Shooting From, Into, And Around Vehicles

My father had a videotape titled "Bullets And Their Affects" [sic]. This was a copy that my dad had made or gotten from somewhere, so I didn't have the original packaging or anything so I'm not sure who made it or when it was made, other than I would guess it was probably right around 1980 based on the clothes and hair styles. 

    A sizable portion of the video was testing the penetration of various calibers and styles of bullets against vehicles. This is not a subject the serious armed defender should dismiss. As many authors that have written about shooting in, from, or around cars have noted, we spend a substantial amount of the lives outside our homes and workplaces in or around vehicles. So, even if we are not going to be shooting our AR through the windshield to stop a fleeing vehicle as one famous video showed a state trooper doing, there is actually a good chance that if we are involved in an armed confrontation it may find us either in our vehicle or around vehicles (e.g., a parking lot).  
 
    The cars used in the videotape were a couple of the large, heavily built American made sedans typical of the 1970s. The producer of the video would set up cardboard silhouette targets just inside a door and then tried out various pistol calibers of different types (standard FMJ or round-nose lead, hollow-point--generally Super-Vel but sometimes others--and a smattering of specialized rounds like so-called "armor piercing" rounds or Glazer safety-rounds). Surprisingly (or maybe not considering how heavily built the cars of that time were), most handgun rounds would not penetrate the doors at all, and with some the penetration was so minimal--perhaps a bit of jacket--that it would have inflicted no real wound. You essentially needed something like .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum. Buckshot was also incapable of penetrating the doors on those old cars, but a standard rifled slug easily punched through one door and then exited through the other. Rifle calibers--even the .223--would do the same unless they hit something with particularly thick layers of steel like a pillar or other part of the frame.  
 
    I would note that even if individual pistol bullets did not penetrate a car door, when he tested some submachine guns, they were quite capable of chewing through the door even if the particular round had performed poorly in the earlier tests. 
 
    If he had made the video ten years later and used Honda or Toyota vehicles with the aluminum side-panels, the results would have been different with probably most anything going through the doors. But with automobile safety more paramount than gas-mileage, auto makers have abandoned the aluminum and gone back to steel bodies. I don't think that the sheet metal used in modern cars is as thick as on those older cars, but there is probably more stuff in the doors--electric motors to run the windows and additional interior bracing--such that I'm not sure how modern car doors would stand up when compared to the 1970's behemoths. 

    My point here is that vehicles are not monolithic objects providing uniform cover and concealment, but it can vary depending on the part of the car and even as to the make and model year of the vehicle. One author writing about this subject suggested:

The 17-year-old Honda Civic parked in my driveway (laugh it up, jerks, it still runs like a top after 250,000 miles) is probably not a great choice for stopping any type of projectile, be it a bullet or an errant corn dog. A semi built like a tank, on the other hand, will shrug off everything from firearms to a herd of cattle. ...

This is hyperbole, of course: the sheet steel used for the semi-tractor is probably no thicker than that used on the 1998 Civic, so the semi won't be shrugging off bullets and the Civic won't be destroyed by a corn dog. But the engine of the semi is much (much!) larger than that of the Civic, and the frame will be much heavier; so, in that sense, the semi will provide a much larger area of cover ("hard cover" for my European and Australian readers) than the Civic. But as a very good article from Redbeard Tactical explains:

... Vehicles are composed out of cover and concealment. The parts that can cover you are either to small to really fire from them without forcing you into some weird shooting stance or just prevent any [kind] of movement. Therefore we shouldn[']t talk about what vehicles “count as”. We should talk about the fact that concealment is better than nothing and that fire and maneuver always wins. Use the vehicle as concealment and shoot from it in either standing, kneeling or prone, get your head down while manipulating your rifle or communicating, move from one side of the vehicle to the other so you are a small target popping up at long distances just to fire at the enemy and dissapearing [sic] after that. Of course the vehicle will get pounded with bullets, but that[']s why you always employ fire and movement. 

The article covers quite a bit about fighting from inside or around vehicles beyond just the cover ("hard cover") versus concealment ("soft cover") issue, including shooting out of a vehicle, vehicle tactics (e.g., how to respond to an ambush), and some equipment considerations. Some other thoughts from the author on shooting from the vehicle:

When mounted you will have to fire out of the vehicle in most stages except defensive close range situations. Those that are able to fire will fire. Those that arent will disembark. Now there is a lot of talk on bullet deflection shifting your hits. Yes there is bullet deflection, but what is your first reaction when getting ambushed from the front? Opening the door, leaning out of the car and getting the perfect shooting position? I dont think so. You will either return a volley of fire through the window or just dive and disembark. Also a good volley of bullets, fired right after contact at longer ranges will propably suppress your enemy and absolutely punch a hole into the window that allows for precise shots. So your mounted shooting shouldnt be focused on range ballistics, you are simply losing time bylistening to some semi-autistic breakdown. “Your first shots will propably not hit, so suppress and shoot through the hole you just created” will do more for you than an one hour refferate on ballistics. Opening the door and firing through the gap? May work in some situations, I rather move or even drop out fast and move behind the vehicle, even shooting from prone supported is at the side of the vehicle is an better option as the enemy will propably concentrate fire on the car.

