Handgun Round Penetration in Pressure Treated Lumber

[imcrazy]

I know it's kind of an odd question and eventually I will do some of my own testing but, I am just wondering if anyone has experience with handgun calibers vs pressure treated lumber.

Backstory: We live on about 4 acres of property in a rural area where it is legal to discharge firearms and we have built up a U shaped 6' tall 25 yard deep berm in our backyard with no homes beyond it for quite a few miles BUT, I want to add a little more height above the berm just as an extra measure of safety to get our backstop height up to 9' tall above the area that we will be shooting just as an extra measure of safety...

I am out of extra dirt and to bring more in would be a pain and make a big mess out of my yard etc so I want to increase the height of my backstop using wood, I was considering railroad ties at first but, they are so darn heavy and inconsistent in their shape compared to buying pressure treated ground contact lumber..

My plan is to bury some fence posts behind a stack of 6"x6" pressure treated ground contact lumber will be 12' wide and 4' tall just as an additional insurance if someone was to inadvertently touch off a handgun round in recoil, all shooter will be experienced and the odds of this wood ever being shot are slim to none and the wood is not going to need to withstand multiple impacts...

My question is: will 9mm, 45 acp & .22LR reliably stop in a 6" chunk of pressure treated lumber? I see tests on youtube with standard 2x4's like what are used in interior framing but, obviously ground contact pressure treated lumber is quite a bit denser and therefore will offer better performance to stop a bullet...

Obviously some will say 4 acres isn't enough to shoot on and that a proper range needs miles and miles of uninhabited area beyond it to truly be 'safe' I am not looking to shoot rifles nor allow inexperienced shooters to partake, plus I am building a 6' wide bullet trap to shoot into so the ricochet risk is not a factor... Also the area around my property is very hilly and I am at a greatly decreased elevation, almost down in a valley...

Thanks for reading!

 

[vt_shooter]

You could do some testing with the wood you're thinking of using ...

 

[H Richard]

Short ranges have benefited from "eyebrow" barricades. An overhead 2' high X 6" deep with 1/2" board on either side and the cavity filed with pea gravel. You could do the same for added height. You can make them any height, on one range we had 8 ft tall barricades made this way between shooting bays. They have lasted over 30 years so far.

 

[chief38]

Even IF a round of a certain caliber does penetrate your back stop, you could easily reinforce the area behind and on the sides of your targets with either steel, extra wood, concrete, sand, dirt, etc. to insure you will never have an issue. I would! Safety never comes cheap - but pays off in the long run. Angle it properly also!

 

[imcrazy]

You could do some testing with the wood you're thinking of using ...

I am going to, just trying to see if anyone has experience... Also it's been such a wet fall and winter here in my area that my backyard is a swamp and I don't feel like getting out there and messing around in the mud today lol... Once things finally freeze up I am going to do some testing..

 

[imcrazy]

Even IF a round of a certain caliber does penetrate your back stop, you could easily reinforce the area behind and on the sides of your targets with either steel, extra wood, concrete, sand, dirt, etc. to insure you will never have an issue. I would! Safety never comes cheap - but pays off in the long run. Angle it properly also!

All good points. Certainly not trying to be cheap that's for sure I will see how my tests pan out, I would probably add some 1/4" steel if I am not satisfied with the penetration or lack thereof...

 

[imcrazy]

Short ranges have benefited from "eyebrow" barricades. An overhead 2' high X 6" deep with 1/2" board on either side and the cavity filed with pea gravel. You could do the same for added height. You can make them any height, on one range we had 8 ft tall barricades made this way between shooting bays. They have lasted over 30 years so far.

Interesting point on the pea gravel... An eyebrow is a good idea but, my bullet trap already has that built in essentially... I might have to consider the pea gravel angle though... might be cheaper than all that pressure treated lumber...

 

[alwslate]

I have done some penetration testing in regular construction lumber
like 2X4s and landscape timbers. A 6" solid piece of dense pressure
treated lumber will absolutely stop .22 LR, .45 ACP and will almost
certainly stop 9mm FMJ. 124 gr 9mm will out penetrate 115 gr in my
tests but I don't think even the hottest 124 gr would make it through
6" of dense wood. If it possibly did it wouldn't have much left.

