Hey guys i have a few newbie questions about shooting wood.. I am hoping to take a nice little 2 day trip to eastern wa next weekend and have constructed some nice little targets out of some Inch and a half thick wood (basically 2x4 size) with some black circles drawn on them via sharpie :) Now i'm pretty sure that my AR15 and ak47 clone will probably penitrate this no problem from 40 to 50 yards.. But what about 9mm and .45 acp at 10 to 15-20 yards (these are handguns not uppers)?  I am just wanting to see what damage different bullets do to wood that and shooting paper targets gets a bit drab sometimes.. Is 1 and half inch wood too thick or not thick enough for 9mm and .45?  Also i could put two peices together to get 3 inch thick peices for the .223 and 7.62 if it will go penitrate all the way through.. I'm not counting on these as a backstop or anything, just want to guage what the bullets can do...I'm sure there's plenty of websites that show, but i want to experience it myself :)  

I'm also gonna shoot some water filled milk jugs and 2 liters.. just to see if  can make them explode! but i wanted to see what you guys think about the wood thickness for the different calibers.. also if you have any other good idea's for home-made-fun-to-shoot-at-things i'm open for that! :)

Is it illegal to shoot tree's? what about dying/dead tree's? (not saying i will shot any, but if some are in the backdrop and get hit, i dont want to find out i'm gonna get fined becusae of it :) )

okay enough with my silly questions :) this is the first time i will be shooting at any place that is NOT a range.. I'm very safe with my firearms but any other advice you can give is appreciated :) I may just have to try bump firing my ak too :)

I know a 22lr will go through a 4x4 about 90% of the time.

Keving67

The bullets will go through the wood from my past experiences. I have shot factory 9MM and 45 auto.FMJ loads at 2X4's before and they always went clean through, now with metal the 45 will act goofy, sometimes going through 55 gal barrel stuff, but a guard rail has stopped them for me in the past. Shooting at trees is hairy as sometimes the bullet will catch the grain of the wood and exit at a strange location, from the side, especially with the 5.56 rounds. As always it depends on the powder load behind the bullets.

.223 fmj will require at least 12" of wood to stop, but 24" to be sure.  
For 7.62x39 fmj figure 18" to 30".  
7.62 NATO will require 50" to 60" of wood to stop.
9x19 & .45 will require at least 12" to 18" of wood to stop them.

I always get a chuckle when Hollyweird shows a coffee table stopping rifle rounds.

Remember, it will take more pine to stop one then oak or walnut.

I shot a row of 5 2X4s (I shot through the 2" part), and the .223 (this is Wolf, BTW, much weaker than most ammo) bullet stopped at the very outer edge of the 5th board.  Another half centimeter and it would have gone through.

I also shot the boards with my Savage .308, and the bullet went through all of the boards and left a hole in the shape of a bullet in the last board.

WOW! these figures are accurate? So all of these bullets will EASILY plow right through the 1 1/2 inch thick wood.. is the .223 or 5.56 going to tear the wood up? or will i get semi clean holes?

223 will make relatively clean holes compared to a 22 in my experiences.

Keving67

NO actually there will be 3 of us.. i'm the most experienced of the bunch.. and no never been hunting or shooting in outdoor settings that were not a range.. there is no places within like 50 to 100 miles of here that are like that, so thats why.. i live in a rural city surrounded by more cities..  We will look for a backdrop or slope type of setting, is there alot of danger from ricocheting off little rocks that might be in the dirt? obviously i'll try to stay away from backdrops with HUGE rocks in them..

thanks for the info so far guys!

Last time I went shooting, I took some 1' long 4x4 scraps, and hung them from an improvised frame. Made great targets, especially when they start swinging. It's a good cheap substitute for bowling pins if you have any scrap lumber laying around.

I drilled 3/4 holes though them and tied them up with yellow "police line, do not cross" type tape. This stuff works great because it can be hit a bunch of times without breaking.