Shooting Through Windshields

by Paul Kirchner

I recently took a course developed by Craig “Southnarc” Douglas, Vehicle Combatives and Shooting Tactics (VCAST), in which we shot from in and around several working junkers that were purchased for the purpose. On the last day of the class, we fired through the glass of the windshield and side windows at targets. In doing so, I learned that some of my preconceptions were incorrect.

The sharp slope of the windshield would have suggested to me that a bullet fired from the inside would be deflected downward. In fact, the opposite is the case—it is deflected markedly upward. When you fire at a target ten feet in front of the car, the point of impact (POI) may be a foot and a half above the point of aim (POA)—potentially a complete miss. This deflection is more extreme with ball ammunition than semi-wadcutters or hollowpoints, and more extreme with lighter bullets than heavier ones. The same dynamic applies when someone outside the car fires into it through the windshield—the bullet veers down, rather than up, making it more likely that the car’s occupant will be hit.

Southnarc advises firing with your muzzle as close as possible to the windshield without touching it, and trying to fire subsequent shots through the hole opened by the first.

The laminated glass of the windshield stayed together despite numerous shots fired through it, though the spiderwebbing greatly reduced visibility.

We also shot through the side windows of the cars. At the shot, the safety glass disintegrated instantly with most of the fragments collapsing inside the vehicle. For this reason, it is advisable to set yourself back in the seat before firing. (Good eye and ear protection is a must, of course.)

Paul Kirchner is the author of Bowie Knife Fights, Fighters, and Fighting Techniques; The Deadliest Men; More of the Deadliest Men Who Ever Lived; Jim Cirillo’s Tales of the Stakeout Squad; and Dueling with the Sword and Pistol. He also contributed to The Paladin Book of Dangerously Fun Stuff and did the illustrations for the revised edition of Jeff Cooper’s Principles of Personal Defense.