.243 Against 1/4 Steel Plate

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

winter1857

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
45
Location
Eastern NC
I went to the range today to mess around with my .375 Model 94 and my Interarms .243. I took along my 1/4 steel buffalo target that I use for rimfire shooting. With the rimfires I shoot away and at the end of the day hit the buffalo with some white spray paint and it's as good as new.

Not so with a 100 grain Remington Core Lokt PSP at 100 yards! Shooting from the bipod on the bench it put a nice hole clean through that measures about .421 inches. It appears that the jacket just peeled off around the hole and the rest of the bullet kept heading downrange...... I went back to shooting paper plates after that first shot.

I tried to take a decent photo of the hole with the jacket embedded around it but that's beyond the capabilities of my camera.

HoleyBuffalo1.gif
 
How long is your range? Willing to bet it will go through at 200 also. My beast goes through 1/2" steel at 200 yards with SP ammo. :)
 
You need at least AR 500 steel at 1/2" thick at 100yds to withstand a 100 gr pill at 3000fps +. It'll just go right on through anything less.
 
Here is a 3/8" AR500 plate I shot with my 243 at 25 yards. It was a 55 grain ballistic tip at 3724 fps.:

attachment.php
 
1/4" mild steel will be penetrated by a bullet at over 2000 fps. Done it, experimented with it, scientifically unproven but given what I've tried it with it has seemed 2000 fps regardless of caliber will penetrate 1/4 mild steel.
 
Gordon said:
http://www.barnesbullets.com/wp-con...rnes-Customer-Update-Banded-Solids-2012-2.pdf

I'm sure gladI laid in a big supply of .243 Banded solids for this
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/gordonhulme/002-17.jpg[/IM]
and this:
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/gordonhulme/074-1.jpg[/IG]

[b]As the load I brew go 3300fps from a 24" barrel, at 200 yards it holes a 3/4" T1 plate. This would be a useful load in a Red Dawn scenario I believe and I should have laid in .264 and .270 ones too ![/b][/QUOTE]


3/4"? That's pretty good, wasnt aware of the banded solids. Did some tests on 1/2" at 100 yards with TSX .308 168g and .338LM 280g they didn't go through.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
IIRC, the banded solids are for very specific hunting scenarios. They're not AP or necessarily for steel punching. I believe they would be no more effective than any ordinary projectile. Perhaps less so, and more given to simply exploding against the harder metal. They're supposed to stay intact through bone and soft tissue, not punch through steel. But I'd be curious about the results. I do suspect the BATFE is once again smoking substances banned by the DEA.
 
Lathe turned bronze, as the banded Barnes ones are (were), in spitzer shapes do strange thing to armor plate at very high velocity. :evil:
 
I used to grab a few of the tie plates from the railroad when they would change out the wood ties. We would shoot them at 100 yards with our deer rifles, 30-06 for me and 270 for my buddy, both loaded with 150gr bullets. I was using remington coreloks and he nosler partions and both would go through the plates. Both holes looked the same too. And no jackets left behind.

A 223 FMJ fired from a mini-14 made a deep crater but never made it all the way through. But it was way better than that 243 varmint bullet in the other post at 4 times the range.
 
1/4" mild steel will be penetrated by a bullet at over 2000 fps. Done it, experimented with it, scientifically unproven but given what I've tried it with it has seemed 2000 fps regardless of caliber will penetrate 1/4 mild steel.
Click to expand...

That sounds about right. I have several 1/4 and 5/16" A36 plates I use for pistol practice and 38spec and 45acp are harmless, 9mm does small dents with jacketed ammo and 357mag would put a serious dent, but I won't shoot magnums at any mild steel that I want to keep anymore.
 
plate

I've done some experimental penetration testing of 1/2" mild steel with a variety of pistol and rifle rounds.

I tried 3 pistol rounds. A 9mm out of a 3 1/2" Kahr.// A 180 gr .40 S&W--Glock 23. ///Ruger Redhawk .44 mag. 240 gr .

