This is another of my "lifelong imponderables":
Cops and robbers have often depicted fleeing vehicles' tires being shot out. Does it work?
Long ago, one of my favorite firearms experts wrote an article devoted to this. He explained that many factors affected penetration, or "bounce-off", of tires by bullets. In general, handgun rounds will NOT penetrate the tread area of a rapidly spinning tire, especially if angled entry in direction of rotation occurs. Higher-velocity handgun rounds, like .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum, will, however, nearly always penetrate a rotating sidewall.
High-velocity rifle rounds travelling, say, > 2,000 feet per second, will ALWAYS penetrate tread OR sidewall.
So he said. What say you? jocular![]()