Brick wall penetration?

[colt45er]

I saw this done on one of the outdoor channels, but it was to see which rifle caliber would penetrate the fastest. I can't find anything on YouTube. I think you've given Lovemywoods a new review to consider.

I have a stack of probably 300 or more red bricks in the drive way. Come get em!!!!

If Lovemywoods would be down, I would swing by Hamsterstyles house and pick up the bricks, head down and do some testing!! I have the week of Aril 4th off

We could test .22 subs, .22 standard .22 cci minimags, .223 from 16" barrel and whatever else they have. 7.62x39, 7.62x54R, .40 FMJ, .40 JHP, 12 guage bird shot, slugs, and 00 buck.

 

[GARANDGUY]

I have a 50 Beowulf upper for my AR and it will go through anything so far including engine blocks so im sure brick would be no match for it,lol.

 

[garagegunmaker]

cant say much about brick walls, but i know that even the 9x18mm makarov will go clean through a car door

 

[gunsrfun]

Sideways? how is that not trouble penetrating? Explain please.

 

[lovemywoods]

223 has trouble with drywall walls I think bricks going to be ok

In a test I did last summer with INGO's techres, we saw the .223 go through 5 sheets of drywall, a 1.5" board, and 5 more sheets of drywall with no tumbling or stopping.

See the test posted at:

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/general_firearms_discussion/96688-aar_ingo_box_of_truth_june_19_2010_a.html

Posting #25 has the tabular data for all the calibers that were tested.
On that day, the .223 didn't seem to have any problems at all.

 

[lovemywoods]

If Lovemywoods would be down, I would swing by Hamsterstyles house and pick up the bricks, head down and do some testing!! I have the week of Aril 4th off

We could test .22 subs, .22 standard .22 cci minimags, .223 from 16" barrel and whatever else they have. 7.62x39, 7.62x54R, .40 FMJ, .40 JHP, 12 guage bird shot, slugs, and 00 buck.

This is interesting! I had thought of testing brick in the past, but didn't take the next step to find materials.

Colt45er, if you're willing to help with some of the prep and shooting, I can provide the venue and clean-up of the busted bricks.

One thought; If we just stacked the bricks on top of one another without mortar, would that adequately simulate a real wall? A plywood board behind the stack could help stabilize them. Can we assume that the mortar would be harder than the bricks themselves?

Let's discuss more.

 

[Fordtough25]

This sounds fun!

 

[Hoosier9]

Sideways? how is that not trouble penetrating? Explain please.

XM-193 bullet construction is such that, at proper velocity, it will tumble when encountering a medium denser than air, such as human tissue. The base is heavier than the nose. It is designed this way on purpose, because a bullet that tumbles in the human body will cause far greater damage than one that simply pokes a .223 caliber hole all the way through.

The test I linked to showed the 5.56 penetrating 12 sheets of drywall, over half of them AFTER the bullet turned sideways. This shows that even after a drastic increase in surface area vs. the medium to be penetrated, the 5.56 STILL busts through without any problems. Which is easier to push through a wall, a pencil with the point first, or the same pencil turned sideways? The only thing that would have indicated that the round was having "trouble" penetrating would be a lack of penetration, which is clearly not the case here.

The typical 5.56 round out of a 16" AR is generating over 1000 ft. lbs. of energy, about as much or a little more than a .44 magnum at the muzzle. I'm not quite sure how one arrives at the conclusion that such a round will have "trouble" penetrating something like drywall, unless you are talking a bullet that is designed to fragment against drywall, like a specialty urban bullet.

 

[lovemachine]

This is interesting! I had thought of testing brick in the past, but didn't take the next step to find materials.

Colt45er, if you're willing to help with some of the prep and shooting, I can provide the venue and clean-up of the busted bricks.

One thought; If we just stacked the bricks on top of one another without mortar, would that adequately simulate a real wall? A plywood board behind the stack could help stabilize them. Can we assume that the mortar would be harder than the bricks themselves?

Let's discuss more.

I would think using mortar, AND building a wall with drywall would make it more realistic. Surely the mortar alone would make it stronger than without.

I'd also be curious how pistol rounds would affect it too.

 

[JSeroka]

I have shot my 30-06 through bricks before no problem. Now it does matter on are they red bricks, cinder blocks and if there is any insulation/drywall after it, as this call all lead to it. Now the things that will penetrate are more high powered rounds.

 

[Leo]

You guys must be shooting from pretty close. When I lived in Dallas I was about 400 yards as the crow flies from a drug House. I have dented 9mm projectiles as well as a 7.62 X 39 round that was shot at my brick apartment building. They left shallow pock marks about the diameter of a ping pong ball in the tan brick and the projectiles FMJ projectiles fell to the sidewalk. I am sure a 30-06 would have retained more downrange energy. Light bullets get weak a lot sooner than heavy ones.

 

[sgreen3]

I was playing around with my 8mm mauser an had some AP rounds that went through both sides of a half inch thick steel pipe( I know it dont really count with this thread, but still cool none the less,lol) But used just some partison 8mm ammo and it still went completly through the front and dented the back of the pipe. This was done at 75yrds

 

[japartridge]

Please post data, vids if you can , post testing... I am also curious as I live in a brick house.

 

[HamsterStyle]

The bricks may be spoken for but lmk if you want some and I will definitely save some for testing purposes. How many do you think well need for accurate testing?

 

[lovemywoods]

Standard bricks are 8 x 4 x 2.25 inches. If I built two stacks about three feet tall each, it would take about 32 bricks. (Fewer if I used mortar.) This may be a low estimate for the amount I need to build depending on how many types of caliber and ammo constructions we test.

With that said, 35-50 bricks should be enough.

Do you have that number of bricks available?

 

[HamsterStyle]

Shouldn't be a problem.

 

[nova512]

i have shot an old brick foundation.9mm and 40 did nothing.my encore with 150 gr of 777 ,250 gr shockwaves did very little to it.old bricks are tuff.

 

[Deet]

My 9x18mm round can penetrate a 55 gallon steel barrel and exit it at 20 yards. Thats a 95gr JHP factory round. Just saying.

 

[HamsterStyle]

Bam!!! 50 bricks set aside for the lovemywoods testing facility. If somebody wants to pick them up for testing that is fine, if not I could probably meet esrice with them because I think I remember him saying he works nearby my house. when would said testing take place and if I'm available, could I score a seat to watch the destruction?

 

[esrice]

I'm obviously available to help out in any way I can.