When shooting through car windows, the results are rarely what you expect. This video dives into the practicalities of shooting through automobile glass, a surprisingly complex topic for urban survival. We test various calibers to see how they perform against windshields, offering insights for anyone concerned about self-defense in city environments.

Key Takeaways When Shooting Through Car Windows

• Front windshields are much tougher than side or rear windows due to multiple layers and plastic interlayers.
• The angle of impact significantly affects bullet deflection and penetration.
• Different bullet types and calibers behave very differently when passing through automotive glass.

Understanding Automobile Glass

When we talk about shooting through car windows, we’re mostly concerned with the front windshield. Side and rear windows are designed to shatter, making them easier to penetrate. The front windshield, however, is built tough. It often has multiple panes with a plastic layer in between, and its curved shape can also throw off a bullet’s path. The angle you shoot at matters a lot too; shooting head-on is different from hitting the glass at an angle.

Caliber Performance Tests

We put several common calibers to the test, using high-speed cameras to see exactly what happens.

.22LR

Surprisingly, even a standard .22LR from a rifle managed to punch through the glass. It brought a lot of glass fragments with it, but the projectile made it through intact.

9mm

We tested both FMJ and hollow-point 9mm rounds. The FMJ jacket shaved off, while the hollow-point seemed to perform a bit better, expanding as expected. A key observation with all rounds is the significant amount of glass that travels with the projectile, which could be dangerous and impair vision. Experts note that bullet deflection can be unpredictable, varying from a few inches to nearly a foot for every foot of travel after hitting the glass.

5.56mm

Testing with an AR-15 platform, we looked at M855 “green tip” rounds. These have a hardened steel cone and performed well, staying mostly intact and tumbling on exit. The M855 proved effective against barriers, including automotive glass and even metal doors. We also tested a 77-grain Open Tip Match (OTM) round, which broke apart more than the M855 but still had a significant impact.

7.62x39mm

Commonly found in AK-style rifles, the 7.62x39mm, with its heavier 123-grain projectile, showed good performance. While it broke apart more than some other rounds, its mass helped it push through the glass effectively. We also tested an AAC Saber Blade round, which performed similarly.

.308 Winchester

The .308, fired from a SCAR-H, demonstrated impressive power. Both standard M80 ball and a heavier 168-grain match round punched through with ease. The .308 caused a much more violent shattering of the glass, sending fragments at high velocity along with the projectile.

Shotgun

We tested both a rifled slug and buckshot. The slug went straight through with minimal deflection. Buckshot, however, showed significant pellet deflection, similar to handgun rounds, suggesting slugs might be more reliable for barrier penetration with shotguns.

Factors That Affect Shooting Through Car Windows

Several factors influence how rounds behave when fired through automotive glass:

• Glass Type: Front windshields are much tougher than side or rear windows.
• Angle of Impact: The flatter the angle, the more likely the round is to deflect or tumble.
• Bullet Construction: Full metal jackets, hollow points, steel penetrators, and heavier bullets all react differently.
• Velocity and Mass: Faster, heavier rounds generally have more energy to overcome the barrier.

Practical Considerations

When facing a vehicle threat, remember that shooting at an angle, typically 15-30 degrees off the driver’s side, is often recommended. This angle can help prevent the vehicle from driving directly at you if the driver accelerates. If possible, targeting the side windows is much easier due to their tendency to shatter.

For urban environments, the choice of rifle caliber is important. While .308 offers significant power, the lower recoil and higher ammunition capacity of 5.56mm platforms can be advantageous for engaging multiple threats or vehicles quickly. The AKM’s 7.62x39mm offers a middle ground in terms of power and barrier penetration.

Understanding the reality of shooting through car windows is essential for any serious self-defense student. Ultimately, understanding how different ammunition performs through common barriers like car windshields is vital for effective self-defense. This knowledge can make a critical difference in a high-stress situation.