Armor plate test
A while back, folks were discussing some low cost armor plates that were available on Ebay. I was intrigued at these 8x8 alloy steel plates for $40 so I got one for testing. Nothing scientific mind you, but I give it a worst case scenario test. Point blank hits by some powerful rifle rounds. All the shots were at a 90 degree face angle, so no "glancing" blow shots - these were all dead on hits.
First, I hit the plate with two 7.62x51 (.308) rounds from my FAL. These were 147gr British Radway from a 16" barrel FAL at 25 yards.
Upon inspecting the lack of damage to the plate, I skipped the rest of the FAL testing and moved to a .50 cal Beowulf. First two rounds were FMJ 334gr Ranier rounds and the third shot was a 334gr hollow point - all three at about 12 yards - literally point blank with roughly 2,600 ft/lbs of energy at that range.
As you can see by the photos, nothing penetrated. Needless to say, we were impressed.
I am in no way associated with the ebay seller, the manufacturer, or anyone who might profit or gain from the product. I just wanted to test the plates and am sharing it with the group here.
First, I hit the plate with two 7.62x51 (.308) rounds from my FAL. These were 147gr British Radway from a 16" barrel FAL at 25 yards.
Upon inspecting the lack of damage to the plate, I skipped the rest of the FAL testing and moved to a .50 cal Beowulf. First two rounds were FMJ 334gr Ranier rounds and the third shot was a 334gr hollow point - all three at about 12 yards - literally point blank with roughly 2,600 ft/lbs of energy at that range.
As you can see by the photos, nothing penetrated. Needless to say, we were impressed.
I am in no way associated with the ebay seller, the manufacturer, or anyone who might profit or gain from the product. I just wanted to test the plates and am sharing it with the group here.
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I agree, thanks for the tests, but....... I will never shoot steel and closer than 50 yds. Several years ago buddy and I were doing penetration tests with the .223 55gr fmj vs. the 5.56x45mm 62gr penetrator tip. I was more than thorough with the back stop. Well, ill tell you that the copper jacket doesn't always stay attached to the lead core of the 55gr. We were only 10 yds away and the 1st round went off without a hitch, clean through the steel I grabbed from work. Next round, as soon as it hit, the sound was different, I knew, something isn't right. That was followed immediately by a sharp burning sensation in my neck, an impact in my foot, and something hit my jacket.
My buddy commented that the impact sounded different and then noticed my neck was bleeding a tiny bit. All in all, I had a fleck stuck under my skin on the left side of my neck. The bit that hit my jacket was a lot bigger, maybe .100'' wide. The bit that hit my shoe, thank God for leather, was almost the size of a dime. Would have been lights out if it was a torso hit, im almost sure of it. :xeye:
Its fun to test out different stuff like this, just be sure you take the necessary safety precautions. Have fun, be safe! :thumb:
My buddy commented that the impact sounded different and then noticed my neck was bleeding a tiny bit. All in all, I had a fleck stuck under my skin on the left side of my neck. The bit that hit my jacket was a lot bigger, maybe .100'' wide. The bit that hit my shoe, thank God for leather, was almost the size of a dime. Would have been lights out if it was a torso hit, im almost sure of it. :xeye:
Its fun to test out different stuff like this, just be sure you take the necessary safety precautions. Have fun, be safe! :thumb:
Thanks for the info! Do you have a link to the particular plate on eBay you tested? Also, do you have a guess as to the weight?
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The plates are 4.5lbs and are 8x8x6mm.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110705014862
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110705014862
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As for the range of the tests, I wanted to get maximum velocity and energy for the test, and there were associated dangers as a result for sure!
We're going to be testing a few other products in the next few weeks as a result of this test. Namely soft armor that you'll find on ebay, more hard SAPI plates, ballistic helmet and even those bulletproof clipboards.
We'll be testing handgun rounds for soft armor and rifle rounds from .22 to .308 for the hard armor - and of course, .50 cal for the ultimate test. Also planning to shoot video next time and will also post that as well.
We're going to be testing a few other products in the next few weeks as a result of this test. Namely soft armor that you'll find on ebay, more hard SAPI plates, ballistic helmet and even those bulletproof clipboards.
We'll be testing handgun rounds for soft armor and rifle rounds from .22 to .308 for the hard armor - and of course, .50 cal for the ultimate test. Also planning to shoot video next time and will also post that as well.
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Anything else you would want to see tested?
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Good points - next trip will be AP .223, 30-06 and a few others for good measure.
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The ones I shot were penetrated by 7.62x39 Penetration rounds. In all fairness though, I had put those plates through 3 different tests and shot 50+ rounds of differing calibers at it.
Personally, I feel comfortable with putting those plates in my armor.
They take a ton of abuse before it's even possible to penetrate.
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I wish they were a little larger than 8x8.
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Go to your gunshow and ou can get them in differnt sizes. They are heavy thou.
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