I tried searching but couldn’t really find anything of the like.
I live in a house with single plane walls and I’m trying to get a good idea of how far a 124gr Gold Dot will travel after penetrating 1/2" thick wood.
My yard is fenced in 6" concrete walls, so there wouldn’t be any real issue there, however there’s no wall in the front of my house and I’d like to know what kind of risks I’m up against should I need to discharge my weapon in my bedroom.
The bullet would travel about 10 feet before impacting the first barrier 1/2" thick wood and then there’s about 80 feet of space between my house and my neighbors across the road.
Is there any chance the bullet would still have enough velocity to penetrate his walls and cause any harm?
Yes I have shot a 124gr TAP and a few others on a plywood setup with 1 1/2" spacing in between sheets the 9mms averaged 9 sheets of wood. None of the hollow point expanded much in the neighborhood of .40-.50" at the widest point.
I knew it would penetrate the first 1-2 layers, I guess my question is more how much velocity is lost after the first barrier.
By the sounds of your test it seems like there would be more then enough velocity after 80 feet to penetrate another single wall, but would it still have enough velocity to cause any real harm or damage afterwards?
It’s a handgun round subject to some variability after barriers, but a good one. The 124gr GDHP is included in the “recommended” list. You can read up on what it had to do to get there, including how it behaved in intermediate barriers.
I’ve read most of those and but I’m not sure how to translate the penetration in gel to what I’m after.
I’m aware the bullet will leave my property if the unfortunate situation arises where I need to discharge my weapon in said direction, however I’m trying to figure out how much velocity would be lost after the first or second barriers (one or two walls).
The problem with those is they have tested to not penetrate enough for leathality under certain circumstances, I have seen test where they are getting 4-6" of penetration in properly calibrated gel.
Thats what I was afraid of, which is why I’d like to figure out if my current situation is going to be an issue or not.
Alternatively I could try and reinforce my front walls if I knew how much I would need to slow down any bullets to a low enough velocity where it would not cause any damages wherever it ended up.
You’re over thinking it. Focus on shooting accurately and hitting your target so that the bullet performs as designed and stays put. I understand your concern, but you just need to accept that penetration is the nature of the beast and there are a lot of variables in play. The more barriers, the more distance, the less severity of subsequent penetrations.
I fully agree and I’m always working on bettering myself via practice and the occasional course when I can. However there are other things to consider (my wife for example) and I’d like to be fully aware of the potential risks before hand.
I, too have a wife, wee-ones, and neighbors nearby that I think highly of. The G19 I’m going to grab when things go bump in the night is loaded with the same 124 GDHP you’re asking about. Just sayin’.
Good on you for your due diligence, but it’s time to move on to the next portion of your defensive planning.
Though every situation WILL be different, I can tell you that I do a lot of practice on silhouette targets with a hardwood 1/2" backstop and then an old barn probably 60’ beyond it. This is in a rural area, so I have little concern for anyone being in harm’s way in this scenario. Nonetheless, FMJ rounds go right through the backstop and the barn wall. Properly designed HP rounds, like the Federal HST 147gr I use, expand through the backstop and strike the barn walls. They often go through, but not always. Seems to me that the ones that do are not likely to be lethal, unless they penetrated because they failed to expand. In a scenario where it’s necessary to fire a round, I would be more concerned with the lethal threat at hand first. BUT, I don’t think you’d be at much risk of causing an unintentional death with a stray round. Maybe design a test and see for yourself?