there are too many factors to give a catch -all answer, what type of soil are you going to be using

 

Also, how many rounds do you intend to be stopping?

 

Box Of Truth is what you're looking for.

www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot7.htm

In the above link, they answer that question using a variety of calibers.

In general, nothing made it more than about 6" into sand with their testing.

 

Beat me to it.:thumb:

Al

 

Just plain old sand from the beach. Lets say range is within 10 yards. I have a sand pit less them a mile from my home and just got about 200 grain bags for free from a freind of mine

 

Any reason you are not testing it yourself? But I would guess one row would stop, most bullets your going to have to angle them though from the bottom up so the lower you are the safer you will be.

 

Any reason you are not testing it yourself?

This sounds like an awesome Sat afternoon science project! I'll bring the bratworst and cookies if you bring the ammo!

Seriously though. Tis does sound like it could be fun... Need to see how well those grain bags hold up, eh?

 

The Army's Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks, STP 21-1-SMCT Level 1, required 18 inches of earth between you and the enemy when constructing a fighting position. That might be a place to start.

 

My last job was in a ballistics lab and I shot a .50 BMG into a trash can filled with sand from about 30 feet away and it didn't even come close to making it out.

The inside of the trash can was line with thin rubber to keep the sand from spilling out because the plastic trash can was pretty wrecked.


Oh yeah and I shot hundreds of rounds into the trash can. So I would feel very safe behind that much sand.


(Also a 5.56 round will "usually" penetrate more than a 30-06 or .308 round. The 5.56 has a smaller impact area but is moving much faster. Just a thought.)

 

So the OP should use rubber lined trash cans instead?

 

It's not the bullets that I would fear making way through sand.... It's arrows/bolts. Extreme penetration, especially from crossbows.

 

As a kid I shot a heck of a lot 30-06 armor piercing gi ammo. I even hand loaded some of the bullets. Best preformance was obtained after several hundred yards of travel. The bullet is stabilized in its rotational orbit. They will not shoot threw the skinny part of a railroad track. 1970's GI issue sand bags aren't enough on the narrow side but from the long side your good to go for many hits until the sand leaks away. As a side note I was working up loads for cast 540gr in my 458. Those bullets would drive almost 5 ft into undisturbed earth. They would shoot threw the skinny part of railroad track. You should plan for at least two layers with off set seams.

 

As a side note I was working up loads for cast 540gr in my 458. Those bullets would drive almost 5 ft into undisturbed earth.

I very much doubt a 458 will penetrate anything near 60" of soil unless that earth is fluffy peat moss. If it could penetrate even 30" of sand let alone 18" I would be very shocked.


This is a good page on penetration of various many military calibers and numerous barriers. This includes "increased" penetration at longer distances on some rounds.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-06-11/ch7.htm

 

If you google gabion, hesco barrier or hesco bastion, you get an idea of the size the military currently uses for earthen barriers. Sandbags rot, leak, and when they're shot, leak out and weaken. They do the trick though, Lord knows I've filled enough of them!

 

Are you planning on getting shot at from only one direction?

 

Sand tubes work well and are easier to move than full sized bags, especially if you need to quickly patch a breach.
(designed for flood control)

Give yourself a gap from what you are trying to protect so you can fill in from behind.

 

Just reviewed that Box of Truth link, and it got me thinking ...

you could frame a false wall up to say 4' high around the entire inside of your house, or maybe just a safe room large enough for everyone to fit into. Frame it with 6" studs attached to your existing walls. Fix 8'x4' sheets of drywall to those, line it with a dense weave material so when the rounds come through it sort of congeals back together to keep the sand from spilling out too much. Fill it with sand, then nail a top board all the way around it like a rail. Decorate it with some moulding, mud, sand and paint it, and it'll look like you have a 6" plate shelf running at 4' high all around the room. Wife might even think its pretty, and look at all that shelf space!

Shots fired, get below the 4' level. You'll lose a few sq feet of interior dimension, sure.

 

A external brick knee wall with a sand sandwich would be easier, look normal, and improve whole house defense.. while improving home value.

 

WHEN not if.

 

Not a sandbag but:

Handloaded .300 Win. Mag.
163 grn. AP projo
74.1 grns. IMR 4350
CCI Magnum primer
approx. 100 meters
1 1/8" steel

JMO but this thread shoud have been in the firearms section.

 

Are you planning on making a simple bunker? To defend from?

 

everytime we sandbagged around a tent etc in the army, we used a double thick wall of sandbags, one next to the other and repeat. shrapnel from mortars never got through. the tricky part is they can get a lil unstable if stacked too high. we normaly stacked to a height about a foot above the height of our cots.

 

Shoot any living creature with 5.56 or .308 and they're going to have a really bad day.

Penetration and ballistics results IMO don't account for a properly placed shot. I wouldn't want to get shot with either round.

Fun to debate but in real world a bit of a wasted argument.

 

use tires filled with sand instead of bags !
any one shot in the head with either a 5.56 or 7.62 wont be around to tell the difference !

 

Ok, How do you fill tires with sand while keeping the sand in? Also how will that make a good barrier with all the gaps and penetration spots? You would need to stagger tires layers deep to block the wholes and gaps.

This example below wouldn't work.

 

Sandbags are usually stacked 3 layers thick (over 3 feet thick). 12" thick should stop just about any handgun, shotgun or hunting rifle round up to a .338 but I would rather play it safe with multiple layers. Both .50 caliber armor piercing and ball ammunition can penetrate 14 inches of sand or 28 inches of packed earth at 200 meters if the round impact perpendicular to the flat face of the target.

Damage to German metal bunker from Sherman 75mm.

 

How many sand bags to stop a rifle caliber?

One bag with about 5lbs of sand will stop any caliber rifle.

Simply use proper placement of the bag. I like placing it alongside of the head with considerable force to the person holding the rifle, just behind his ear. Stops them every time.

 

How many times do I get to shoot the bags? How long do I have to let the sand come out of the holes on the bottom of the pile?

 

Jesus guys. I'm talking driving my wheeler to the sandpit and filling up 8 or 10 bags at a time. I dint have a thousand tires to stack up and then pack sand into. I'm talking practical I have a window that over looks the only entrance/exit to get to my area. I figure if anyone is going to come to my house there going to have to get past my "surprise " up that entrance if I'm built in I want to know how many Bags deep do I need to stack do I'm safe behind them

 

Steel core M193 will make it through all of that.

 

Sandbags - - - it would be my luck that the rifle would be a .950 jdj.

While there were only a few made, they are legal in the U.S. and can penetrate armored steel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.950_JDJ