How bulletproof is a solid wood door?
- Thread starter pittpa
- Start date
There aren't many solid hardwood doors. Hardwood shrinks and expands with humidity three times as much as pine, as much as 3/8" per foot cross grain. Most doors, even pine, are veneered over a lower grade of pine. Frame and panel construction allows at least 1/8" room for each panel to expand. The frame changes very little because expansion with the grain is much, much less (about 1%).
A .22 LR will penetrate 6-9" of 1" pine boards, spaced 1" apart, and at about half that in oak. A .357 Magnum about 18" of pine, a 7.62x51 rifle, FMJ. up to 72". A .45-70 will penetrate 2" of ballistic Lexan, and leave a 4" hole.
You would need 3/16" of M8 armor plate somewhere in that door for effective cover.
A .22 LR will penetrate 6-9" of 1" pine boards, spaced 1" apart, and at about half that in oak. A .357 Magnum about 18" of pine, a 7.62x51 rifle, FMJ. up to 72". A .45-70 will penetrate 2" of ballistic Lexan, and leave a 4" hole.
You would need 3/16" of M8 armor plate somewhere in that door for effective cover.
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bigdaddyrobb
Member
Add something like this to the back of your door (if you can get it to stick)
3M™ Safety & Security Film S140
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96x2tO9Xuxw[/ame]
3M™ Safety & Security Film S140
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96x2tO9Xuxw[/ame]
OP
pittpa
Member
Only if the lockwork is all that is holding the door in place. Part of the point is to know if I can shoot through it.
EDIT, not looking for a bullet proof door, looking for a door that someone can't punch through, and wondering whether it was bullet resistant to any degree. That's been answered, thanks.
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fiasconva
Member
Go to YouTube and find the Mythbusters show called Assassin. It shows just how easy it is for almost any type of bullet to penetrate walls, etc. It will certainly open your eyes about how little protection the walls in your home provide.
keith44spl
Member
If I wanted to stop and or slow down most rounds....
I think, I fit a 1" sheet of Lexan to the inside of the door.
.
I think, I fit a 1" sheet of Lexan to the inside of the door.
.
Not if you use 1/2" AR500 steel walls.
Practically speaking brick or concrete walls work fine if you're building a house from scratch.
If you're renovating, you can always go with fiberglass ballistic panels like they use inside counters in banks. Level III panels will stop .357 Mag, .44 mag, etc are about 1/2" thick and weigh about 4 pounds per square foot. Level VIII panels will stop both 5.56 and 7.62 ball rounds, are about 1 3/8" thick and weigh about 14 pounds per square foot. Half inch is fairly easy to accommodate in a residential wall, the 1 3/8" panels end up being closer to the thickness of a 2x6 wall.
Regardless of what's used, there's nothing in the average residential city block that you can't chew through with a Ma Duece.
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On the other hand, if you just want to armor your front door so you don't get shot through the door, you can use the Level VIII fiberglass inside the frame of the door and sandwiched between plywood and wood veneer upon each side.
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I guess it doesn't matter since I sleep with the bedroom door open since that the kids have move out. Same rule applies to the bathroom door.....lol
You can slow someone down with a solid door, forge about it stopping bullets.
Years ago they advertised penetration by the number of pine boards a bullet passed through. IIRC, 158 RN 38 Special penetrated more than 6 boards.
About 40 years ago, I knew some young and foolish guys plinking in an abandoned RR yard, they set up a target on the concrete block wall of and old signal shack, when they finished, they picked up their brass and went to retrieve the targets, they found the 124 gr FMJ 9mm they were shooting had been passing right through the concrete block.
Years ago they advertised penetration by the number of pine boards a bullet passed through. IIRC, 158 RN 38 Special penetrated more than 6 boards.
About 40 years ago, I knew some young and foolish guys plinking in an abandoned RR yard, they set up a target on the concrete block wall of and old signal shack, when they finished, they picked up their brass and went to retrieve the targets, they found the 124 gr FMJ 9mm they were shooting had been passing right through the concrete block.
I have a 4 Panel oak door slab, that I got stuck with. If anybody
wanted a 36" solid oak door I would give in to them. Unfinished
I don't think you would want to pay shipping on it must weight 75
lb. If you want to insure door is not kicked in, you have to build
solid between door frame and next stud on either side of door.
wanted a 36" solid oak door I would give in to them. Unfinished
I don't think you would want to pay shipping on it must weight 75
lb. If you want to insure door is not kicked in, you have to build
solid between door frame and next stud on either side of door.
t-astragal
Member
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I own a custom door shop. I've used a wood called ipe and I'd put it up against a bullet. That stuff feels denser than aluminum!
Taking orders. Granddoorcompany.com
No guarantees against bullets though. It'd be so purty that a bad guy wouldn't shoot it anyway. You could take him out while he's distracted looking at the beautiful grain and rich color[emoji1].
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Taking orders. Granddoorcompany.com
No guarantees against bullets though. It'd be so purty that a bad guy wouldn't shoot it anyway. You could take him out while he's distracted looking at the beautiful grain and rich color[emoji1].
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OP
pittpa
Member
Me too on both counts. Bed to bathroom is one trip I can make in the dark without stubbing my toe.
If the alarm goes off, the door is getting closed and locked fairly quick. At 4#/sq-ft, that ballistic fiberglass is going to add about 70# to the weight of a door. I learned a new term-"defensive architecture".
