Dear Jim,
I think before readers spend their hard earned cash on a brick or cinder block structure (thinking it is much safer then stick framed construction) then watching all three parts of this ["Concealment Doesn't Equal Cover"] video is essential. All [high power] rifles (.223, 7.62x39, .308) and 12 gauge slugs went through normal brick and [hollow] cinder block construction. Just food for thought. - Ryan
JWR Replies: I first posted a link to that Dahlgren/Marine
Corps training video in SurvivalBlog in December
of 2006. There was also a discussion of this topic in July
of 2007., following my
initial reply, in which I recommended supplementary
sandbagging.
I do not recommend standard hollow cinder-block construction
to my
consulting
clients.
Instead,
I recommend super-insulated masonry, preferably with an air
gap. (Although a rock facade directly over poured masonry or brick works
fairly well.) The first wall typically breaks up .30 caliber or smaller
projectiles, and the
second
wall
then nearly always stops
them.
This design will also stop individual 12 gauge slugs, but not .50
BMG hits.
The bottom line is that typical stucco-covered wood frame construction is
pitiful, but two-course brick (two thicknesses of bricks) or concrete-filled cinder
block walls offer some protection. They are certainly not absolute
protection, but they are much better than wood frame houses, which offer hardly
any protection at all from high power .30 caliber bullets. Even super-insulated
masonry construction will not stand up to repeated, well-aimed high power
.30 caliber rifle fire. Tests at the Box-o-Truth web
site show that short of pouring 20 inch thick reinforced concrete, sandbags
are just about the only truly reliable protection from well-aimed
repetitious rifle fire. If I were expecting incoming
rifle
fire, even if I lived in a poured, reinforced concrete house or
a Monolithic dome house, I would still construct interior supplementary fighting
positions. These would have room for a cot, and be set back a few feet from
windows, per current MOUT doctrine.
These would be built of sand bags, with 2"x10" or 2"x12" boards
built into boxes (sans
ends) to provide firing ports. Sandbags are presently cheap and plentiful.
But they someday may be highly sought after, so
it is important to lay in a large supply (with extra for barter and charity) before the
balloon goes up! (SurvivalBlog reader "MurrDoc" recommended Saddleback
Materials in Lake Forest, California as a good source for sandbags. Phone:
(800) 286-7263.)
