just had a thought

[Guest bazookazilla]

This may be very stupid, but I had a weird thought. My house was built in 1925 and has plaster walls. They are as hard as they can be (however brittle) and are backed by a "chicken wire" type screen. Does anyone think that 2 layers of this might be strong enough to stop a handgun bullet? If this is an incredibly stupid concept, please excuse my ignorance. I wouldn't bet my life on it, but they are really tough and I bet if they couldn't stop one they could render it very much less effective.

[Guest Boomhower]

So do you plan on shooting up your house??? Or building a back stop of your own to shoot into???

[Guest canynracer]

afraid of drive-by's???

sorry, just trying to figure out where this is coming from...lol..just siting around and think "hmm...i wonder...."

LOL...

[Guest TN.Frank]

Well, let's put it this way. A 38spl, round nose lead bullet at standard vel. will go thru 8, 1" pine boards, so do ya' think that maybe a little plaster will stand up to a handgun or not? I don't. I'd be willing to bet that a 22lr would cut thru em' no problem.

[Guest dotsun]

You might want to check out this link: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot1.htm

The man has way too much time on his hands and likes to shoot stuff. He hasn't done plaster walls, but the link shows drywall and later in that article he substitutes 3/4 inch plywood. FWIW, I would bet that most rounds would go right through plaster unless they hit a stud.

[Guest Tombstone]

If someone was shooting at me I think I would find something more substantial to hide behind. If you survived, it would suck getting the plaster chunks dug out of ya. LOL

[Marswolf]

Beat me to it Dotsun....

Great site.

[Guest db99wj]

afraid of drive-by's???

.

He lives in Memphis, his house was built in 1925 which probably (big assumption) lives in or around the mid town area, of course he is afraid of drive-by's !!!

[Guest db99wj]

You might want to check out this link: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot1.htm

The man has way too much time on his hands and likes to shoot stuff. He hasn't done plaster walls, but the link shows drywall and later in that article he substitutes 3/4 inch plywood. FWIW, I would bet that most rounds would go right through plaster unless they hit a stud.

That is a great site, answers a lot of questions and corrects many assumptions that are wrong.

I laughed out loud while reading the shotgun testing he did... "Unless you expect to be attacked by little birds, do not use birdshot.":rofl:

[saintsfanbrian]

Hey, you don't have to live in Mid-Town to be afraid of Drive-By's in Memphis.

I would get behind the refrigerator or the stove. Then again, I might just get up in the upstairs bedroom with the rifle and start shooting back.

[molonlabetn]

Sand is a good backstop... if I wanted to bullet-proof a building, it would be 2 layers of block/brick, with sand in the interstice.

[deerslayer]

Never shot plaster but I have cut holes in it w/ a reciprocating saw--the stuff just eats blades. Plaster would definitely stop a bullet more quickly than sheet rock.

[Guest looneeetunes]

i have thought of this question myself, but only in the case i had to use my weapon on an intruder would a thru and thru go thru a wall and hit one of the kids in the next room. thats why i prefer expansion heads. still the chance but less likely. i have sheetrock, and like deerslayer, i have worked with both. i think also plaster would come closer to stopping than sheetrock, but i can still see a 38 or better possibly going thru.

[Guest bazookazilla]

I don't mean to suggest it would be something safe to hide behind, but I was just wondering if anyone thought it would provide much more protection than sheet rock and possibly stop a smaller bullet. And yes, I do live in midtown. It's a great area and I like it a lot. I have a lot of great neighbors, some of whom are very vigilant. However the possibility of violence is never too far away.