Unofficial Penetration Test

Geezer

Geezer

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Over the last few weeks we have done a very informal penetration test. We have used handguns in calibers that are not the first choice for carry. It seems like .38 Special +P or 9mm is the minimum any more.

This test was done on whatever firearm we were shooting at the time. There was a scrap piece of treated pine 2 X 12 available and we decided to shoot one round at it. The distance was 7 yards.

As you can see, we used a .22 Short, .22 Long Rifle, .22 Magnum, .25 Auto, .32 Auto, .32 S&W, .380 ACP. and .38 Special. Let's hear some guess as to which rounds you think passed through the board and the ones that you think did not pass through.

I'll leave this up a while and see what some of you think and then I'll show the other side of the board. Which ones did and which ones didn't?

test1.jpg
 
Any other geek here for the pen test report?
 
Mirac said:
I immediately checked what forum it was posted under before clicking..
Click to expand...

Same technique here bro............time and experience are some great teachers. lol
 
I know from experience that the .22 Mag made it, like a hot knife through butter.

The .22 LR out of a rifle will have no problem going through 2 inches of pine. So, depending on what you're shooting, and what you're shooting it out of, I'm betting it'll have penetrated your wood here.

The .22 Short will not have penetrated. An awesome squirrel round because it has just that perfect balance of quietness vs squirrel brain scrambling capability...and that's about it.

.380 Auto will have penetrated.

.38 S&W will have penetrated.

.38 SPFC Target Wad...I'm guessing will have penetrated.

No clue, or experience, with the remaining, but I'm guessing the .25 Auto, .32 S&W Long, and .32 Auto all penetrated.
 
148 grain was the only bullet to get through 1.75 inches of pine?? Hardcast only.........
 
My guess 25, 32, and 380 autos failed as did 22 short.
38 wad is iffy, they're loaded real slow sometimes.
 
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OK, one of you is correct. @RetiredUSNChief nailed it. EVERY ONE of them penetrated the board with the exception of the .22 Short. All of us were very much surprised that the .25 Auto made it through. What does this prove? Not a thing. But, a treated pine board is tougher than my old body and I don't want to get shot with any of them.

Here's the back side of the board.

test1.jpg test2.jpg
 
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BowWow said:
148 grain was the only bullet to get through 1.75 inches of pine?? Hardcast only.........
Click to expand...
Actually, a 2 x is 1.5" thick.
 
It's really amazing what a bullet will pass through. I spent a lot of time as a kid shooting .22 LR and .22 WMR. Later, 9mm and .45 ACP.

It's also amazing what a bullet WON'T pass through. For example, at one outdoor range, a buddy and I found an old beer keg someone had used for target practice. So we set it up and continued the practice on it. 9mm FMJ out of my pistol punched through it every time at the distances we were shooting at. .45 ACP FMJ didn't always. Don't remember all the different brands of .45 I was shooting, but it still amazed me.
 
Thanks, Geezer!

As a side note...if the wood had been Southern Yellow Pine, then I would have guessed the .25 ACP wouldn't have made it. .22 LR might not have made it. .22 Mag would still have gone through. The .38 S&W probably would have gone through, probably not the target wad. The .380 would likely have gone through, depending on the bullet. And again...not sure about the remaining, but I'm guessing thy would have had a tough time of it.

Southern Yellow Pine is a hard wood, with a high resin content. Old houses which have studs made from yellow pine are a remodeler's nightmare...at least, in my experience. Don't even try to drywall with ringshank nails. I've had much better luck actually drilling pilot holes for drywall screws, and even then using drywall screws I've first rubbed in beeswax. Pulling the old plaster walls out of such homes usually leaves all the nails in the studs...and I don't even try to pull them out any more...I just use my sonic saw and cut them flush with the wood.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
It's really amazing what a bullet will pass through. I spent a lot of time as a kid shooting .22 LR and .22 WMR. Later, 9mm and .45 ACP.

It's also amazing what a bullet WON'T pass through. For example, at one outdoor range, a buddy and I found an old beer keg someone had used for target practice. So we set it up and continued the practice on it. 9mm FMJ out of my pistol punched through it every time at the distances we were shooting at. .45 ACP FMJ didn't always. Don't remember all the different brands of .45 I was shooting, but it still amazed me.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I’ve seen a 9mm penetrate a 15” diameter pine log right through the heart and then seen them stopped by much smaller pine logs. Knots, Density and grain of the wood play a big part in those situations.
 
I think these things are cool, seeing penetration tests
Like one I saw on youtube once that was a 22LR round through denim, seeing how many layers it'd go through (wrapped around a pork loin)
Just neat to me

So thank you for this
 
HMP said:
I think these things are cool, seeing penetration tests
Like one I saw on youtube once that was a 22LR round through denim, seeing how many layers it'd go through (wrapped around a pork loin)
Click to expand...

Can you post a link to that?

I've been seeing some jean wearing hogs on my land and wonder what ammo to use.

:D
 
Ya wanna see a really COOL penetration test?

Take a gander at these pics and read this link:

http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-040.htm

Test of 26" (66cm) Class "A" Main Armament Turret Face (Port) Plate, originally for IJN SHINANO, the third Japanese YAMATO-Class super-battleship (converted into an aircraft carrier, instead, and sunk on its way to final fitting out yard by a U.S. submarine), which made up far left side of turret face looking from inside turret out of gun port, with "D"-shaped cutout making up about half of left curved gun port forming center of long right side of plate.

U.S. Navy 2700-lb 16" Mark 8 Mod 6 AP with inert filler ("BL&P") (last version of this projectile manufactured during WWII)

POINT OF IMPACT: Upper center near joint with turret roof at 0.33° obliquity from normal where plate was 25.99" thick.

STRIKING VELOCITY: 1992 feet/second (607.2 m/sec)

RESULT: Complete penetration and plate snapped in two through impact between side edge and upper end of curved gun port hollow. Hole more-or-less cylindrical, with little difference between front and back of plate. Numerous small cracks also put in plate around impact. No damage to projectile indicated, though projectile had considerable remaining velocity and ended up in the Potomac River, never being recovered. Considerable amount of lamination noted in hole (layering effect parallel to face, much like pages in a book glued together). The upper portion of this broken plate is now on display at the U.S. Navy Memorial Museum at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC, just in front of the old Gun Factory building which houses much of the museum today.

Battleship Armor Test 01.jpg Battleship Armor Test 02.jpg Battleship Armor Test 03.jpg
 
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