Shoot 'em Up Friday (VIII)

Sorry about last week... I was a trifle busy.

Today's excercise is another discussion about bullet penetration, and the use of effective cover. On television and in the movie, we have seen cops and cowboys take cover behind all manner of things during gunfights. One of the things we see them take cover behind are wooden structures... outhouses, sheds, etc... Well, not to disillusion anyone, but wood is a bad thing to hide behind unless it is fairly thick.

Let's have a look that. We'll be using a half inch thick sheet of plywood as our target today. Our ammunition, picured below, will be the 5.56mm round, fired from an M-4 carbine, the 5.7x28mm round, fired from the P-90 submachine gun, and the .357 (Sig) round, fired from a SigSauer P-229 pistol.



We will also be using a Remington 870, 12 gauge shotgun, through which we will shoot the target with a rifled slug and with a round of double-ought buckshot.

Here are what the bullet holes look like from the first three weapons/calibers:



This is what the shot spread for one round of double-O buckshot looks like at seven yards.



This is what the rifled slug did.



As you can see, all of the various types of ammunition easily perforated the wood, and would have done the same for anyone trying to use said wood for protection.

The lesson here? Try to use something more substantive to protect yourself from incoming rounds.

Next Friday: Body Armor!