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I was poking around Ridout plastics last week, and found some decent sized scraps of G10. That is a fiberglass and resin laminate that is pretty tough. Well, since it was a whopping $2 a pound as scrap, I figured I would find out how tough it actually was. I bought a sheet that was about 8"x12"x1". It weighed just a bit over 7 pounds. Rather than taking it out to blow it up myself, which would have required a trip out to either the outdoor range an hour away, or out to BLM land (even farther), I took it across the street to American Shooting Center. I went in and set it on the counter and asked "What will this stop?" They were more than a little enthusiastic at the idea of blowing holes in something. And pretty helpful too. They had classes going on the range, but said they would be happy to blast it with whatever I wanted that night or later the next day. So I left it with them and asked that they see how it fared against .223, 7.62x39, and whatever else they felt like shooting it with.
I went back this morning to see how it had all turned out. Well, the .223 and .308 went zipping through. As you can see from the holes, it won't stop them. Looking at the debris, I would guess that both rounds were pretty well mangled, but definately NOT stopped. The 7.62x39, on the other hand, went in, and even dented the back, but did not go through. Looking at the delamination patterns, I would say that it was fired after the .223 right next to it. So the structural integrity of the block was already compromised. But it was enough to stop the round. As an afterthought, it also looks like they shot it with a .45 ACP. That barely scuffed the surface of the block, and caused no delamination. Just a little pock mark that may have knocked off one of the thin layers of material directly under the bullet's impact area. It looks like you could shoot .45's at it all day and not really do much more that cosmetic damage. I'll have to try it a bit later with a new block to see how it handles .44 mag, .357 mag, 9mm, and 7.62x25. I am thinking that they may do a bit more than the .45 did, but probably not much more.
I am attaching links to the pictures of the front and back, but I am a monkey, and can't figure out how to upload them more than that. If somebody else with more computer skills than a lowly primate can put them up, it would be greatly appreciated.
-Mb
I went back this morning to see how it had all turned out. Well, the .223 and .308 went zipping through. As you can see from the holes, it won't stop them. Looking at the debris, I would guess that both rounds were pretty well mangled, but definately NOT stopped. The 7.62x39, on the other hand, went in, and even dented the back, but did not go through. Looking at the delamination patterns, I would say that it was fired after the .223 right next to it. So the structural integrity of the block was already compromised. But it was enough to stop the round. As an afterthought, it also looks like they shot it with a .45 ACP. That barely scuffed the surface of the block, and caused no delamination. Just a little pock mark that may have knocked off one of the thin layers of material directly under the bullet's impact area. It looks like you could shoot .45's at it all day and not really do much more that cosmetic damage. I'll have to try it a bit later with a new block to see how it handles .44 mag, .357 mag, 9mm, and 7.62x25. I am thinking that they may do a bit more than the .45 did, but probably not much more.
I am attaching links to the pictures of the front and back, but I am a monkey, and can't figure out how to upload them more than that. If somebody else with more computer skills than a lowly primate can put them up, it would be greatly appreciated.
-Mb
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