The topic about the police knocking the car off the road in the high speed chase got me thinking.  Someone mentioned shooting tires.

How hard is it to blow a tire?  I'm assuming that hollow points are being used and the vehicle is moving while it's tires are being shot at.  Are tires really hard to burst that way?

I shot some tires out of an old car at the range with my Mini-14 in about 1990.  It was lots of fun!

My father shot several tires out in his career as a Louisiana State Trooper. IIRC he said it was best to get lined up behind the vehicle and shoot in the direction the car was traveling. If you hit the tire you had two holes and if you missed you might get the front. I do recall him saying that buckshot wasn't great at taking out a tire for some reason.

Back in those days the troopers all carried "church keys" for aiding in removing belligerent drivers from their cars. The pointy end opposed to your thumb on an earlobe or the web between your nostril will make you GTF out of a car real fast!

Quoted: I shot some tires out of an old car at the range with my Mini-14 in about 1990.  It was lots of fun!

I'm sure it is fun, but I need to clarify that I'm referring to the use of a handgun.

What should have happened would be to radio ahead and have someone with a spike strip waiting for the car.  Shooting out the tires would be just as dangerous as ramming the vehicle since you never know where the round might richochet to.

Quoted: My father shot several tires out in his career as a Louisiana State Trooper. IIRC he said it was best to get lined up behind the vehicle and shoot in the direction the car was traveling. If you hit the tire you had two holes and if you missed you might get the front. I do recall him saying that buckshot wasn't great at taking out a tire for some reason. Back in those days the troopers all carried "church keys" for aiding in removing belligerent drivers from their cars. The pointy end opposed to your thumb on an earlobe or the web between your nostril will make you GTF out of a car real fast!

Interesting.  Buckshot may not have sharp enough edges to penetrate the rubber.  I've often though a hollow point would be able to penetrate because there's a relatively sharp edge to start a puncture.

It does'nt work!  I'd tried with different types/loads. The tires deflate VERY, VERY SLOWLY! Maybe buckshot would work better. I would pick a high power rifle and try to break one of its roters

I would ask one of the local cops around me for info but  a couple years ago a cop tried to shoot out a car tire while it was trying to flee after a traffic stop the cop was 10 feet away shot 15 rounds and managed to hit only the bumper once

I shot out the front tire of a burglar a few years ago. It took a bit for it to deflate but a .45acp hole WILL let the air out. My shot went thru the tread rather than the sidewall, IIRC.

When a bad guy is driving a car towards you, at what wheel should  you aim?
-- The steering wheel.

I saw a Sheriff's deputy shoot the tires of a car that would not stop with his .40 S&W caliber handgun
and the tires went flat right away, he hit the sidewalls, then the people got out and tried to run and the police dog chased them down and bit them.

Local friend of mine in Phoenix SAU said his group did some tire shooting, and had very limited luck at penetrating them. 5.56mm went in no problem, but it was like using a needle, very slow deflation. Most of the rounds they fired at the tire bounced either back at them () or in other directions. Slugs did not penetrate, .45 did, but very little, and they had .40S&W bounce back at them fairly often. 9mm did go through, but from an MP5. And even though it did enter more often than other rounds, it didn't deflate the tires quick either.

Shooting at the tires of a moving vehicle nowadays is a big No-No in police work. Any agency that still allows it is begging to be spanked.

A steel belted radial being spun rapidly may cause the round to ricochet in an unintended direction, most likely back in the direction it came from if the round hits is squarely.
There have been officers who have learned after a chase was over that the holes in their windshields, hoods and grills were not from the bad guys shooting at them but from either their own or their partner's gun.

Shooting a shotgun is even worse. The rounds may bounce back just as a single bullet would but now the chances are greater that there will be many pellets bouncing in uncontrolled directions.
Anyone ever shot buckshot at a steel rim from a right angle?
I did once and nearly shit after I realized the whirring sound I heard was the pellets passing my head.

Shooting non-moving cars/tires is a bit safer but usually not justifiably. Generally if an officer is justified in discharging his weapon in a deadly force situation, the rounds go into the driver NOT the tire.
Basically, if a driver isn't enough of a threat to shoot then he isn't enough of a threat to warrant shooting his car.

The laws pertaining to the justifiable use of deadly force vary from state to state. I'm fortunate enough to live and work in Florida were the laws are pretty clear and reasonably progressive.

Just shoot the driver.
They're bigger.

Yep, helluva target to hit, them tires, if moving.  If somethings comin right at me, I'm not lookin to slow it... im lookin to stop it.

If they are runnin, I'm iffy about shootin at all due to legal issues.

For cops.... spike strip


- BUCC_Guy