Small condo defense 9mm - penetration of common wall (multiple threads merged)

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Anything that is capable of penitrating through skin, muscle and bone to reach the vital organs of a human being can easily pass through two layers of dry wall. Drywall is not very tough. You can punch your fist through it.
 
When you say condo I am assuming you mean in a complex. All of your exterior walls, meaning the circumference of your unit, should be firewalls. Even if the other side is a stairwell or common hallway. If that is the case any walls that you share with a neighbor should be firewalls. Firewalls have some type of block between them, this is what makes them fire resistant. They are meant to give the firefighters enough time to get there before the fire spreads. I've never shot bricks or cinder blocks with a 9mm, but I wouldn't imagine they would go through.

How old is the complex? Ask your complex manager if there are firewalls between the units. I cannot imagine they are not. If they are not firewalls then your complex is not up to code. That being the case, I think you would be safe with any modern defensive round. However they will penetrate interior wall of the condo itself with enough power to kill unless they hit a stud.

Best of luck.
Shawn
 
Any bullet that will be effective against another human being will easily pass through a wall, especially an interior wall, with more than enough juice left to kill somebody on the other side.
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Unless we're talking concrete walls or the builder happened to use kevlar backed sound deadening insulation...I agree with the above statement %150. If you're talking about sheetrock, maybe some wood if the shot glances a stud and some insulation, that's just too easily penetrated. My kid's bb gun will go through that and still put your eye out. It all depends on what your common wall is made of.

I wouldn't count on head shots, either. You may not have the opportunity or the target to do so. Also, if you're limiting yourself to head shots you are greatly increasing your chance of misses. I can hit head sized targets from 7 to 40+ yards all day long. But can I do that under stress when someone is kicking in my door? I honestly don't know, no matter how much training I do. I'll stick with center of mass...or maybe 2 to the chest and one to the head, but likely I'll just go center of mass until the threat stops.
 
Like ForumSurfer said, head shots only greatly increases your chance of missing, and misses are what will pose the greatest threat to bystanders in any shooting situation.

Just practice practice practice so if you ever do have to use your gun you will do so responsibly.

And just get regular 124-147 JHP loads, any one of the many well-designed current bullets will serve you well, JHP design has come a long way over the last thirty years based on our collective experience with what works and what doesn't, and there is NO reason at all not to take advantage of that knowledge.
 
A good option is to fire from low cover. Hide behind something and let the bad guy come to you. If you miss the bullets will be traveling at an upward angle and should pass over the heads of people sleeping in ajacent appartments.
 
If it is that tinnnnyyyyy of a room with neighbors that close --buy some wasp spray and leave the pistol in the underwear drawer.
 
Oboe said:
I'm looking for a 9mm home defense round for a pistol that will be useful but not go through the common wall and injure my neighbor.
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Sorry man, there is no such thing if the common wall is just sheetrock.
 
Glasers use all their energy when they hit.
I have them in my .357. In case my .45 Hi Cap, 870, or my Makarov run out of bullets.

" imparting all the bullet's energy very quickly rather than over-penetrating a target or ricocheting on a miss."
"The bullet design can produce large shallow wounds in flesh while failing to pass through structural barriers thicker than drywall or sheet metal"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaser_Safety_Slug

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes in to us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands and hopes we've learnt something from yesterday.- John Wayne
 
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If you are in S. Fl and the condos were built after Andrew, most likely they are concrete.

You could always go the home store and get the supplies to make up some dummy walls and try different brands to see which don't penetrate as much. IIRC, there was a study that showed the .223 actually penetrated lees than 00 buck or 9mm handgun rounds.....someone here probably has the link..........
 
aren't glasser rounds supposed to not go through walls? i am sure there are quite a few arguments for/against such rounds for home defense, but the bullet you feel comfortable putting into the bad guy is a far sight better than the bullet you might hesitate to shoot because you like your neighbors.
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They don't have a whole lot going for them beyond marketing hype. Unfortunately for them most people can easily gain enough of a working grasp of terminal ballistics to realize they are almost worthless. Super expensive, weird weights and velocities so they probably shoot way off compared to conventional bullets, oh and conventional bullets are much more reliable and effective for use against people.

And they probably still go through drywall pretty easily, maybe if the wall is insulated it would help stop them, but I can see one going through two layers of drywall and breaking up just as it came out, peppering whatever is on the other side. I mean they have to be less capable of penetrating a wall than regular bullets, but if it would be enough to totally eliminate the risk of harming someone on the other side of the wall, I'm not so sure.

