DIY Bullet Proof Interior Wall

This video describes how to build an interior bulletproof shield to keep you much safer in your safe room. To avoid any potential mold problems, make sure the stones you put in the barrier are completely dry. I used Vigoro Pea Pebbles. They come wet in the plastic bags so I dumped them out on my garage floor, raked them out and let them dry overnight.
PLEASE NOTE: Contrary to what I say in the video, the corner posts are actually 2X4s instead of 4X4s. Also the plywood is strong, good quality 1/2 plywood. In some replies I noticed I incorrectly said 3/4 inch plywood. If you like you can go to 3/4 inch plywood. I have actually leaned the entire wall fully loaded with stones out from the wall at about a 20+ degree angle and it is solid without and bulging or any other issues. However, you can make it as strong as you see fit.
PLEASE NOTE: This wall adds a lot of weight to any floor where you install it. Make sure the floor can take the weight especially if there is a floor below the one that holds up the bullet proof wall. Even if your house is on a slab, make sure the area you place the wall on is good and strong enough to hold it up without damage now or in the future.

[steventracy]

I used leftover crusher stone pieces at my PD. We fired everything we had at a sample cross section I made from 2x 6 and 1/2 inch plywood. 12 Ga slugs and M-14s plus M-16s and every handgun round size. We started at 15 feet away from the cross section and closed in to 3 feet. An autopsy of the cross section showed the deepest penetration to be 2 1/2 inches. Inexpensive and effective.

[Troy-McClure]

Had 5 45 bullets go into the front of my house from a short term rental party, 3 went thru 1 inches from my daughter's head, and 2 lodged into studs, this is a great idea, I had a friend cut some quarter inch steel to fit between studs, 1500$ later and much drywall work it was done and now I dont have to worry about penetration, should've done this instead probably would've been cheaper lol My neighbor took 5 in her house and one went all the way thru and blew out her back door window, one shattered her guest tub, scary world we live in nowadays, and my neighborhood has over 10 short term rental homes that always have party's and fights, I miss old Vegas lol Had a friend in high school who's father was a mob lawyer and that dude had solid brick front of house, no windows except side and back yard, I thought man that's paranoid and now I think man was smart

[Digitalmanne]

I made a "bullet stop" for my range. 4' high 6' wide 1/2 plywood on the outsides. I used metal studs used for a standard 4" wall. (like you said, bullets go through wood) on the gun facing side I used burlap behind the ply, as a gasket to keep the pea gravel from coming out the holes.... I used construction adhesive and lots of screws to hold the plywood to the steel studs. The back side has a horizontal 2x4 to help keep the plywood from flexing... I tested it when it was done. It stopped a .308 from 5' away. In the last 4 years, it has not let any bullet through.

[morrisonghost]

I saw an “active shooter shelter” that was being sold one time and it was a very similar concept. I like your idea better because it wouldn’t leave someone completely trapped in the event your safe room door is breached

[amirlach]

I would consider lining it with a liner like landscaping felt to keep stones from spilling out of larger holes. Kind of a self sealing liner. Linex or bed liner would work to hold any splintered wood together.

[pastorjohn]

Like they say, the best gun fight you ever have is the one you never have. Safe rooms save lives and there's nothing wrong with saving yours and your family's lives. Going looking for a gun fight can cost you way more than you might expect. All the experts seem to agree, that if you can avoid it, you should do so.

[rideredRC]

Let me just go buy 30 metric tons of stones and see if my basement/foundation can handle the extra load. BRB.

[Natedoc]

Brick facades are bulletproof. If you want to bulletproof interior walls, line each side with 2 layers of hardiplank or equivalent cement board with a space between the two-ply layers so the expanding/deformed bullet can tumble a little and present more surface area to the second bottom-layer. Cheap and very effective, doesn’t change appearance

[razor]

Thank you. I would suggest small wire. Chicken wire by itself would be to big. Maybe double up the chicken wire, closing the holes. Making them smaller. Place the wire between the stone and plywood. As the plywood is being shot and destroyed. Holes open up and the rock falls out. The wire, or possibly screen from a screen door will keep the rock from falling out.

[ejohnson]

I’m building my home right now, thanks for the idea, I’ll keep this in mind while doing my foundation to support the area this will be in.

[patrickdurst]

I’ve had 5 tons of #57 rock in my garage for over a year that I’ve been looking for something to do with. Thanks!

[lukeskywalkerlucasfilm]

Doing exactly the same with 4" cinder blocks! Great video.

[High_Desert_Tanner]

Something MUCH lighter that doesn't require rebuilding your walls to be 10" thick is HDPE plastic sheet. It's not cheap in the thicknesses required to stop all threats, but I did the hip wall around the top of my staircase for about $800. I built a defensive position at the top of my stairs. All the bedrooms are upstairs, so nothing truly valuable is downstairs. It sounds expensive until you factor in the cost of rebuilding your walls, floors, etc to handle the cheap gravel. HDPE is used in body armor. You need 3/4 sheet at a minimum, but 1" is better. They use 1" in most body armor, but inside of a wall (you want to position it on the away side of the impact so any bullets pass through drywall then empty space first) 3/4 will stop just about anything. I've tested this myself up to fmj 308. It's also multi round capable and won't leak out of the wall when there's holes...

[nofortunatesonII]

Pea gravel might be good to use. It is basically small round river rocks and may fill in a little tighter.

[mattharvey]

good one is the same idea foot thick planters around ur house stone baskets 2 feet thick....cheers

[masterxa]

Great idea! Just have to make sure the floor is up to the weight.

[williammoore]

Consider the floor supporting this. If slab- AOK, if floor joists- you will likely need to reinforce as this a heavy load with a small footprint. I went into apartments in a large city in a not so good area and saw sandbags stacked against the wall under windows.
I saw another wall constructed of 3 layers of plywood with space between to slide phone books vertically. Builder would collect old phone books(back when they were issued by phone companies)tape them to make them less flexible, then stack them vertically. Plywood would deform bullets making it easier for the phone books to absorb the energy and slow them down.

[graybeard]

I didn't notice anyone comment, but this is also a good idea, for projectiles from hurricane and tornadic high wind events.

[snoopu]

After reading all the comments lot's of great idea's are added. Thanks to everyone that added great idea's that I never thought about. The next remodel job that gets done I'll give it more thought that goes into walls.

[bigwooly]

You can add a sheet of metal on the inside of your outer wall to help prevent the plywood from tearing up and spilling out your rocks as it's being shot up. I just use old sheet steel. This is what I use for my backstop on my backyard target range.