What round/gun to shoot through a windshield?

[Radtekk]

Been thinking about this for a while now, and the most recent "Car attack" as posted in the Off-Topic thread really got me wondering. What handgun/bullet combination is going to take out a driver through the windshield? 9mm is higher velocity, "pointier" than 45, but lighter. Hollow point or ball? Why? Compact gun vs full-size and the increased velocity of a 5" barrel vs 3"?

Maybe after we thrash this to death and wander off into .40 cal, 38, 357 sig, 44mag, and EC weighs in on S&W 500 nuclear handloads we can get to long guns and side windows, but for now the scenario is "I'm walking down the street, hear an engine rev, start hearing thuds, turn and see dude in a box truck headed my way down the sidewalk." Which gun and ammo do I really want to have?

 

[Tallen]

I think the answer is as usual: whatever you're most proficient at shooting. Here are some other considerations to account for when it comes to windshields.

 

[W.E.C]

 

[22lr]

I would think most handgun calibers, especially with with ball ammo should do the trick? I would also be curious how the slanted glass would change the trajectory of the bullet.

 

[Prepper]

I'd go with 50BMG just to be sure.

 

[strangenh]

Google ballistics windshield tests for more but this is a good place to start:

FBI Ammunition Protocol

 

[Coyote33]

If shooting through a windshield was something someone said I would need to do later in the day, and I had a choice, I'd choose .357 Magnum. YMMV. If I had a 9mm only, I'd probably choose ball ammo. Again, YMMV.

 

[white feather]

Google ballistics windshield tests for more but this is a good place to start:

FBI Ammunition Protocol

"Bullets must be specifically engineered to function well in auto glass — even a bullet that performs well in the previous 5 test events will, except for notable exceptions, perform badly in the Auto Glass test event..."

 

[JayZ0rbot]

I like a 10mm. I see a lot more companies are starting to accommodate this round.

 

[enbloc]

 

[Picton]

I thought we had this thread already, after the truck attack in Nice? Wasn’t the consensus something like “maintain situational awareness and get out of the way of the vehicle?”

If it wasn’t, it should have been. Choose whatever round you can put into the CNS of the driver of a speeding, swerving vehicle while it’s bearing down on you at Mach Three.

I’d say window penetration is the least of your concerns.

 

[fshalor]

Oh no. Not this again.

My prior point in this was Speer gold dot. 10 years ago. Was the only JHP round in production from 2004-2010 which passed a silly crappy point shoot test in Florida.

 

[PATRON]

7.62x25 Tok. Back in the 1990's when I worked for Brinks we did a test on a lexan widow out of a Bay Bank drive up teller window.We also did a test on a car windshield,boy did that round piss threw that car glass.

 

[KBCraig]

The 800 Bullwinkle seems to be highly effective.

 

[PATRON]

View: https://youtu.be/kC5Em4BIn-U?t=8

 

[5811]

Fotay

 

[snax]

My old boss pierced "bulletproof" glass in the 80's when he was a police sgt. They were doing some demonstration with it. He whipped out his 44mag and it went thru. I remember him saying his .357 mag did pretty good damage, but didn't get thru. Neither did a .38 or a .45
I think that's all they carried then. This is back in the the days before 9mm glocks.

 

[Hustler One]

FNH 5.7

 

[swatgig]

Frozen chicken

 

[kalash]

While we're on the subject of calibers, what's best for bear?

 

[nordic alien]

Been thinking about this for a while now, and the most recent "Car attack" as posted in the Off-Topic thread really got me wondering. What handgun/bullet combination is going to take out a driver through the windshield? 9mm is higher velocity, "pointier" than 45, but lighter. Hollow point or ball? Why? Compact gun vs full-size and the increased velocity of a 5" barrel vs 3"?

Maybe after we thrash this to death and wander off into .40 cal, 38, 357 sig, 44mag, and EC weighs in on S&W 500 nuclear handloads we can get to long guns and side windows, but for now the scenario is "I'm walking down the street, hear an engine rev, start hearing thuds, turn and see dude in a box truck headed my way down the sidewalk." Which gun and ammo do I really want to have?

10 mm defensive ammo. glock 29 compact for summer carry, i carry a ruger 10mm 1911 in a galco iwb holster: conceals well. no less than 20 rounds of ammo

 

[swatgig]

While we're on the subject of calibers, what's best for bear?

You can use a .22 to slow your friend down enough so you can get away.

 

[NHCraigT]

I do not know how accurate this information is, but:

About 6 or 7 +/- years ago, I was taking an instructional defensive shooting, retention, and disarming class in NH, and the main instructor (who runs the school, and they also do a lot of different types of training, education, including LEO and HLS training), told us that he recommended the Hornady Critical Duty round as the best round for through-windshield shooting, as the design allows the round to maintain its straight trajectory, and not veer off slightly (like most standard rounds will do), when striking and passing through an angled vehicle windshield (based on you as the shooter, shooting from inside the vehicle, through the front windshield, towards an immediate outside threat).

 

[strangenh]

"Bullets must be specifically engineered to function well in auto glass — even a bullet that performs well in the previous 5 test events will, except for notable exceptions, perform badly in the Auto Glass test event..."

YEP

 

[yogi]

LARS rocket

 

[Heathen]

Federal HST, Winchester Ranger T, and Speer GoldDot in 9mm,.40S&W, and .45ACP should all perform as well as can be expected of a handgun on auto glass.

 

[Sweeney]

Mark 7 with AP rounds

 

[hminsky]

You shoot the bear with 9mm, which then, while angry and disoriented, steps into the road and goes through the windshield.

 

[xtry51]

The answer is any pistol caliber .32 and up will go through every time and be lethal. The round will deflect slightly downwards when hitting an angled windshield. Aim 2-6 inches higher than normal.

 

[neum69]

Fotay

This.

IIRC, the FBI switched to .40, when they did so, in part because of performance through car windows and doors. Narrow like the 9mm but with the energy of the .45 to punch right through.