch]

For across an apartment #6 steel or chilled shot will minimally over penetrate walls, but will put a serious hole in meat!

 

[Stratford Holdings]

theboxoftruth.com is great. I looked at that over the weekend and was a little surprised. I guess this is why we try and angle our shots upward. i.e. on bended knee shooting upward toward the BG.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I can tell you from expierience that a,380 JHP will go through a layer of fiberglass, 2 layers of insulation, 4 layers of drywall and one layer of chicken-wire backed stucco without stopping.


Don't ask.

 

[W Turner]

Like some others have said, #6 shot is great for this and within 10 yards or so, it acts as a solid mass of lead.

If you're going to be using your .357, look at some of the lighter loads for .38spl. +P. they will get 9mm velocities and the lighter loads will help to decrease overpenetration. They will still go right through a wall if you miss though.


W

 

[sturmruger]

W Turner you took the words right out of my mouth. I think the some .38 special rounds will be exactly what you need.

 

[HankB]

Practically anything useful for self-defense (including rounds like the Glaser) will penetrate typical internal building materials like sheetrock. (Usually several thicknesses.)

 

[SRYnidan]

I will have to respectfully disagree. The Glaser safety Slug should work fine in this role out of a service six.

Real world observation.

Glaser Blue in 9mm fired from 4-5’ struck hollow core interior door.
Entrance hole 9mm nominal exit approximately ¾-1â€
Remains of round struck far wall of room approximately 8-10’ largest recovered piece was a less than 1’ shard of jacket metal that was found stuck in the front surface of the back wall. Neither it nor any of the shot penetrated further than the paint and front paper facing of the drywall.
This has proven to be typical performance from this round in a number of tests conducted by my self and others over the years.

The Glaser has been denigrated by those that feel it has insufficient penetration for general use. This is probably true but as a special purpose round where over penetration is a major concern it has a pretty good track record. Just remember it doesn’t penetrate intermediate barriers very well (but that is what you are looking for right).
I do not and would not carry it for CCW but for bedside gun with my children in their rooms at the end of the hall it has its place.

Just my 2cents.

 

[dasmi]

I'll have to check those Glassers out. Basically, I plan on using a shotgun for my main home defense weapon, but should the need arise to use my service six, I don't want to be sending lead through the neighbor's place.

 

[David N]

Alternative for Pistol

What about getting a "ratshot" .38 round?

I don't know if this would overpenetrate walls or not. Can someone tell us?

 

[Bear Gulch]

Never had good luck with ratshot. I prefer the 12 guage for perimeter defense/home defense anyhow.

 

[earonthief]

Shotgun w/ a reduced recoil or trap load in #6 or 71/2's can be devasting at close range and over penatration is limited. As to the 357, I would steer away from glasier I fired 6 from my wife's S&W 629 at a hotwater heater at 15 steps. 2 were thru and thru, 3 were "lost" to the interior and 1 "splashed" on the outside.

 

[entropy]

More real world input on Glasers. I sold a Taurus M85 .38Spl. to a gal(while working at a gun shop) and she died from a single Glaser to the head at about 2" from the skull. Was ruled a suicide, but my personal belief from the evidence was she was killed by someone else with her own weapon. (I had advised her to train with it, and had offered to personally do so, she declined.) The evidence photos showed quite clearly that the Glaser rounds work as advertised. There was very little left on the exit side, and the exit wound was literally the whole side of the head. I found out it had happened when her family came in and "wanted to see the kind of gun she used to kill herself." Kind of a rough night at the gun shop, that one.

BTW, I prefer a shotgun with birdshot for HD. I keep a stripper clip for both my SKS and one of my Mosins handy for varmints, but will be moving to town in 2 mo.

 

[Warren]

Really, it is more of a "perforation" thread.

Still though it is nice to keep the ideas floating around and easy to reach.

Oh my god, another 'overpenetration' thread

 

[ny32182]

FAL loaded with mil-surp FMJ.

Just kidding. My "go-to" gun at home is in the night stand loaded with 9mm 124gr Corbon +P. I live in an apartment, but my probable lanes of fire would either put misses/over penetrations off into the woods, or through at LEAST 8 layers of sheetrock and siding before entering a neighboring unit. I don't worry about over penetration all that much.

 

[carpettbaggerr]

http://thehighroad.org/search.php?searchid=337861

88 pages of results. 25 threads/page = 2200 threads to keep you busy.