Which of these two for disabling car engine?

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I you had to rely on one of these two combos to stop a vehicle bearing down, to save your life or that of a loved one, which would you choose to penetrate into the engine block and to the most damage, to try to disable it?

.45-70, Garrett Hammerhead 540 gr super-hardcast lead

or

.30-'06, US .mil 166 gr black-tipped / AP ammo

??

 

[Weedy]

Doesn't Garrett make a .45-70 500 grain tungsten solid? I'd pick that! After that, the 540 gr Hammerhead.

 

[Ian]

I would tend towards the -06, because it could be used in a semiauto. Having more than one shot readily available would significantly increase the chances of hitting something vital in the engine. Even if the .45-70 was more effective on a per-shot basis, I'd probably still pick the .30-06.

 

[Weedy]

HEY...I just checked the website, now instead of the tungsten solid, Garrett has a "500-GRAIN Hornady Copper-Clad Steel Jacketed Flatnose Solid at 1530-fps", maybe thet would be good too...

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I would choose the black tipped AP 30.06 since I already have that BUT while BOTH will disable an engine NEITHER will stop a car already bearing down on you.

 

[briansmithwins]

AP is designed to go thru steel. BAR with a 20 round mag full of those will let Killdozer know it's been in a fight.

But like the other guy noted, get out of the way. There ain't nothing you're going to tote around that's going to stop a car dead. Kill the driver and engine sure, knockback a 2000lb moving mass? No.

BSW

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

OK, jimmyray, it's 200 yards away 'bearing down'. You're at the end of a looooong alley with no escape.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

What speed is it going? A speeding car will cover 200 yards pretty quickly. If it is going very fast and moving out of the way is not possible then I hope you have something in the 20mm range!

 

[MachIVshooter]

20x138mm.

Bullets have an incredibly difficult time getting through vehicles, especially the engine compartment. It's more than just the sum of the metal they have to pierce; There are all kinds of funny angles that easily deflect even a large bullet.

Seriously, we had a '97 Honda civic that was trashed and decided to experiment. So we drug it down to the range, lugged out my AR-50 and loaded up with 708 gr. armor piercing rounds. The first shot was to the right (facing the car) of center, since the engine is driver side. The round pierced the radiator and support and hit one of the M10 A/C compressor bolts right on the head. It gouged the bolt into a crescent shape about 1/2 way down and broke the boss off of the block, but failed to penetrate the engine. This car would have continued to run, though it would have overheated shortly from loss of coolant. But the point is that even on the lowly Honda with it's tiny 1.5l engine and lightly constructed chassis, the mighty AP .50 BMG round could not be counted on to get the job done without question. The next round was adjusted slightly to the left, went through the grille, radiator support, radiator and exhaust manifold and poked a hole in the block at the #3 cylinder. Yeah, that one would have done the trick. But this was a stationary vehicle, that we had examined underhood prior to engaging, and did so at 70 yards with a carefully aimed shot from a formidable rifle with rounds designed for anti-material purposes.

 

[R.W.Dale]

An engine is like an animal. It can continue to run when it shouldn't with many of it's vital components disabled.

I've seen engines running that when parked and the hood opened you could see pistons and valves

 

[19-3Ben]

I seem to remember hearing that the 10ga. shotgun used to be used at roadblocks to stop cars.

Anybody care to verify or debunk this?

 

[blkbrd666]

it's 200 yards away 'bearing down'. You're at the end of a looooong alley with no escape.

Run as fast as you can towards the car. When you are 20 feet away, jump as high as possible, tuck and hold your legs. When you land, pull your 9mm and shoot the driver through the rear windshield.

What???...it works just fine on TV!

 

[jimmyraythomason]

A bulldozier worked pretty good on "Vanishing Point".

 

[MTMilitiaman]

M1 Garand with the AP rounds. I can dump 8 rounds of 06 through a semi-auto accurately far faster than I can empty the mag of any lever rifle.

 

[MachIVshooter]

M1 Garand with the AP rounds. I can dump 8 rounds of 06 through a semi-auto accurately far faster than I can empty the mag of any lever rifle.

After my experience that I detailed above, I wouldn't even be comfortable with my AR-10 loaded with 25 rounds of AP.

