Ballistics of 9mm in home defense situation

[buckjay]

I tried searching but couldn't really find anything of the like.

I live in a house with single plane walls and I'm trying to get a good idea of how far a 124gr Gold Dot will travel after penetrating 1/2" thick wood.

My yard is fenced in 6" concrete walls, so there wouldn't be any real issue there, however there's no wall in the front of my house and I'd like to know what kind of risks I'm up against should I need to discharge my weapon in my bedroom.

The bullet would travel about 10 feet before impacting the first barrier 1/2" thick wood and then there's about 80 feet of space between my house and my neighbors across the road.

Is there any chance the bullet would still have enough velocity to penetrate his walls and cause any harm?

Thanks!

[Kenneth]

It will go through your single plane walls without issue I'm willing to bet.

[RearwardAssist]

Yes I have shot a 124gr TAP and a few others on a plywood setup with 1 1/2" spacing in between sheets the 9mms averaged 9 sheets of wood. None of the hollow point expanded much in the neighborhood of .40-.50" at the widest point.

[buckjay]

I knew it would penetrate the first 1-2 layers, I guess my question is more how much velocity is lost after the first barrier.

By the sounds of your test it seems like there would be more then enough velocity after 80 feet to penetrate another single wall, but would it still have enough velocity to cause any real harm or damage afterwards?

[ST911]

It's a handgun round subject to some variability after barriers, but a good one. The 124gr GDHP is included in the "recommended" list. You can read up on what it had to do to get there, including how it behaved in intermediate barriers.

"Thoughts on Service Pistols, along with Duty and Self-Defense Ammo Recommendations"
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887

"9 mm 124 gr testing"
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=88091

Lots of others if you use combinations of "9mm...Gold Dot...testing...124"

ATK's online info and wound ballistics comparison webtool:
http://le.atk.com/ammunition/speer/handgun/default.aspx
http://le.atk.com/wound_ballistics/default.aspx

[7 RING]

Buy Glaser Safety Slugs or some other pre-fragmented ammunition if over penetration is a concern.

[buckjay]

I've read most of those and but I'm not sure how to translate the penetration in gel to what I'm after.

I'm aware the bullet will leave my property if the unfortunate situation arises where I need to discharge my weapon in said direction, however I'm trying to figure out how much velocity would be lost after the first or second barriers (one or two walls).

[buckjay]

Buy Glaser Safety Slugs or some other pre-fragmented ammunition if over penetration is a concern.

That's a good idea and what I was going to look into next if it seems over penetration is going to be an issue.

[RearwardAssist]

That's a good idea and what I was going to look into next if it seems over penetration is going to be an issue.

The problem with those is they have tested to not penetrate enough for leathality under certain circumstances, I have seen test where they are getting 4-6" of penetration in properly calibrated gel.

[buckjay]

The problem with those is they have tested to not penetrate enough for leathality under certain circumstances, I have seen test where they are getting 4-6" of penetration in properly calibrated gel.

Thats what I was afraid of, which is why I'd like to figure out if my current situation is going to be an issue or not.

Alternatively I could try and reinforce my front walls if I knew how much I would need to slow down any bullets to a low enough velocity where it would not cause any damages wherever it ended up.