Suppose you are being shot at in a parking lot

[Doug.38PR]

Suppose you are being shot at in a parking lot or near your car parked somewhere. The shooter is from quite a distance (say 50-75 yards away). What is the most ideal part of the car to take cover behind?

The door? (I understand high powered rifles and even .357 magnums can penetrate doors)

The Engine bock?

The truck?

[rmagill]

Engine block. It provides the most amount of mettle to stop a bullet, and is convieniently above/near the front tire.

[Capt. Charlie]

See the April issue of S.W.A.T. .

[Blackwater OPS]

Engine block. It provides the most amount of mettle to stop a bullet, and is convieniently above/near the front tire.

That's how I was trained.

[mete]

To penetrate two wheels and an engine takes more than most BGs usually carry !!No handgun will do it . A 50 BMG might.

[threegun]

Get down and go the other way. If the shooter advances faster than you can retreat, shoot at his feet from under the vehicle. When he falls put some more into him.

[atlctyslkr]

Remember to move in a zig zag pattern when you are out from behind cover.

[Hayley]

"Remember to move in a zig zag pattern" Atl: did you see the original _The In Laws_ movie? --sorry to digress, but I love that scene.

[atlctyslkr]

Yes I have seen it. Just a little dry humor.

That only works if there is one shooter. Doug failed to mention multiple shooters from multiple angles in this fictional parking lot we're talking about. What if you're not the original target but become one because you're in the wrong place at the wrong time?

[ChrisJ]

If I was near my vehicle I would take cover behind the steering wheel and get heck out of Dodge, at 50 yards if he didn't hit you with the first shot he probably won't hit you doing 80 mph in the opposite direction.

If I am not near my vehicle I would make mad dashes from cover to cover (preferably large engine blocks) in the opposite direction and as soon as possible dial 911 on my cell phone. If I was armed I would probably not take the time to return fire unless actively pursued.

That is assuming I am alone, add a wife, 4 year old, and a 6 month old strapped in a baby stroller and it opens a whole new can of worms.

- Chris

[tjhands]

Hi, ChrisJ and welcome to TFL!

Good first post, by the way. 50 to 75 yards is a loooong way for a handgun. Most experienced shooters would have hard time getting a good shot in at that distance under combat stress with a handgun.
I'm with you....get in the car and floor it.

Edited to add: A rifle would change my mind, though. I guess taking cover behind the front wheel would be best. As someone else said, with two metal wheels and an engine to go through, nothing short of mortar fire is going to get through to you. If he starts closing the distance, return fire when he moves closer and hope that that disuades him. Of course the whole scenario is rather unlikely, but it's fun to play along.

[MosinNOUGAT]

I know this thread is very old, but I just wanted to say something. Yes, the engine block is what you should hide behind. It's a big block of steel that will stop most pistol and even rifle bullets! The doors are just basically sheet metal that won't stop anything (probably a .22). So yes, hide behind the engine.

[shootbrownelk]

Actually, nowadays the engines are usually aluminum in cars from what I've seen. Not much in the way of protection, but better than nothing I suppose.

[FTG-05]

You reopened a +11 year old thread and virtually the first words out of your mouth are wrong?

Car engines aren't made out of steel; they're either cast iron or, like the poster above said, aluminum. Why did you even bother?

[2123]

I'd take cover behind someone else's car, not mine.

I don't want it getting all shot up.

[TXAZ]

Shootbrownelk noted:

Actually, nowadays the engines are usually aluminum in cars from what I've seen. Not much in the way of protection, but better than nothing I suppose.

I would try to stay low behind the engine block. As to first hand experience, when I first fired my Barrett last year, we had a couple junk cars to shoot at.

An iron block, when hit by a .50 BMG ball round, will have a very nice hole in the entry side. Depending what it hits inside the engine, and there is a lot of steel inside, the bullet will be mangled pretty good and loose a lot of energy and shape. None of the rounds we shot went thru both sides. (Oil pan shots don't count . )

Switching to APIT, if the round avoided the crank and other very solid structures, you can have a small window on both sides.

The aluminum block was a bit easier to get through with APIT, but not guaranteed.
I'll try to go back and find some pics.
Given nothing but an aluminum block, take it.

Very few bad guys are going to have a .50 BMG much less shoot at such a close range with one.

[MosinNOUGAT]

Car engines aren't made out of steel; they're either cast iron or, like the poster above said, aluminum. Why did you even bother?

Well I'm sorry that I'm not a metallurgist, but it's still a heavy piece of metal that will stop a lot of bullets, and I reopened it because I was looking around and found it. Also, if anyone is looking for answers to a question like this, they won't have to start a new thread. They can just read this. . .

FYI some parts of car engines are steel, too

Best,

MosinNOUGAT

[MosinNOUGAT]

As to first hand experience, when I first fired my Barrett last year, we had a couple junk cars to shoot at.

Wish I could own one. . .of course CA is the ONE place I am. . .

[Cheapshooter]

What ever part I'm behind as the car moves rapidly away!!! @ 75 yards I'm not sticking around to play Rambo!!!

[lefteye]

Actually, nowadays the engines are usually aluminum in cars from what I've seen. Not much in the way of protection, but better than nothing I suppose.

Before (and after) penetrating an aluminum block engine a bullet must penetrate, at least, some other parts of an automobile, e.g., fenders, grill, radiator, wheels, tires, firewall, exhaust manifold. Every obstacle a bullet penetrates will affect the path of the bullet and the shape and condition of the bullet. With all due respect, your post makes no sense!

[TXAZ]

MosinNougat
Drop me a PM if you are headed towards the Dallas area and you and Boomer can go at it with ball and APIT rounds and do your own testing.

[TXAZ]

To the note above on doors and parts, one of the target cars hav been peppered with bird and 00 shot, 223, 30 cal and BMG, bud didn't always know the distance involved.

The birdshot left nice dents w/o penetrations and a few times when close enough a 3/4" hole in the outer sheet metal. The 00 buck appeared to always go through the outer sheet metal.

.223 did better and punched thru the sheet metal but we didn't see many .223 "exit wounds" on the other side.

The .308 we were shooting easily went in and out both sides if heavy components were avoided. 1 went through the radiator, firewall, a front and back seat inside, and through the rear of the closed trunk.

The .50 APIT rounds went through everything that didn't take 2 arms to lift and made a heck of a dent in the heavy items, but only a few rounds went through both sides of the engine.

Here's a pic of 1 side of the Volvo, you can get an idea of what bounced and what didn't looking at the lower right side of the pic:



As such, "Boomer" suggests staying behind the engine regardless of the block being iron or aluminum.

[zincwarrior]

Suppose you are being shot at in a parking lot or near your car parked somewhere. The shooter is from quite a distance (say 50-75 yards away). What is the most ideal part of the car to take cover behind?

You clearly chose the wrong parking lot.

[armoredman]

The movie Deadly Weapons did a lot of "car shooting" up to and including 50BMG, even though it's very old, still relevant. A aluminum block is still very liable to stop all handgun rounds and I would hazard a guess most commonly carried rifle rounds. I certainly don't want to be the test dummy for that one, that's for certain! Our training is still to shelter behind the engine as it offers the most resistance.

[TXAZ]

Good point Armoredman, any cover is better than no cover. Even the .50 Raufoss Mk 211 rounds (AP explosive) have limitations, 'up to 2' of steel.