using a weapon in an apartment

[ganymede]

I live in a large apartment building in an urban area. I own a taurus 9mm compact that i use for ccw. I am buying a semi-auto rifle chambered in 7.62x39 for plinking/hunting and defense maybe. im concerned about firing a rfile inside an apartment. if i hit the suspect will the bullet go right through them and into a neighbors house? will a 7.62 round go through a person AND a wieght brearing wall? will it go through just a person and still be deadly? what about just a weight bearing wall?

 

[edelbrock]

Do not use the 7.62 for an SD round in an apartment. It will go right through the walls.

 

[John Parker]

I've shot through like 4 cinder blocks in a row with my AK. It won't be stopped by people or sheetrock.

 

[ganymede]

im not talking about sheet rock. my 9mm will go through sheet rock. i mean a weight bearing brick wall for a 3 story building. i don't know whats stronger, a solid wall like mine or 4 cinderblocks

 

[ganymede]

as far as people goes... ive read that a supersonic bullet explodes and puts all its energy out very quickly if it hits water. scince the human body is mostly water might that be the case at close range? I would have thought an AK round would go right through 3 people in a row until i read that, but now im not sure.

 

[edelbrock]

A FMJ round will go through 3 people, no problem. It will also go through a lot of wall.

 

[sm]

Most likely your concerns are answering the door, exiting, and entering the apartment.

Handguns fit these concerns very well.

It is very difficult to carry a long gun concealed to run down the mailbox, take trash to the dumpster, unload the car of groceries, stand outside of apt door and sign for Fed Ex/UPS and bring in packages, run down to resident manager's office to pay rent, or pick up packages left with them, as you were not home.

Before you ask, I prefer standard pressure 124 gr loads for a 9mm.

 

[bigfatdave]

Most likely your concerns are answering the door, exiting, and entering the apartment.
Handguns fit these concerns very well.

I agree, I don't see a carbine playing a major role in general home defense, assuming a handgun is available. Keep your carry gun ready to go as the HD gun, and you're set unless you want to add a shotgun to the mix.
Check out the box o truth for some interesting tests on various calibers and guns, and how they do going through walls/bricks/sandbags/water/cars/glass/bread/books/etc etc

 

[Gdstealth]

The sad thing is a shotgun with bird shot will go through a wall too. Look on youtube for video.

 

[ganymede]

yeah im think ill just keep the rifle put away and continue to use my 9mm as my home defense gun until i can afford a shotgun.

 

[cratti]

As stated before, heavy standard pressure loads would probably be your best bet...

 

[BBQLS1]

I would use 00 buck or a handgun. IMO anything going to adequately penetrate a bad guy is going to penetrate home building materials. 00 buck and handgun rounds will be less likely to penetrate compared to a rifle round. A 12 gauge slug will be a different story. Slugs are for penetration.

 

[Shadow 7D]

what you need is a nice can of bear spray, one shot and everybody runs away.

AND no worries about how many walls you'll penetrate.

 

[sm]

Re: Weapon.

The objective is to never have to go to guns.
Train for the worst, and hope for the best. So we train with other tools (weapons) which include guns, or we are supposed to anyway...

Strategy & Tactics in regard to Apartments, Condo's, and Duplexes have been discussed numerous times around here, so I suggest a search.

The earlier one picks up a signal the more distance they have to deal with a situation.
Distance is not just feet and yards, distance includes time.

Prevention is a key, and apartment keys have been discussed. So has peep holes, and not advertising one has valuables of interest, such as stickers on vehicles, and going to and from one's vehicle with "logo gun gear".

If allowed, install an alarm, get a dawg, or both.

The objective is to not look like prey, this "distances" you from predators. If predators get interested, then alarms, dawgs, or both might distance one as well, as...there is easier prey to be had.

Matters go to serious, then the arrangement of furniture for shooting lanes and cover come into play.

Guns are fine and dandy, and one should have guns , amongst others tools in the toolbox.
No tool is every better than the user of said tool, therefore one must be very good with the tools in the tool box they do have.

Like air horns.