Rifles were. 170 gr flat nosed 30-30 Marlin 336 // 150 gr Nosler ballistic tip over 57.5 gr IMR 4350-- Rem 760 30.06 pump // 165 gr Wolf gold --.300 Win Mag Savage. // .223 Wolf -- Bushmaster // 7.62X39 (2) Chinese SKS and Chinese AK // 7.62X51 (2) Ishapore 2A1 and Spanish FR-8

Range was about 12 yds from behind steel barrier with minimal exposure and target plate was unsecured against a berm. No spatter came back and hit the barrier steel that I am aware of.


3twelves. Due to limited IT knowledge Ha. Top to bottom is:

Chinese SKS with Wolf 7.62X39
Bushmaster AR Wolf .223 55gr
Kahr P9 Covert 9mm Gold Dot
Remington 760 Pump 30.06 150gr Nosler Ballistic tip over 57.5 gr IMR 4350
Marlin 336 170gr Speer flatnose over 34.5 gr IMR 4350
Glock 23 180gr
Norinco AK Wolf 7.62X39
Ruger Redhawk 7 1/2" 240 gr Speer magnum soft point over 24.7gr W296
Savage .300 WinMag Wolf Gold 165gr----------only complete penetration.
Spanish FR-8 Indian 7.62X51 (1975)
Ishapore 2A1 Indian 7.62X51 (1975 ammo) 147 gr IIRC This was left bottom if you followed it down.

100_0394.jpg

I would be hard pressed to believe a .243 would pass through Abrasion Resistant 500 plate 3/8" thick but I suppose makeup of bullet would determine that. I would like to see pics of that. T1 and A36 are relatively mild IIRC. AR400 doesn't stand up well to rifle fire but is fine for handgun. Mild steel is OK for most non magnum handgun rounds but .357 .41 and .44 will ding mild pretty easily.
 
Last edited:
^ can you label that pic to what is what?


Like this

This is with 1/2" mild steel also but at longer distance.



back.jpg
 
Last edited:
I was amazed to learn, on a quiet day at the range, that my .204 ruger blows .35" holes in 1/4 mild steel plate. Out to about 250 yards. After that it burns in a hole that looks like it was drilled by a bit. Very impressive
 
mild steel is not to be shot at. if u want to bang steel invest in some ar500 targets, its well worth the money and alot safer.
 
I use cinder block molds available (usually free) at the local brickyard when they get out of spec. I have only rarely seen that stuff break upon impact with anything 30 cal. and smaller.
 
I went to the range today to mess around with my .375 Model 94 and my Interarms .243. I took along my 1/4 steel buffalo target that I use for rimfire shooting. With the rimfires I shoot away and at the end of the day hit the buffalo with some white spray paint and it's as good as new.

Not so with a 100 grain Remington Core Lokt PSP at 100 yards! Shooting from the bipod on the bench it put a nice hole clean through that measures about .421 inches. It appears that the jacket just peeled off around the hole and the rest of the bullet kept heading downrange...... I went back to shooting paper plates after that first shot.

I tried to take a decent photo of the hole with the jacket embedded around it but that's beyond the capabilities of my camera.
Click to expand...

And what were you were expecting from a target designed for .22 rimfire...?

Half inch AR500 doesn't do well against 50 cal API either.

Match your load to your target.

Or buy a LOT of new targets!

Also, mind what chaser_2332 said.
It's a lot harder to buy new eyeballs than new targets.
 
I have angled 1/4" mild steel roughly 30 to 40 degrees from the ground and a 308 FMJ did not penetrate at 25 yards. *shrug*
Click to expand...

But it did probably dent it. A target that has a clean hole through it is safer than one that has a dent.....
 
Mencius said:
I have angled 1/4" mild steel roughly 30 to 40 degrees from the ground and a 308 FMJ did not penetrate at 25 yards. *shrug*
Click to expand...
Must be the angle, I had 7.62x51 FMJ go though 3/8" at 50 (16") and 100 yards (22").


7.62.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Accurate .243
2
Replies
36
Views
2K
Dinosaur1
D
S
  • Locked
Safety Issues with Steel Plates?
Replies
21
Views
1K
jmorris
jmorris
mongoslow
hitting steel
Replies
8
Views
309
DukeConnor
D
W
  • Locked
.17HMR & Steel
Replies
6
Views
2K
Avenger29
A
R
  • Locked
Hornady Leverevolution 30-30 Impressed
Replies
7
Views
3K
JEB
JEB
Back
Top