handguns for stopping vehicles

Many historical accounts suggest the .357 magnum was developed largely for the purpose of stopping gangsters' getaway cars back in the days of Al Capone et al. As the lore goes, the .38 special commonly carried by LE at the time was found inadequate as it would careen off windshields. If memory serves, Clint Eastwood recounts some of this in a short sermon to David Soul in the film Magnum Force...

Rumor has it that a .357 magnum round will pretty much destroy a cast iron engine block. Theoretically, if you fired to center mass of the engine compartment, you would bring the car to a stop... but then, I cannot confirm as I have never tried this at home or anywhere else.
 
Ok here comes the "war story" many years ago the CHP (california highway patrol) carrying S&W mod 14's chased a stolen 64 Chevy sedan...i covered their actions some time after the chase started and i arrived when the vehicle stop had been completed....as i remember the total round count in the back of that Chevy was 64 which included 00 shotgun rounds. Only two rounds were effective enough to have stopped the vehicle, one grazed the drivers scalp but did not stop him and another was deflected in the front seat, just missed driver and embedded in sun visor totally spent. The photo's of the back of the auto were enlightning as with that many holes only two could have stopped the driver but did not. I cannot remember how the stop was finally accomplished but 64 bullet holes were not the cause.:)
PS: i did not stick around as there were at least a half dozen CHP on the scene discussing the matter with the driver. I wonder if the owner wanted the family sedan back?
 
Stopping tractors, big rigs, why shoot the tires? Put some holes in the air supply tanks, it'll stop itself. If it's not bobtail and is pulling a trailer, all the better. The trailer's spring brakes will only stop it faster or slow it down to a low gear pulling, brakes on fire pursuit! Then the caliber only matters because of the size of the hole(s).
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One reason they shoot the tires is because they do not know about the air supply issue on big rigs. Depending on the location of the tank, it may have been deemed an unsafe target, assuming they even knew.
 
Just helped with a shooting where the suspect shot 9 times into a car from the front. Vehicle was parked. 9mm, ammo type unknown. 9 hits on the car: 7 rounds all penetrated the windshield, 5 of which hit victim. 2 penetrated hood, hit top of plastic engine shroud and lodged in firewall. None of the rounds into the engine compartment would have disabled the vehicle.

Victim had both thru & thru wounds and had 2 bullets in him. One that was lodged nearly exited, other was visible under the skin. Bullets were fragmented and appeared to cause lots of tissue damage to thigh, shoulder, abdomen. Victim was alert when 1st responders arrived. Blood everywhere but appears victim will live
 
To shoot a vehicle with a handgun is no problem but to stop it immediately is almost impossible, the easiest way is to shoot the driver. The only problem is, if a person dies by a bullet, normally his muscles cramp often and his car hits you with full speed.
 
i think shooting the front of the engine would stop most. IF it's a rear wheel drive and the serpentine belts/pulleys are running on the front. even then, not an immediate stop, more like several minutes. front wheel drive could prove more problematic, although a hit to the valve covers would most likely cause engine failure in the near future. I don't think any pistol rounds will reliably penetrate a block.
 
The only problem is, if a person dies by a bullet, normally his muscles cramp often and his car hits you with full speed.
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LOL, rigor mortis doesn't usually set in for hours. Otherwise, the muscles of dead people don't usually "cramp up" immediately at the time of death. Instead, they usually go slack.
 
Be Carefull

Ok guys and galls I worked in a ford dealership truck repair shop for lots of years when I was younger, it was in south Texas, almost every year around deer season we would get a shot pickup truck in to repair. In every case the rifle had been placed on the seat with the muzzle resting against floor board where it angles up under the dash. Some still were drivable some were towed in. I remember one the bullet hit the engine right on the seem between the cylinder head and the block it penetrated clear into the cylinder and the engine had to be replaced it was a tow in. I remember one that was still drivable that the bullet had gone threw the cab floor kind of where the hump in the center was gone threw the aluminum housing at the front of the transmission hit the ring gear on the fly wheel that the starter engages it made a "u" bend in the ring gear which hit the starter housing every time it made a revolution making a loud ding, ding type noise the truck was driven to the shop. The muzzle blast usually tore a fairly large hole in the floor carpet or matting. I can imagine that there was significant hearing damage for those inside the truck especially if the windows were up. I also remember one that the hit went threw the intake manifold and then wiped out several push rods on one side again it was a tow in job. Rifle rounds can penetrate far enough to damage the engine but to stop it then and there depends on what it hits, there are lots of things to hit under the hood that won't stop it right away.
As for me when I'm involved all guns are unloaded and the actions are open when they get in the car or truck and they don't get loaded till they get out period.
bb
 
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Doublenaughtspy

"Deemed not safe" & skipping rounds off pavement is? Unless it's the steer tire, 2 drive tires will have to be punctured. I'm just saying, the air supply, storage& delivery are a lot more vulnerable. Any leak greater than the compressor can supply will do the trick. Just a gladhand coming loose or a ruptured hose is enough. Bad grommets in the glad hands have bled my air supply a few times. When does the next thread start "What round/s are best for downing drones?"
 
An Ithaca Auto Burglar 20 gauge pistol with Brenneke slugs might do the job with a firm hit to the engine block or transmission as well.
 
slugchucker

Yes, deemed unsafe if the air tanks are too close to where the passengers are in the cab, ASSUMING, and this is a big assumption on YOUR part, that the cops even have a remote clue as to where each air tank is and that they need to shoot the air tanks.

If you note in the links provided, some of the trucks are full fairing jobs where such tanks are obscured from view. Just where do you propose the cops, who don't have knowledge of big rigs, just start shooting, and and you be assured that they won't hit the hostage as in the first example?

As for skipping rounds off the pavement, that can be perfectly safe assuming nobody is immediately down range.
 
Thanks for the link, skizzums. An interesting experiment. I wonder though whether the old flathead 4s that cars had back in the days the 357 was introducted were anywhere near as thick walled as the muscle car engine used in this experiment...

I imagine the rails he shot are thicker and/or harder than the steel I-beams (the kind they build skyscrapers with) we cut up and take out to the desert to shoot. .44 Magnum just cleans the rust off the surface, but .223/.556 rounds go right on through...
 
Somehow the myth of the .357 for engine block stopper got passed down through the generations. It was developed to go through windshields and still have enough energy to incapacitate.

The city cops stopped carrying it and went back to the .38's because if you miss your target it has the capability to take out even more.

75 + years later and technology can barely challenge the holy grail called the .357 magnum.

https://youtu.be/w3CrI9SEd7Y
 
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.357 Magnum is a bad b, but if you want to stop an engine from running with only one shot all you need is a .22. Shoot the distributor cap, the engine will stop.
 
.357 Magnum is a bad b, but if you want to stop an engine from running with only one shot all you need is a .22. Shoot the distributor cap, the engine will stop.
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How many years ago did they stop putting distributor caps, rotors, etc. in vehicles?

Also, what's the best way to get them to stop and raise the hood so I can see where to shoot? If there is one to shoot?

tipoc
 
"Also, what's the best way to get them to stop and raise the hood so I can see where to shoot? "

Try showing some more leg.
 
Well the police had to disable an armored car in Texas this morning. They used a .50 caliber rifle.
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Yes, they disabled a parked armored van. So they OPTED to disable a van that was already STOPPED.

So in summary, handguns, which were fired at the armored van lots of times, failed to stop the van.
 
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