[stonesoupJay]

I was in a store the other day and was thinking about a situation. I was in the can vegetable isle, on the other side of the same shelf unit was can fruit. Would that be good cover from a bullet penetration? I figure it was 4’ – 6’ of cans stacked in front of me. I know it was good concealment but will it stop a bullet? If not how many cans would it take and can you use prep cans as defensive positions?

 

[Bridgetdaddy]

Answer from a Marine

Cans are not usually used for defensive positions. It would also depend on the gun being fired. That being said, most guns, including a .50 cal rifle, only penetrate about 6-8 inches into water. most canned food is water based, so I would think 4-6 feet of them would stop a bullet. Be reallllllllllly messy!!
Your best defense would be to hit the floor as close to the shelf bottoms as possible. Bullets rarely skim the floor. Also, if you are building a position, use sandbags. They can take more than 1 or 2 rounds, and your food money is better spent on food to eat.
Hope this helps

 

[Gunner65]

No they would not have...

Knowing the difference between cover and concealment WILL save your life...

When in a fire fight and you can get out of your car/truck where should you be for best protection???

1. Behind a door
2. Behind the trunk area
3. Behind the outside of your fender with the the front end of your car in between you and the attackers.

Answer... Number 3
Cans would not have been in your favor, they may stop a fast expanding bullet by the time it got into the last row of cans but a chance I would not want to bet my life on...

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

Fixed a car once. It had been shot in the back. The round went into the trunklid, THRU it, into the rear seat frame, thru that, into the dash via the heater controls, and lodged into the metal framing of the dashboard. Well, we think it was in there, as we never found it.

I have another round from the same car that was retrieved from the door. The bullet went right through the door skin, and got stuck in the inner frame/crossmember (Intrusion beam). Having recently handled a 9MM round, I think this one is a .45

Another round penetrated the front door, hit the drivers leg and bounced at a 90 degree angle through the seat and lodged in the floor. It bent the snot out of the floor, and would have gone through that if there hadn't been a structural support right there. It actually penetrated the floor itself. It was the support that it was stuck in.

The seat was so blood soaked that we had to replace it, same for the carpet.

So to make a point here, cars are not bullet proof. only the engine block, and the trans case is. You would also be protected by the wheels, so long as they are not aluminium, spoke wheels. Those have large gaps of no protection.

 

[ken]

I would probably get behind the vehicles wheel and engine, the wheel is not much extra (foot) protection, but better than the sheet metal body and nothing over the feet, no I don't have spoke wheels.

If your just hiding behind the car body, out of sight (mostly). Even #6 shotgun pellets would find your feet and ankles under the car frame if you were behind the engine only.

7,62 x (anything) would probably go straight through the vehicle, maybe even 223, the metal is sooo thin.

Best not to get in that situation, period.

 

[Sapper6]

This is a great thread. People often far underestimate the penetrating power of a bullet projectile - either that or they overestimate the cover value in most materials. I watched a video made by the DOD once on the effectiveness of cinderblocks in stopping ammunition that was common to domestic and foreign militaries. .223 AND 7.62 went into the cinderblock home, through all the furniture and interior walls, and out the back wall! 9mm normally proceeded through the cinderblock wall and lodged somewhere inside the home. Cover is not normally found in normal objects. It is something that has to be engineered and thought through. Cinderblocks aren't even enough. Were each of the webs filled with concrete, that may be a different story. But if you desire to have adequate cover in your home, you'd better start innovating. Dirt makes excellent cover. You just need to find a way to use it to your advantage.

_________________________________________

"Civilize the mind, and make savage the body."

 

[Mountain Man]

4 to 6 feet of cans will not stop a bullet of about 9MM and above. They are not dense enough, so they will not absorb the energy transfered by the round. And I don't remember who said that cans will stop a 50BMG. I've seen those rounds tear completely THRU a house. in one side, and out the other. To stop bullets, you need engineered cover, as was previously stated. For instance. A bookshelf about 4 to 5 feet wide, packed tightly with books, or magazines WILL stop a 5.56x45 round. This will only work if you stand behind the shelf long ways. Another engineered cover, that affords excellent cover, are sand bags. 18 inches of tightly packed sandbags will protect you from an RPG blast. I've see it work. The only downside being that they require maintenance if they are exposed to the elements. For true cover, from bullets. You need somthing thick enough, and dense enough to dissipate the bullets energy before it makes it thru the object and into your body. But also remember, that objects such as cinderblock walls, even if they are filled in with more concrete will eventualy give way, if shot enough times.

 

[Rutger]

Check out Theboxotruth.com it has some great info.

Basically, 9mm and .223 will penetrate about 4 - 1 gallon jugs of water (3' of water). Once you get into high-powered rifle ammo, the round will clear 6 or 7 jugs of water, and keep going, but be deflected.

I think the moral of the story, is that if you are in a grocery store, hit the deck, because nothing they have there is going to stop rounds to the point that you can be assured of safety. Unless your local Safeway also stocks bank-vaults....

 

[Black Knight]

These cans are defective! :

 

[TMcArthur]

I suspect they'd be better than nothing but not by much. Might stop a .22. Try shooting thru a row of cans with even a .38 and you'll go thru several before the round stops.

 

[Black Knight]

I think that they might and they might not. This would depend on everything from how many cans there are, what caliber the bad guy is using and so on. If it's all you got, then at a minimal you have concealment. I think you have to treat it like concealment. Get behind the cans, take advantage of the concealment. Even if his shots go through the cans, if you are not standing where he is aiming, then you will not get hit.

 

[FredLee]

These can's are defective! :

I remember that...

 

[FredLee]

What are you guys defining as "cinderblock"? Those crappy blocks actually make from coal cinder? Or concrete blocks? Cuz a concrete block will stop a 9mm like nothing.I've shot concrete blocks with 7.62x39 steel core,shattered it,but I found the steel and the jacket laying on the ground.

 

[wannalive]

A cinderblock is imho never to be trusted. i have watched my 4yr old, 3 at the time easily bust them into pieces with a small hammer... so dont expect it to stop much of a bullet..

 

[Mountain Man]

What are you guys defining as "cinderblock"? Those crappy blocks actually make from coal cinder? Or concrete blocks? Cuz a concrete block will stop a 9mm like nothing.I've shot concrete blocks with 7.62x39 steel core,shattered it,but I found the steel and the jacket laying on the ground.

Anything that looks like a cinderblock. The concrete kind or other. I'll tell you what. If you think they are good cover. Set you up a wall of whatever style cinderblocks you want, and hide behind them. Have a friend shoot at you repetedly with even a 9mm. If you're still able to type the next day, write me back and I'll eat some humble pie.