I know the Extreme Shockz stuff just acts like a typical solid bulletwhen used against walls.
 
The problem with Glazers is that they can be hard to find in significant quantities, and they are SUPER expensive when you do. Especially if you have a semi auto. With a wheel gun, you could probably get by with a cylinder full or two to verify POA vs POI, make sure the primers don't back out or the cases stick in the chambers. But with an auto, the typical recommendation is to shoot at least 100 rounds of your SHTF ammo before betting your life on it. Preferrably more (I did 200 JHPs, in addition to 200 FMJ in my 1911 before calling it reliable).

Say you go with 200 for testing (it is a bit different than your average 9mm afterall), plus 30 or 40 to have around. Last time I saw Glazer 9mm it was about $11 for a 6 round pack. That works out to $440, before tax. Yikes. Honestly, if your set on Glazers it'd be cheaper to buy a used S&W Model 10 .38 Spl for $250 or so, then buy 8 packs of Glazers for less than $100.

OTH ...

IIRC, there was a study that showed the .223 actually penetrated lees than 00 buck or 9mm handgun rounds.....someone here probably has the link..........
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There have been a number of tests that demonstrate this. 5.56 x .223 still penetrates several walls (more than a Glazer or birdshot will for example), but yes it does generally tend to penetrate fewer walls than slower moving medium and big bore pistol rounds, particularly in 55 grain or lighter form.

And as another poster pointed out, a gun like an AR-15 does make a more stable firing platform, increasing the odds of a hit instead of a miss. Combine that with this:

A good option is to fire from low cover. Hide behind something and let the bad guy come to you. If you miss the bullets will be traveling at an upward angle and should pass over the heads of people sleeping in ajacent appartments.
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or just taking a knee, and you may well have a viable HD option. Something to think about at least.

Also as others point out, to be effective a projectile must penetrate deeply enough to inflict significant enough damage on a "motivated" BG (not uncommon for people to not know they've been shot right way, due to adrenaline dump) that he can no longer continue the attack. Problem with Glazers is they usually don't penetrate deeply enough to do that.
 
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in all honesty.....any round capable of effectively and reliably putting down an intruder is also going to penetrate walls like sheet rock and drywall.... its a simple and unavoidable fact...
 
I like oneounceload's idea. Find out how the wall is made, duplicate the structure and shoot the mock-up.

When asking about the wall structure it might be good if you do not say exactly why you want to know.
 
This is what the Taurus Judge or S&W GOvenor is for. If you can't handle a real shotgun, or it is too unwieldy, the Judge is your answer. Start with a round or two of #4 shot from Federal for the Judge (these are harder and pattern better than regular #4 410 shells). Next cylinder, perhaps the Winchester PDX which has BB shot and "Defense disks". Last cylinder could be Remington 00 buck or Federal 000 Buck for the Judge. If you go with the 3" chambered version, there are some other choices available (#4 buck).

It is difficult to find a load that adequately penetrates a person and doesn't penetrate a wall. One of the advantages of round ball loads is quick loss of velocity. But I think even #4 shot is quite marginal on a person, and will most likely penetrate multiple layers of sheet rock. The Winchester PDX is probably the smallest shot with almost adequate penetration.

Hope for very light clothing and lightly built people...
 
I think Glaser Safety or the like.....and for myself with these thoughts I have always picked out items in rooms as target posistions....

For Example:
1) Consider home layout
2) If intrusion occurred and intruder was engaged...Where am I in layout?

For me at my front door the wall parrallell with the door, I have 2 mirrors hung at aproximately head level...between these two mirrors is aproximately 6 feet of space that in my layout is a safe fire zone ( nothing on other side of wall that presents a concern )

It may sound complicated or illogical but if you start looking at your layout you will see safe zones in relation to other zones that would be a concern when thinking of shooting through a wall and injuring a innocent victim or family member.

It would truly be a intense situation in the event of an intrusion! but with these things thought of in advance they are already in your memory.

Now take some quick steps from say your bedroom door to your front or back door and count of 1001,1002,1003.....etc. this is possibly how quick you have to process defensive response with no concern of shooting someone else.

The two mirrors are directly my sight radius on the wall from my bedroom door!

Hope that helped...still glaser or the like AND some thought and planning!

And hope you never need either!
 
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