 

[imcrazy]

I have done some penetration testing in regular construction lumber
like 2X4s and landscape timbers. A 6" solid piece of dense pressure
treated lumber will absolutely stop .22 LR, .45 ACP and will almost
certainly stop 9mm FMJ. 124 gr 9mm will out penetrate 115 gr in my
tests but I don't think even the hottest 124 gr would make it through
6" of dense wood. If it possibly did it wouldn't have much left.

Thank you for the info! I am considering including some sand bags behind the wood pile just to be safe! There is no reason that this part of the backstop should ever be shot but, want to be safe. I will do some testing before we buy all the lumber of course! I might just go for two 4x4's instead of a 6x6 to be safe...

 

[Jebus35745]

Hope it works out, nothing like walking out the door to shoot. Where in Ohio, I'm in Independence. Larry

 

[SC_Mike]

Back when I carried a PPK .380 it would put hollow points through wet 2x8 treated lumber at 7-10 yards.

Not much help just an FYI.

Found this on a quick search. Should work with firewood back up.

 

[imcrazy]

Hope it works out, nothing like walking out the door to shoot. Where in Ohio, I'm in Independence. Larry

Thanks Larry! I am just outside of Medina. I know Independence well, I've lived in the NE Ohio area most of my life..

 

[imcrazy]

Back when I carried a PPK .380 it would put hollow points through wet 2x8 treated lumber at 7-10 yards.

Not much help just an FYI.

Found this on a quick search. Should work with firewood back up.

Thanks for the info! I will do some testing with some lumber and see what happens... Since I am adding to an existing 6' tall backstop I am trying to avoid using RR ties as they'll be a little heavy to carry up the backstop and I have to drive about an hour to buy 'em for a fair price it seems.. If the ground contact lumber doesn't do the trick we will probably use RR ties OR backup our lumber with sand..

 

[imcrazy]

OK I had a chance to do some testing this afternoon...

I screwed together (3) 2x12 scraps giving me the same depth as a 6x6 I am planning on using and set 'em against my earth backstop so that the boards wouldn't move and absorb any of the impact.

I shot two rounds of each from about 5' away from the boards..

.22 LR CCI mini mags out of the M&P Compact only made it into the 1st board penetrating less than 1.5"..

45 acp 200 grain LRN bullets out of my 4.6" M&P made it through the first board and into the second but, made no dents on the backside of the 2nd board...

The 9mm 124 grain LRN bullets had a split performance, one made it almost all the way through the 2nd board and made a dent in the face on of the 3rd board penetrating a little more than 3" but, it was stuck in 2nd board.. The second bullet didn't even make dent in the back of board #2 penetrating less than 3" overall...

I'm satisfied with the performance given the fact that the wood will only be protection against a one in a million errant round, I would not want to use standard pressure treated lumber for repeated hits on a primary backstop however...

 

[Frank46]

Just a suggestion, maybe get to know some professional tree trimmers or tree removal people. Maybe use some of the logs to build up the back stop. We had a huge water oak removed which took one crew about a day and a half to cut down it was that big. I asked what they were going to do with all that wood. I was told that they would just burn it. I at first thought they would cut it up for firewood. The main trunk was over 15' at the base so pretty big tree. Frank

 

[tops]

Across????? Larry

 

[steelslaver]

A 4x8 piece of 1/4" steel would weigh about 320# cost about $225. Positioned at a 45 above your backstop it would give you about t 3 ft more height and deflect any high rounds down into the dirt or berm.

 

[imcrazy]

A 4x8 piece of 1/4" steel would weigh about 320# cost about $225. Positioned at a 45 above your backstop it would give you about t 3 ft more height and deflect any high rounds down into the dirt or berm.

I thought about that but, I would probably have to hire help or rent a excavator to lift the steel into place plus, I would lose 4' of width as I am wanting to make this wall about 12' wide... The big downside to me would be weight though..

Good suggestion though...

 

[imcrazy]

Just a suggestion, maybe get to know some professional tree trimmers or tree removal people. Maybe use some of the logs to build up the back stop. We had a huge water oak removed which took one crew about a day and a half to cut down it was that big. I asked what they were going to do with all that wood. I was told that they would just burn it. I at first thought they would cut it up for firewood. The main trunk was over 15' at the base so pretty big tree. Frank

Good suggestion. Thanks!

 

[erics]

Just a thought but if you place targets in the same area over time the wood will get blown away. Do you have any access to used industrial rubber belting or mats.