Rich Nable, in his article "Shooting From Vehicles: Basic Techniques" at Personal Defense Network, also provides a good introduction from shooting from inside a vehicle in response to a threat outside the vehicle. 

    While we mostly think of shooting from a vehicle in response to an attack or some kind, what about under other circumstances? Although I can't vouch for the writer's experience, this comment seems to offer some sound tips on the subject: 

    The difficulty isn’t shooting, it’s hitting the target.

    Here’s the thing, the point of shooting from a vehicle is that the vehicle moves in ways that cause the targets to become exposed. A shooter in a vehicle can rapidly threaten to obviate the cover of a potential target, forcing the target to try and dash to a different position or stay in a compromised or exposed one. The more often this happens, the more chances for a good shot at the target while it is out of cover.

    Dashing from cover to cover uses movement to lower the chances of getting hit, but if the shooter is already moving, the movement of the target is relatively less significant a factor.

    What this means is that, while you’ll have significantly more difficulty taking aimed shots at long ranges from a moving vehicle, you’ll get a lot more ‘easy’ shots at closer ranges.

This comment, of course, is more for combat applications and doesn't address the question of whether you should shoot from a moving vehicle. In his article "Tactical considerations for shooting while driving," at Police One, Mike Wood discusses some of the downsides and potential problems to shooting from a moving vehicle. While his article is intended for police officers, his points apply to anyone who, for some reason, may be attempting to stop a fleeing vehicle. Risks he addresses include losing control of the vehicle or unintentionally striking someone because you don't have full control of the vehicle, the possibility of injuring someone from stray rounds or ricochets, or injury or death that could result if the suspect loses control of his/her vehicle. He also addresses tactical considerations that might militate against shooting from your moving vehicle.

    There are quite a number of articles out there on shooting around, from, into, or at vehicles. A selection:

• "Self Defense with a Firearm Inside Your Car" by Sara Ahrens at Range365.  This article provides a good overview of the whole topic including ways to avoid having to use your firearm, methods of carrying your concealed carry weapon, and using the vehicle for cover and concealment, with a few videos included to better flesh out some of the topics.
• "Tactical Shooting: Firing From a Vehicle." This Guns & Ammo video is hosted by Kyle Lamb and Richard Nance. This video demonstrates some techniques for shooting a carbine from inside a vehicle at a contact to one side (the passenger side in the video) and then shooting from outside the vehicle while using the vehicle as cover or concealment.
• If you prefer reading to watching, Kyle Lamb's article "Rifle Tips for Fighting Around a Car" at Firearm News covers the same ground.
• "The Truth About Shooting a Short Barreled Rifle From Inside A Vehicle?" This video from Mike Seeklander is also about using a carbine from inside a vehicle and adds quite a bit information to the prior article and video.
• Another video on using carbines around a vehicle: "How to Survive a Gunfight in a Car" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Tactical Rifleman.
• Another video from Tactical Rifleman: "Combat Shooting around Vehicle | Cover points & Shooting Techniques | Tactical Rifleman." 
• "Shield From Shooters: Using Cars As Cover" from American Outdoor Guide discusses using a vehicle as cover and is illustrated with a few videos, including a couple from Paul Harrell on the subject. 
• "Using A Vehicle For Cover In A Gunfight." This article from The Armory Life delves a little deeper into the topic.
• "Self-Defense Behind the Wheel of Your Car" by W.H. "Chip" Gross, NRA Family. Although the title suggests it is an overview of the subject, it actually focuses on shooting through glass and the deflection you can expect shooting through the windshield.
• "Shooting at Moving Vehicles." The narrator of this video discusses when a police officer might want to take a shot or refrain from taking a shot at a moving vehicle.
• "15-14 - Shooting at Vehicle Tires." This is a guidance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department which outlines why shooting at the tires of a suspect's vehicle is generally a bad idea and probably won't stop the vehicle.
• "Mythbusting: Shooting A Tire." However, if you do decide to shoot out a tire, this article reports the results of tests using 9mm, .223, and 00 Buckshot on tires. All three will effectively deflate a passenger car tire with a shot through the tread. However, when shooting through the sidewall, the 9 mm took much longer to deflate the tire than the other two options.
• Finally, a few articles on carrying or keeping firearms inside your vehicle:
• "Handbook: Carrying a Firearm in your Vehicle"--Shooting Illustrated.
• "Driving With Guns: How To"--NRA Family.
• "Storing Firearms In Your Vehicle Responsibly"--NSSF.  An overview of a few lockbox options.