Doug are you planning on shooting the driver instead of the tires now?
I like to know I have a few options
Hypothetical situation, a guy is trying to run you down in an enclosed area, you can't jump out of the way. You have backed up as far as you can go with only a few obsticals that ultimately be plowed over with quite a lot of damage to the guys car and effort on his part. I pull my .38 revolver. Will +P LSWCHP (the round I usually carry) penetrate his windshields to take him out?
I have heard that Corbon .38 Special +P JHP 110 grains are guaranteed to penetrate windshields and car doors.
I have heard stories from Chic Gaylords Handgunners Guide 1960 that standard .38 LRN fired from a service revolver with a 4 inch barrel will penetrate auto bodies (doors) and hit felons you are shooting at.
The story goes (as I remember reading it) is that a secret service man and his partner were in a gun battle with a gang of counterfeiters. The bad guys were shooting at them from an automobile. The secret service agent was using a 2 inch snub nose .38 revolver (presumably using standard LRN). He realized that his rounds were not penetrating the auto body and hitting the man he was shooting at. His partner, on the other hand, was armed with a service revolver (a 4 inch .38 special revolver) and his rounds (presumably .38 LRN too) were able to penetrate the car and kill the target.
This agent, who at the time of discussing this with Mr. Gaylord was assigned to the White House, changed to a .375 magnum as his carry weapon to ensure the security of the president.
Another thought, if a .38 Special LRN fired from a 4 inch barrel could manage to do that then, I imagine that a +P round (with the right bullet) could do the same today. Remember cars back in the 50s were A LOT sturdier than cars made today (remember Doc Emmette Brown's comments in Back to the Future II when Marty suggested landing the 1985 Delorian on Biff's 1948 Chevy? "He'd rip through us like we were tin foil!")
Also, I am talking about glass windshields, not metal car doors. If a regular .38 LRN or FMJ can tear right through a 2 x 4 block of wood and beyond, then I imagine it could penetrate a car windshield. Just look what pebbles flicked by cars in front or passing by you can do with all the nicks an cracks they put in it.
I really would love to take a trip to the junkyard and find a range where it is acceptable to bring junk to shoot at out there.
I'd like to be able to test all my .38 rounds and other guns.