Caliber size wound effects on the human body

johnelmore, after seeing how much damage the AK did to a jug filled with water, imagine what it would do to a wall of a residence. Do you live within a mile of another home? If you do, it's something you need to worry about it.

If we're talking terms of raw power, an AK round will be more powerful (as you'll note by the recoil when firing one). However, raw power does not equal raw destruction. A 5.56 round is incredibly damaging and a round I would use for home defense would tumble and have a chance of fragmenting, causing a very large wound channel similar to a shotgun. However, it will also not penetrate many walls. A good forward muzzle brake (on either) will create a small blast in the dark that's psychologically damaging.

Point is, don't make your decisions based on these tests. An AK will stop a person but come with a lot of other issues, not the least of which is defending yourself in court.
 
I would say most rifle and pistol rounds will penetrate through walls completely...rifle rounds more so then pistol. There are a wider variety of rounds for the 5.56 available with some designed not to penetrate through walls. I do not believe there is the same variety in 7.62x39. The only round I use in the AK is Wolf JHP which may or may not be better in these scenarios.
 
I correct myself. Magsafe does sell ammo for the AK. I havent tested this ammo and have no idea how it feeds or performs. Its 30 dollars for 6 rounds. 1000 rounds of Wolf can be had for 300.
 
Most houses are made of the usual wallboard material which is not bullet resistant at all. There are things in the wall which might have some resistant properties like pipes, but most walls consist of two wall boards and some insulation. You can kick through most walls.

If you go to the range with a few sheets of wallboard Ill bet money the average round penetrates.
 
Most houses are made of the usual wallboard material which is not bullet resistant at all. There are things in the wall which might have some resistant properties like pipes, but most walls consist of two wall boards and some insulation. You can kick through most walls.
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+1 I've shot .177cal pellets through house walls and doors. Just about every self defense weapon that fires a projectile can penetrate though those walls. A shotgun will "over penetrate" just as much as a pistol with self defense loads. Think of it like this. If it can't make it through the wall it probably can't make it through a BG's clothes and flesh. I don't worry so much about "over penetration" if you miss the BG your bullet is going through the wall either way. You should always be aware of what's behind your target either way.
 
So if I was going to choose a self defense pistol based on this video I would go with a full sized high capacity 9mm loaded with +p+ rounds and focus on 3 shot bursts in training. In rifle calibers I believe the AK47 is the winner.
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As of now, the only reasonably priced, mass produced pistol to fulfill the need for super hot loads, is the Ruger P95. The manual basically tells you to shoot +P+ out of it. Never had +P+, but the slide is heavy enough to put five rounds of 124gr +P Ranger within a 5 gallon jug, in 2 or 3 seconds. at 10-15 yds. Much more than that, get a rifle.

As an owner of a 16 inch AK (VEPR 308), I wouldnt advise using it for home defense, unless you have alot of land. The liability is way too high. 7.62 has been known to easily penetrate cinderblock walls, and occasionally penetrate red brick. Be kind to your neighbors, stick with good 9mm JHP's, or 00 buck.
 
A recent arrest for reckless endangerment in Oneida County of NY state of a man who was shooting his .22LR. Stray round penetrated outside wall, glass door (I suspect it was a shower door), another wall and lodged in the third wall. Don't know more details than were in the newspaper.

Of course, the news reporters are not so accurate, but it's worth considering.
 
Friend of mine dated his best friend's sister in high school, had a thing for her even after they all grew up & married other people. She was in her early 20s, lying in her own bed next to her 9 month old baby, when the guy across the street decided to "dry fire" his new rifle.

She died instantly, shot through the head with a bullet that traveled through at least two walls before it came to rest inside her brain.

Don't tell me that rifle bullets don't go though walls. They can and do. Saying they don't is as irresponsible as the idiots on Mythbusters telling people it's okay to shoot up into the air, as long as you point straight up.

pax
 
Whats the medical field have to gain from this video?
Dr - "You got shot with what?"
Patient -"a .338"
Dr - "Oh i saw a video, your gonna die."

Dont get me wrong, its a fine video. I just hope that this wasnt the most informational video played there.
 
Don't tell me that rifle bullets don't go though walls.
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Handgun bullets go through walls better than properly selected rifle bullets. Ball ammunition (.30-06) from my '03A3 (poor choice) will go through my house, my neighbors house and probably into his neighbor's house.

All bullets are not the same. If I were going to keep a loaded 5.56/.223 rifle around for SD/HD, a fairly frangible load (as illustrated in the link) absolutely does not penetrate as much. The reason is the high velocity combined with short range. This test barely got 6 inches of penetration at 200 yards, at close range, probably even more fragmentation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCqmclsRQmM
 
Rifleman1776 & Frank Ettin makes some good points.

Using water bottles for "ballistic comparisons"? Welcome to the 1950's.
 
I use water jugs and watermellons to impress kids with the explosive aspects of bullets, stressing what really happens (or what they think happens) when bullets hit objects, as part of their firearms safety training.

But it has no relation to reality.

I like to use the 204 Ruger, its a small bullet traveling fast and will "blow up" water jugs. Not the big bullet the OP mentions, its a 32 gr bullet a hair over 4000 FPS.

Then again, shooting bowling pins at 100 yards is not very effective, it goes right through and hardly moves the pin.

There doesnt appear to be a lot of difference on the jug between the 9mm and 357, but there is a great difference with a burst of fire with hot 9mm.
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That's not a very good comparison, why not shoot three fast 357 rounds. Shoot some bowling pins with a 9 mm and 357s, check out the results and come back and tell us the 9mm is more effective.

The only guarantee from any bullet is that you never know what any bullet will do. Chances are no two exact bullets will react the same way when fired from the same gun, into the same target.

What does matter is the shooters ability to shoot a given gun. Recoil makes a big difference.

It doesn't take a lot of recoil either, take International Rapid Fire Pistol

If I remember right you have 7 seconds to shoot five targets, then 5 seconds to shoot five targets, and then 3 seconds to shoot five targets.

This is normally shot with 22s. Even then recoil matters, there is a huge difference between 22 LR and 22 shorts.

Point being, stop worrying about internet videos, shooting water jugs, phone books etc.

Pick a round that you can shoot, a little gun you can shoot beats the heck out of a big gun you can't shoot.

Rifles for home defense????

Try this, find out how your house is made, then go to a construction sight and get some scraps that matches your homes construction as close as possible.

Build you an frame, using 2X4s (or what ever framing your house has) paneling or sheet rock on one side, siding on the other. Fill it with the same insulation you have, and shoot it with varying guns, rifles, pistols, etc.

You're going to be surprised what happens. Think about your results before you decide to fire off some rifle rounds in your house.
 
In a recent case in the area, an SKS was fired inside a home. The bullet penetrated the outer wall, the outer wall of a house 50 yards away, two interior walls of that house, and partway through an outer wall.

The idea that a gunshot, from any gun, will never overpenetrate is absurd, not matter how many rigged tests advocates of this or that gun come up with.

Jim
 
For realistic (non-scientific but still verifiable, imo) I like the original box O'truth test using drywall and various ammunition. http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot1.htm

Then, when you are bored, you get into http://www.theboxotruth.com/index.html such things as the Buick O' truth and the demonstrations against car doors, engine blocks etc.

Oth, enough folks have been killed/stopped/scared by everything from a .22 to a 12 gauge. If I had to shoot a bad guy, had the time, the money and the lawyering, I kind of like what the .50 BMG does to the keg of water. Me? I carry a Colt Commander .45 acp because I trust it, like it, shoot it VERY well, and it has proven itself for 100 years.
 
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