Thanks to everyone for the prompt payment/pickups on round #2 of the AR500 GB
As an update, I took some of this steel out to be torture-tested today, with some interesting results. The sample piece of steel was a 16" x 16" square in 3/8" thickness. I set up the stand to face the steel plate angled to the left of my shooting position, so if there were any ricochets, they would deflect into the hill to my left.
Setup 1
- 40 yards
- plate angle relative to my shooting position - ~23 degrees from square
Results
- 7WSM
100gr Sierra HP started at 3711fps at the muzzle - Clean hole
162gr A-Max started at 3065fps at the muzzle - Slight dimple
140gr TTSX started at 3330fps at the muzzle - Slight galling damage
- .243AI
105gr A-Max started at 3161fps at the muzzle - Slight dimple
Setup 2
- 97 yards
- plate angle relative to shooting position - ~20 degrees
Results
- 7WSM
100gr HP - Almost punched hole, AR500 plug pushed about half way out of plate
Setup 3
- 148 yards
- Shooting angle - ~18 degrees
Results
- 7WSM
100gr HP - Some galling damage
Setup 4
- 199 yards
- Shooting angle - ~17 degrees
Results
- 7WSM
100gr HP - Moderate dimple
I was able to use a JBM ballistic calculator to solve for the various impact velocities, which I've arranged from highest to lowest:
Bullet - Impact Vel. (FPS) - DAMAGE OBSERVED
100 HP - 3551 - HOLE
100 HP - 3285 - ALMOST PUNCHED THROUGH, PLUG NEARLY EXITED
140 TTSX - 3239 - SLIGHT DAMAGE
105AM - 3093 - SLIGHT DIMPLE
100 HP - 3070 - SOME DAMAGE
162AM - 2975 - SLIGHT DIMPLE
100 HP - 2845 - MODERATE DIMPLE
Here are a few observations about shooting AR500 I've made over the years, including today:
- Impact velocity is the largest factor in damaging AR500 steel
- Bullet construction plays a large role in how much damage a bullet does (avoid steel-core and AP ammo!)
- Impact angle of the plate affects how much of the bullet's energy and momentum the plate absorbs, and hence how much damage is done to the plate, versus how much it is able to deflect in another direction
Ignore the 3 groups fired using reduced BD loads
