Just wondering. From 250-300 yards away, what do you guys think would happen on impact here? Shooting straight at a 20X20 3/8" piece of plate steel. We did this today, and the results were not as expected. What do you guys think would happen to the steel?
7MM Mag vs. 3/8 steel plate
- Thread starter jhunter
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Stinkyshoe
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I would guess the 7mm would easily blow through that plate....
(Am I right???!!)
(Am I right???!!)
That Depends
That depends on what type of bullets you are using. I know I have shot steel plates at distances out to a 1/4 mile. those were 3/4 inch steel plate. Shot with 30.06, 308. 223. The type of bullet made all the difference. Hunting rounds would just splatter, full metal jacket would crater the plate but not pass through it. Armor piercing out to about 300 yrds would punch through it from a 30.06. So what kind of bullets are you talking about?
That depends on what type of bullets you are using. I know I have shot steel plates at distances out to a 1/4 mile. those were 3/4 inch steel plate. Shot with 30.06, 308. 223. The type of bullet made all the difference. Hunting rounds would just splatter, full metal jacket would crater the plate but not pass through it. Armor piercing out to about 300 yrds would punch through it from a 30.06. So what kind of bullets are you talking about?
gimposaurus
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also depends what type of steel it is
Yes, solid holes. To tell you the truth, I would not have figured this would be the case. Every shot made a perfect hole. It was a cousins 7mm, and I am not sure of the ammo. He was just using the cheaper stuff off the shelf. No self loads or anything special. At 100 yards or less, I would have figured solid impact maybe, but I did not figure at 250-300 that it would rip clean past solid metal like that. I will get some pictures up of it. Another thing is the way it impacted was interesting.
Zak Smith
Member
Unknowns: muzzle velocity and type of steel.
The surface of AR-500 armor will generally not be damaged provided the impact velocity is under 3000 fps (and the plate is not hard-mounted).
Mild steel is very soft and most rifle cartridges can poke through. 3/8 isn't very thick either.
The surface of AR-500 armor will generally not be damaged provided the impact velocity is under 3000 fps (and the plate is not hard-mounted).
Mild steel is very soft and most rifle cartridges can poke through. 3/8 isn't very thick either.
3/8's isnt very think, but at 300 yards, I was not expecting that solid of holes. I figured it would dent it in, but not go clean past it like it did. I need to read up on my steel. I have seen thinner stuff stop larger rounds. Oh yea, not sure of the metal, it was just some stuff I bought from a steel company to stop 45 rounds. The muzzle velocity is also unknown. Its was a lot, but I dont know exact numbers.
U.S.SFC_RET
Member
I would hazard to guess Yes solid steel core full metal jacket will pass through carbon steel. The steel instantaniously gets hot along with the round going through it and the round does it's purpose and as it's designed to do, go through mild/carbon steel. FMJ will do one heck of a job all day long each and every round.
Yes, they were FMJ rounds. I will get pictures up. Looks a lot like the ones powermad posted of the few that made the perfect circles. The rest of the dents that were made in his pictures were what I expected before we fired at it.
berettashotgun
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A 376 steyr with factory 270 hornady bullets did about the same thing at the my friends range, they don't leave the muzzle much over 2600fps.
375 RUM made a monster dent, but splatted. I think (but don't know) speed plays a major factor, as well as metaplat. just guessin'.......
375 RUM made a monster dent, but splatted. I think (but don't know) speed plays a major factor, as well as metaplat. just guessin'.......
mpmarty
Member
3/8" mild steel is like butter to most any rifle bullet. I have a 7.5X55 K31 and loaded some 170 gr cast gas check bullets over seven (yup, seven) grains of 700X and shot clear through 8" steel plates on my plate rack, leaving fifty caliber holes. I thought I was missing the plates somehow until I walked up and saw daylight shining through several holes. I had on hearing protection and the plates hardly moved when hit.
Funderb
Member
I've been experimenting with this too.
At 300 yards the round has lost only a little of its energy.
This isn't too surprising.
The effective range of a 7mm mag is WAY beyond 300 yards I'd imagine.
Hell, 7.62x54r is easily effective at 600 yards.
Do something really fun, try 1000 yards. I would really like to
do that but there is no where in florida with that space available.
If you do, I'd really like to see what happens.
Happy shooting.
At 300 yards the round has lost only a little of its energy.
This isn't too surprising.
The effective range of a 7mm mag is WAY beyond 300 yards I'd imagine.
Hell, 7.62x54r is easily effective at 600 yards.
Do something really fun, try 1000 yards. I would really like to
do that but there is no where in florida with that space available.
If you do, I'd really like to see what happens.
Happy shooting.
U.S.SFC you got to remember it was 3/4 in. plate steel, nothing special but the distance was probably about 400 yrds. or a little more. Heck some of the steel cores were still stuck in the plate. Interesting to note though that the crater it made looks probably much like a meteorite impact crater. You could see where the jacketing, sometimes still in the crater, would melt with the steel to allow the core to penetrate. It was SS109 ammo, 62 gr. from my AR15, 3000 fps. At closer distance I think would be no doubt of the outcome. Now the 30.06 armor piercing rounds out of my M1 Garand are a different story. They punched very nice little holes and you could see once again how the jacketing is acting like a lubricant for the core. Made a totally different sound too than the FMJ rounds. Even the FMJ 7.62x54r from my 91/30 sniper would not completely go through the plate at that distance. Interesting stuff though. OH, and P.S. by the way they all do a hell of a job on computer monitors 
Funderb, next time he takes it out, I will see how close we can get to a 1000 yard shot. They have 100 acres, and its a long narrow plot of land. If we can find a route through all the mesquite bushes, maybe we can give it a try. Might have to prop up on something and shoot down to get a good view of a 20X20 piece of metal! It looks tiny from that distance.
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