In our last tests shooting walls, we tried to line up 4 walls that were 2 feet by 2 feet.

It turned out that the 5.56 deviated so much from its course after the first wall, that it was almost impossible to hit the other walls to test penetration.

So, we built bigger walls. These are 4 feet by 4 feet. They are normal 1/2 inch drywall or sheetrock, as it is called in some areas. We spaced the walls about 10 feet apart to simulate normal across-the-room distances.

We will be trying to see how many walls will be penetrated by the rounds shot today.

We tested common pistol rounds last time and they all went through all 4 walls without any problem.

Today we will test some rifles and shotguns with various rounds.

First an AR15 shooting XM-193 Ball.

It went through all 4 walls.

That’s right. All 4 walls.

It was tumbling and deviated from a straight line of sight, but it went through all 4 walls.

Then we shot Remington 55 gr, Jacketed Soft Point ammo.

It went through all 4 walls also.

It was clearly mushrooming, but then broke into two pieces.

Then a round of Frangible 5.56 that my friend Hardshell sent me.

It is not designed to work as an anti-bad-guy round, but let’s see what it does in drywall.

Due to many requests, we tried a round of Winchester JHP from the .30 Carbine.

Caught the round of brass in the air just behind the front sight.

It penetrated all 4 walls.

Time for the shotgun.

First a round of Remington Reduced Recoil 00 Buck that my friend ARKAN_the_Tiger sent me.

I have been curious about these rounds.

The Laws of Physics are unforgiving. You don’t get something for nothing.

Reduced recoil should mean reduced terminal ballistics.

Sure enough, the recoil was obviously less than normal.

It penetrated all 4 walls.

Then a round of Hardened 00 Buckshot that my friend Blain sent me.

After the reduced recoil round, this one kicked like a Missouri mule.

It also penetrated all 4 walls.

We get a lot of questions about the effectiveness of Birdshot.

I shot a round of Remington #8 Dove Load.

It blew a big hole in the first wall.

But the shot did not even break into the second wall.

The only hole was from the shot cup.

Lessons learned:

Contrary to what we have been told, XM-193 does not seem to “fragment” when shot into drywall walls. After we were through for the day, we even shot several more rounds of XM-193 into the walls to see if we could get one to fragment. They did not.

It is clear that they were tumbling and deviating from the flight path, but they were still penetrating the walls.

Now, before anyone says it, No, I do not know how much damage they would do to someone after the 4th wall. But they would do some damage as they were still penetrating. Remington 55 grain JSP and Frangible 5.56 also penetrated all 4 walls. So did the .30 Carbine.

When shooting rifles, walls are concealment, not cover. 00 Buck penetrates 4 walls with ease. It is a great “Stopping” round, but there is a price to pay.

Until someone invents a “Phaser” like on Star Trek, anything that will stop a bad guy, will also penetrate several walls. Birdshot does not excessively penetrate drywall walls. But it does not penetrate deeply enough to reach a bad guy’s vital organs. Birdshot makes a nasty but shallow wound. It is not a good Stopper.

Use Birdshot for little birds. Use 00 Buckshot for bad guys. The sun was shining, it was a lovely day, and it was fun shooting stuff.

Thanks to my friends for the ammo to test. Thanks to Tman and our friend Richard who was visiting from out of town, for the pics.