How bulletproof is a solid wood door?

[t-astragal]

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].


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pittpa]

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

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.

 

[patrickd]

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]

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.

 

[BigCityChief]

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.

Don't forget to overbuild your floor joists as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Whitwabit]

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 ..

 

[Doug M.]

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.

 

[hanno]

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

 

[ISCS Yoda]

If you asked Oscar Pistorius, he'd tell you "not bullet proof at all".

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.

 

[Lt JL]

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.

 

[pittpa]

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.

That just ain't right.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[amazingflapjack]

Hey Guys-I just put "Bullet proof door" on the net, and got a bunch of results.

 

[carpriver]

I wonder how much of the wood door comes lose (splinters) on the inside when the bullet comes though and what happens to the splinters.

 

[Lt JL]

lots of splinters. They were pretty big though, as it was an oak door. The fartherest only travelled a few feet.

 

[pittpa]

lots of splinters. They were pretty big though, as it was an oak door. The fartherest only travelled a few feet.

That guy could not wait to go back to jail, I guess. Was anyone home? Where were you while this was going on?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[pittpa]

Hey Guys-I just put "Bullet proof door" on the net, and got a bunch of results.

Knowing what I know now, I would have titled the thread "how bullet-resistant is a solid wood door". I am also now aware that my soft wood waterbed frame is concealment and not cover. It has a standard mattress.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Camster]

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.

I know someone who happened to be standing behind the front door of a nightclub a couple of years ago(had to be a strong commercial door,not hollow luan mahogany) when a disgruntled patron returned and fired a random shot at the door.
Odds favor the round being a 9mm.The shot was mortal.

 

[Lt JL]

actually, I was in the line of fire, sitting in my chair reading a book. after I got back up from behind the chair, I saw the rounds. Never fear, we got him the next day. Right back to the greybar Hotel for 17 more years.

 

[pittpa]

Mongo like prison. But Mongo no like Lt JL.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[TAC]

Peel-n-Stick Bulletproof Door

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvNZJidtxE[/ame]