I have an idea for a pipe flange with a floor bar to prevent the solid door from being pushed open past a broken door knob, or torn up framing, so as not to have to reframe the door.
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Personally, in my opinion, a bullet proof/resistant door only prolongs the conflict and gives an assailant time to think and figure out a different angle of attack. My plan is to hide in the dark with my ordinary unlocked bedroom door. When he opens the door, Bam! the 300 lumen light on my G19 hits him in the eyes a split second before 2 or 3 jhp's permanently blind him due to his brain turning to jell inside his skull. I like my gunfights one sided and over quickly.
YogiBear
Absent Comrade
Aloha,
A contractor I know has a full size gun safe door to his gun room.
Yep, looks like a door off a gun safe, but is same size as a regular door.
Also, a demo contactor I meet has doors off bank vaults that he was hired to demo.
Told me that bank vaults are overbuilt to prevent easy break ins.
Considering how heavy a vault door is, you'd NEED to overbuild your wall and door frame.
A contractor I know has a full size gun safe door to his gun room.
Yep, looks like a door off a gun safe, but is same size as a regular door.
Also, a demo contactor I meet has doors off bank vaults that he was hired to demo.
Told me that bank vaults are overbuilt to prevent easy break ins.
Considering how heavy a vault door is, you'd NEED to overbuild your wall and door frame.
BigCityChief
Member
Don't forget to overbuild your floor joists as well.
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Whitwabit
US Veteran
if a 40 S&W will shoot through several layers of metal in a car door I would think anything 9mm and above would shoot through a solid wood door no mater the type of hard wood used .. I wouldn't want to be standing behind it when anyone was shooting at it that's for sure !!
You would need to get it made from plate like metal targets are made up and the you would have a very heavy door .. hand dead bolts can stop locks being defeated if jam is built of same material as the door ..
You would need to get it made from plate like metal targets are made up and the you would have a very heavy door .. hand dead bolts can stop locks being defeated if jam is built of same material as the door ..
Doug M.
Member
The best place to invest in is outside, making it less likely than some will even want come to or enter your home. You want floodlights, a big fence, and a vile (at least sounding) dog. If they get to the door, you have already failed. If they get inside, you have really failed.
I doubt that any reasonable amount of money invested in doors, walls, etc., will give any real measure of bullet resistance.
I doubt that any reasonable amount of money invested in doors, walls, etc., will give any real measure of bullet resistance.
Some years back, I did a wood penetration test with various ammo types.
1 X 10 X 12 pine plank (actual depth of the plank was 3/4 inch) cut into foot length pieces. I numbered the pieces and stacked 10 boards in a frame to hold them steady. This frame was secured to a stand.
The stand was placed 15 feet down range from the shooting bench.
Results:
.22LR - Federal Bulk Ammo - stopped at 5th board
.38 Special - WWB 130 gr. Range/Target - stopped at 6th board
.38 Special +P - Speer Gold Dot 135 gr. GDHP “snubbie load” - stopped at 6th board
.38 Special +P - Buffalo Bore 158 gr. LSW HC “FBI load” - lodged in 6th board
9mm Luger - Federal 115 gr. FMJ RN - lodged in 8th board
.357 Magnum - Remington 125 gr. JSP- lodged in 8th board
.45 ACP - Winchester SXT 230gr. JHP - stopped at 5th board
.45 ACP - WWB 230gr. RN - stopped at 8th board
FWIW
1 X 10 X 12 pine plank (actual depth of the plank was 3/4 inch) cut into foot length pieces. I numbered the pieces and stacked 10 boards in a frame to hold them steady. This frame was secured to a stand.
The stand was placed 15 feet down range from the shooting bench.
Results:
.22LR - Federal Bulk Ammo - stopped at 5th board
.38 Special - WWB 130 gr. Range/Target - stopped at 6th board
.38 Special +P - Speer Gold Dot 135 gr. GDHP “snubbie load” - stopped at 6th board
.38 Special +P - Buffalo Bore 158 gr. LSW HC “FBI load” - lodged in 6th board
9mm Luger - Federal 115 gr. FMJ RN - lodged in 8th board
.357 Magnum - Remington 125 gr. JSP- lodged in 8th board
.45 ACP - Winchester SXT 230gr. JHP - stopped at 5th board
.45 ACP - WWB 230gr. RN - stopped at 8th board
FWIW
That, my friends, says it all!
Unless you're building a fortress, your doors and walls are for concealment, at best. They do not qualify as "cover".
I could go off on a tangent here about being ready day and night and being committed to pulling the trigger but I won't. I'll just say that your home is, unless you've done something special to it, your place to dwell in, with all that dwelling implies, family, alone, whatever. It is not designed to stop bullets.
Okay, brick walls will stop bullets, but that's outside walls in the normal home and not every home has brick. Even brick doesn't help with respect to windows and wooden doors.
If you're going to get into a home confrontation you can expect wall and door penetration unless you can end it quickly. That's just how it is.
a guy I'd had a disagreement with came looking for me when he got out of jail. He found my address on the tax rolls, drove on over, and cranked off a mag full of .45acp ball at my solid oak front door. The bullets (I kept one) came to rest on the carpet about 15 feet inside the door. He fired from about 50 feet out side.
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