I do suggest you wear ear protection when you mess with that tool...*smile*

 

[YammyMonkey]

The effects of any rifle round on living tissue will be considerably different than the effects on a cinder block. The AK is your best bet for taking the fight out of someone, but like sm mentioned, it's hard to have at-hand all the time. Handguns suck at taking the fight out of people but you can have one with you all the time.

In the home setting I consider the handgun my primary until I can get to my AR. If I get to the AR first I'll go with that from the start because it is an all-around better weapon. If you miss with either your 9mm or your AK or a shotgun, you run a serious risk of having rounds leave your home. Know what's on the other side of that wall & train so you make hits.

 

[Davek1977]

what you need is a nice can of bear spray, one shot and everybody runs away.

I don't know about you, but I for one AM NOT comfortable meeting a potentially armed advesary with nothing more than pepper spray. I want to ELIMINATE threats to my safety, not merely slow them down. Pepper spray is beter than nothing, but theres a reason its ONE of the tools availble to police, and not THE tool issued to them. Please, if you are going to use bear spray, have a firearm availble as backup....few people are offered a second chance at saving their lives, and being underprepared for a deadly incident is a good way to end up dead. I have nothing against pepper spray, but I do not advise it as one's SOLE means of protection by any means

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I used a Mossberg 500a with Target load for apartment SD. Thank goodness I never had to use it but I did come close a couple of times. You could also look at the Aguila 1 3/4" shells but make sure the shotgun you use them in has a solid cartridge elevator so they don't just fall out the bottom of the gun.

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

Do not use 7.62x39 for SD. Unless you're in a farm house miles away from civilization. That round will go through cinder blocks, car doors, everything.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Davek1977 said: Please, if you are going to use bear spray, have a firearm availble as backup

He already does, I took the question of asking what FIREARM would be best in an apartment, the point is that any gun / caliber will penetrate the walls, and he already stated that he was getting a gun. Unless your willing to trade off the penetration for an Air Freedom round, the large dose of OC is one of the options that DOESN'T penetrate apartment walls.

 

[.cheese.]

Gotta agree with the others. 7.62x39 will go through the walls. Get ammunition for your 9mm that is designed for SD use in a house or apt building like Glaser Safety Slug or some frangible ammo.

Glaser actually does make a 7.62x39 loading, but I still wouldn't risk it.

 

[YammyMonkey]

Glasers & other similar rounds (Extreme Shock) are junk. Use a high quality hollow point & spend the time & money you saved worrying about this on training. Any round can penetrate a wall- even the much lauded birdshot in your 12 ga. Stop worrying about your gear- what you have is decent enough & get to learning how to use it.

 

[CapnMac]

Load bearing wall often not that more solid than an "ordinary" stud (partition) wall. Just studs at a regular spacing with some wall finish applied.

"Load bearing" has to do with headers and whether or not you can knock holes in them willy-nilly.

Now, "Demising" walls in multifamily structures generally have to have known fire resistance. That can mean things like filling with mineral wool insulation, double layers of Type-X wall board, or solid-filled reinforced masonry. Those wall might be a bit more bullet resistant than the exterior walls or interior partition walls.

I never much worried about my walls when I lived in an apartment. I worried more about the folks across the street who were an on-going "domestic" of one sort or another. That 60 x 60 quarter-strength window was not going to be a lot of protection.

 

[mljdeckard]

Hornady TAP.

 

[thesolidus]

'bear spray'??? Yeah, everyone will run... And your eyes will run and your nosewill run... Spray pepper or CS in a closed space and you'll be forced to evacuate it for hours, then whenever you touch anything you'll transfer back to yourself.
That said, pepper is a great tool to chase a crowd off your car, away from the front door etc.
Just didn't work in the wind, or rain.

Design a Defensable space where you can run to, barricade yourself, arm up and wait for help or funnel Xerxces army.
Gun safe in the master bath with a door bar and some basic supplies (flashlight, whistle etc) under the sink and you can barricade for hours.
Even has running water, magazines and a toilet too!

Stay with the 9mm.

 

[JohnKSa]

Hornady TAP.

Very good. Amazing how few people get it.

It's not the caliber or firearm that determines the penetration, it's the ammunition design.