# Stopping bullets



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

this topic has come up a few times over the years here.

I had a pile of gravel from expanding my driveway recently and some scrap wood

I built a crude 16 inch by 16 inch box of scrap 2x4 and some 7/16 osb the osb already had some house wrap stapled to it so I left that

I shot it with 9mm from about 10 yards but I put some in the wood frame to see if they would get stopped by the wood alone. 2x4 and 7/8 of osb will not stop a 9mm ball round.
all that hit in the gravel were stopped

next up 12 ga slugs from about 15 yards stopped

223 from 25 yards stopped

180gr 308 from 25 yards , stopped but with repeated hits it was breaking the osb on the back from the pressure it was creating in the box


an inexpensive yet effective way to stop bullets

part of what got me thinking about this I was talking to a guy who had family involved in a drive by his grand kids were sleeping and the bullets hit the house luckily no one was hit inside the house.

if I were to make this in an in home installation real ply wood and glue and screw every 6 inches

if your willing to give up 4 1/2 inches of space in the room you can have a lot of stopping capability , if you increased that to a double so that it was 9 inches it would soak up a LOT.

the fresh target




















you can see with repeated hits from 308 and the hits from the 12ga the OSB is coming apart from the pressures but no rounds had penetrated yet
it was also starting to pull the nails out at the edges












the only bullet fragments found when I poured the box out on my drive way were from one of the 12ga slugs and it was mangled


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## random (Jul 23, 2020)

That's just the void space in a standard wall thickness filled with gravel?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

yes just the standard 3 1/2 inches of a modern 2x4 wall filled with gravel with common 7/16 OSB sheathing but on both sides this was mostly just nailed together 3 nails to a side not even screwed together.

you would still want the insulation in your outer wall but a 4 foot shelf wall inside could be easily retro fitted into a lot of structures.

ever walk into a gas station with the thick bullet resistant glass all around the cashier , ever wondered if it was just particle board counter like every other store?


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

I just wonder weight wise what you'd have to do to support a gravel "safety wall". I'm assuming at least extra floor joists...


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

When I used to use a shooting backstop of dead jackpine logs, most of my .45 acp ball projectiles would just bounce off the logs. The dented bullets would be laying on the ground in front of the backstop. A few bullets would lodge into the logs, but not fully penetrate the log. These bullets could easily be pulled out of the log by hand.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

The wall also has the benefit of being a thermal mass to average out the heating and cooling.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Stopping capability and insulation level is part that I like of the double wall clay filled cinder block outer walls of this 60 to 70 year old farmhouse even though the wide window sills force me to buy window air conditioner with top lift filters and at season changes , it takes about a week for the place to cool or heat charge for the season so the air or heat can coast more than actively cool or heat.

A neighbor who knew the man who built this siding covered block house said he built it to withstand tornadoes but with the current risks of druggie drive bys i'm glad my rock house /cave grade house has 16 inch thick outer walls.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

crehberg said:


> I just wonder weight wise what you'd have to do to support a gravel "safety wall". I'm assuming at least extra floor joists...


if it is on the wall where the floor joist sit on the sill plate the foundation would support the wall with no additional support. 

I didn't weigh the box but it was maybe 40 pounds if it was 4 feet high that would put it around 120 pounds per 16 inches but it would be spread over an area 4 1/2 x16 or 40 square inches , if your floor system can't support 3 pounds per square inch you might might not want to have guests over , think about it if you took 120 pound people and had then stand shoulder to shoulder around a room would you expect the floor to fail. I wouldn't.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

fishhead said:


> The wall also has the benefit of being a thermal mass to average out the heating and cooling.


I was thinking if you did 1 inch R7 insulation board between the wall and the "safety wall" then cut insulation pieces to go at the bottom if the wall and lay Pex on top of that sealed up the inside sheathing then put down 3 inches of sand in the bottom of each cavity to cover the pex , then filled the rest with gravel , the pex heat line would heat up all that mass and you would have an incredibly consistent temp in the house..


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## Rodeo's Bud (Apr 10, 2020)

Cabin Fever said:


> When I used to use a shooting backstop of dead jackpine logs, most of my .45 acp ball projectiles would just bounce off the logs. The dented bullets would be laying on the ground in front of the backstop. A few bullets would lodge into the logs, but not fully penetrate the log. These bullets could easily be pulled out of the log by hand.


Yep. .45s are an odd bullet. Lots of stopping power, but not much penetration.

No matter what I'm shooting at, I always find .45 acp bullets on the ground in front of the targets. Even just cans.

Still my favorite guns though. Especially in a revolver. Lots of fun.


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## SpentPenny (Jun 11, 2020)

I spent 20 years on the street in a city of 300,000 with 500,000 in the SMSA. If you think you need this you are 1) seriously troubled, or 2) hanging with the wrong crowd or allowing someone in your home to hang with the wrong crowd, or 3) living in a neighborhood that is really not fit for human habitation. Folks who would spend money on turning their home into an armored house need to just fix their life. In my opinion, of course.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Or you could just live in a brick house.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

SpentPenny said:


> I spent 20 years on the street in a city of 300,000 with 500,000 in the SMSA. If you think you need this you are 1) seriously troubled, or 2) hanging with the wrong crowd or allowing someone in your home to hang with the wrong crowd, or 3) living in a neighborhood that is really not fit for human habitation. Folks who would spend money on turning their home into an armored house need to just fix their life. In my opinion, of course.


while I mostly agree with you.



the guy I was talking with lives outside the city along a highway , had no idea why his house was being shot , maybe possible a wrong house mix up and never would have thought he would have his house shot up

I do not plan on installing this in my house I live in an extremely low risk place and have enough projects 

but since the question has come up before I tried it.

you also never know who your neighbors are. my daughter went for a sleep over at a friend from schools house a few years ago , I talked to the parents , seemed like a nice people , normal , decent house, decent neighborhood nicer than my own. well he is sitting in prison now for the next 16 years he was selling heroin , meth and pot. at the time he was only apparently dealing pot while working his day job.yes they get some rather unsavory types poking around the girls mothers house and grandmothers house they separated a few months after that sleep over when the police found the fathers grow operation.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Rodeo's Bud said:


> Yep. .45s are an odd bullet. Lots of stopping power, but not much penetration.
> 
> No matter what I'm shooting at, I always find .45 acp bullets on the ground in front of the targets. Even just cans.
> 
> Still my favorite guns though. Especially in a revolver. Lots of fun.


Yep, we have four revolvers that use .45acp and moonclips.


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

Fishindude said:


> Or you could just live in a brick house.


+1

My house is made of ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) with 8" on concrete sandwiched between 1.5" of foam insulation, then exterior siding and drywall. Result is about 13" thick walls. Very. very, energy efficient and as I jokingly tell people bullet proof up to at least 30cal AP.


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> if it is on the wall where the floor joist sit on the sill plate the foundation would support the wall with no additional support.
> 
> I didn't weigh the box but it was maybe 40 pounds if it was 4 feet high that would put it around 120 pounds per 16 inches but it would be spread over an area 4 1/2 x16 or 40 square inches , if your floor system can't support 3 pounds per square inch you might might not want to have guests over , think about it if you took 120 pound people and had then stand shoulder to shoulder around a room would you expect the floor to fail. I wouldn't.


Fair enough! Didn't think of it that way.


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