Bet you have seen it done on tv before

[Fer]

Hey guys, how many times have you seen on tv people shooting out vehicle tires, I bet plenty of times. Yesterday I was watching a movie where Vandame was trying to blowout the tires of an SUV with some semiauto, and it got me thinking If I ever needed to blow out the tires of another vehicle with my .38spl or .380 would I be able to do it? .

What do you guys and gals think?

FER

 

[625]

I'd think it would depend on the situation and angle. From a moving vehicle at a moving vehicle, stationary at a moving vehicle, etc. Speed of the vehicle would come into play too. I think it would be challenging no matter what the situation most likely. I also think this thread will be moved.

 

[Fer]

I am talking about a .38 snub nose being able to puncture a car tire, the tires as you know are thick and inflated at up to maybe more that 35psi.
Does a .38 hit that hard?

 

[Mark54g]

if a stationary nail in the road can do it, the bullet from a .38 can as well. The effect of this, however will not be an explosive discharge like you may be thinking and it will not cause someone to flip 17 times. There will be a loud pop and a fizz as the air leaves the tire rather quickly, at which point they will ride on the rims and their car will be harder to control, but still managable. Watch COPS sometime and see how many cars ride on rims for miles.

 

[Mad Martigan]

A stationary nail on the road applies more pressure than a .38 slug.

 

[caz223]

I think is definately possible, but most likely harder than it looks.

 

[atlctyslkr]

I think this has already been debated:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204235

I expect the moderators will shut this thread down as well as soon as one of them sees it. Sorry guys.

 

[Ramcharger]

I've shot a few tires while plinkin in the desert. .38's and 9mms WILL NOT pnetrate the average tire when shot on the thread. So this should make some pretty good anti pistol round body armor. Sort of like the bad guys did in those Mad Max/road warrior movies. They end up in the layers of belts. I dont recall if any penetrated the side walls.

 

[AndrewWalkowiak]

If you think about what a steel belted radial that also possibly has Kevlar reinforcment in it does day in and day out, namely, hold up a multi-thousand-pound car at 75 MPH while rubbing on rough pavment, you'll realize that tires in motion are actualy rather bullet resistant, especialy to handgun calibers.

When you factor in the tire's rotation on a moving car, and presentation angles far removed from a perfect 90 degree impact, and that the rubber has a fair amount of give and flex, not to mention the layers of steel and aramid fiber reinforcments, a tire is a very tough thing for a handgun round to bite into.

And none of this addresses the difficulty in hitting a moving target, or worse, a moving target from a moving platform, such as a persuing car.

A centerfire rifle with a spitzer profile bullet is another story, however, you still have riccochet problems in public spaces and liability concerns.

Shooting tires is a desperation move at best. I would think that LEO's have to have good reason to try it, mainly concrete cause to say that the fleeing felon is a greater risk to the public than shooting at tires.

As a civilian I'd only risk it if a loved one was being taken in the car, and I believed there was a real threat of rape or murder.