And remember, too, that just because the engine stops doesn't mean the car does. Lot of momentum. If the vehicle has an automatic trans, a dead engine will not provide any drag, so you're stuck waiting for friction to slow a 3,000 + pound missile. From 60 MPH on level ground, with properly inflated tires, a vehicle can easily roll several hundred feet.

If someone is trying to run you over, don't bother shooting at them. Get the &#$* out of the way. Just ask our soldiers pulling roadblock duty in Iraq. Multiple M4's, M249's, Mk 19's and M2HB's unloading, and these cars still get through. Driver is dead, but that doesn't mean he failed his mission.

 

[Zerodefect]

Shoot the driver and hope for the best. Shooting the engine won't stop the car.

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

And remember, too, that just because the engine stops doesn't mean the car does. Lot of momentum. If the vehicle has an automatic trans, a dead engine will not provide any drag, so you're stuck waiting for friction to slow a 3,000 + pound missile. From 60 MPH on level ground, with properly inflated tires, a vehicle can easily roll several hundred feet.

If someone is trying to run you over, don't bother shooting at them. Get the &#$* out of the way. Just ask our soldiers pulling roadblock duty in Iraq. Multiple M4's, M249's, Mk 19's and M2HB's unloading, and these cars still get through. Driver is dead, but that doesn't mean he failed his mission.

+1

You're worried about a car mowing you down? Forget 30-06 or 45-70. What you should be realistically considering is Nike or Adidas.

 

[pbearperry]

Trying to stop a car coming at you with any kind of hand held firearm is foolish.Use all the time in the world you have running to where the car can't get at you if possible.Only in movies do bullets stop motor vehicles.

 

[RedLion]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OILOGI2mALA&feature=related

Other than that, there's not much short of a tank that will do you any good.

 

[ants]

He asked about disabling a car engine in a specific situation.

Tad set up a hypothetical scenario for us to discuss.
Let's keep within that framework.


Disabling the engine may be accomplished by disabling the person controlling it. Either round will take out the driver. At that point, you have (at the very least) removed the controller of the automobile. It is unlikely that the throttle will remain depressed, given that the muscles depressing it are now dead. The car will likely veer left or right and scrape the walls of the alley, eventually coming to a stop. In movies, a dead person still pushes on throttle pedals. In reality, that probably won't happen.


However, I think Tad wants to know about disabling the engine by shooting a hole in it. 45/70 lead won't penetrate cast iron or aluminum as well as an small diameter AP projectile. But disabling the engine by hitting ignition or fuel injection parts is more effective anyway. Either round will do that.

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

Where was anything said about an alley?

I you had to rely on one of these two combos to stop a vehicle bearing down, to save your life or that of a loved one, which would you choose to penetrate into the engine block and to the most damage, to try to disable it?

The situation is to save your life or the life of a loved one. And the best way to do that is to the run the BLEEP away not take shots at the engine block like an 80's action movie.....

I'm thinkin a nice pair of these:

And not to mention, they barely cost more than a box of fancy ammo

 

[R.W.Dale]

OK, jimmyray, it's 200 yards away 'bearing down'. You're at the end of a looooong alley with no escape.

it will take a car about 7 seconds to cover 200yds at 55mph

if the car weighs 4000lbs it is packing 404,494.3 ft lbs of energy

as previously noted an auto trans will provide NO resistance IF you manage to kill the engine. So in short in this situation road pizza you will become

 

[19-3Ben]

Where was anything said about an alley?

OK, jimmyray, it's 200 yards away 'bearing down'. You're at the end of a looooong alley with no escape.

How about shooting out the tires. That way it's more likely to veer and loser control. Of course, standing in front of the car, the tire is a pretty darn small target.

Now, is there any round that would offer enough of a hard smack that it could break the engine mounts? I mean, if you could hit the motor, and break the mounts then that might fall down through the engine compartment and really mess things up.

So my question is, what round hits hard enough to break the engine mounts? .375H&H? .577 t-rex?

 

[jimmyraythomason]

The alley scenario was brought up by the OP in post #7. In such a situation the only thing that will stop the vehicle will have to be powerful enough to halt the forward motion of the vehicle. The OP did ask about disabling the engine but also included stopping the vehicle.

 

[WardenWolf]

I'd prefer buckshot to the tires and windshield followed by slugs to the engine. Wreck the tires to slow the car, kill the driver, then break the engine block. That's me, though. A Saiga 12 would be ideal for this. Any high-powered rifle would work, though.