This was way cool!

Some time back, a good friend of mine who works in conjunction with the construction industry gave me a bullet proof wall panel. He was helping in a project where a bank was updating their bulletproof walls and windows. The panel was some of the material being removed.

Given the dangerous area, my friend told me this was one of only two panels they removed that had not been shot!

He asked me to shoot it, and see if I could get through the panel. He wanted to see the report on this blog. So of course, I am happy to oblige.

I took the panel to a remote spot in a rural area. I had full permission of the property owner to conduct this "experiment."

A little background - most "bulletproof" materials are designed to stop pistol bullets, not rifle bullets. "Box O Truth" has lots of experiments of shooting bulletproof materials - and several materials are easily penetrated by rifle bullets. Almost everything is defeated by a 12-gauge shotgun slug.

That said, I took my AR 15 rifle, and loaded it up with 20 rounds of .223 caliber PMC Bronze ammo - a middle of the road ammunition. I fired three rounds into the fiberglass material - which was much like the material for sale at this link. Here is the result:

All three bullets penetrated. Here is a picture of the back:

So I shot it with my 9 mm GLOCK:

And here is the back - notice the smaller dimples from the pistol rounds. None of the 9mm shots made it through the material.

So, to channel "Old Painless" (author of the Box O Truth), here are my conclusions:
- A pistol is a pistol and a rifle is a rifle.
- Know the difference between cover and concealment.
- .223 has thousands of documented kills in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and all over. It has put down polar bears, grizzlies, lions, tigers, and many other dangerous animals. It shot through this "bulletproof" fiberglass like a hot knife through butter. It is plenty powerful enough for self defense or "SHTF."
- Shooting stuff is fun!



PS - after taking these pictures, I put about 100 rounds through the fiberglass. It was shredded!