Ignoramus26744 wrote:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 22:16:39 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:


Ignoramus26744 wrote:


This is purely an idle question. I have no interest in doing this, for
many reasons. The main reason is that 7mm rem mag is armor piercing
even if bullets are made from dung. Anyway. I have some 4.8mm (3/16)
tungsten electrodes (lanthanated). I could, conceivably, cast some
bullets for a 7mm rem mag rifle with the electrode pieces inside, that
would be quite armor piercing. Would they go through, say, 1 inch
thick mild steel plate, assuming propellant loads that are safe for
the rifle?


I'm no expert on armor at all. But, ONE INCH?



I shot through railroad tie plates (mild steel) with 7.62 mm Mosin
Nagant, using 50 year old ammo. They are, what, 1/2" thick?

That's pretty impressive. But, I am thinking this was right at the
upper limit
of what it could punch through. Seems to me the plates around here are more
like 1/4 or 3/8". That is still a pretty thick plate, as they use them
in pairs.




Have you seen what the Army and Air Force use for armor piercing
ammo? Like the 30 mm rounds for the A-10? These things weigh a
whole POUND each, and are SOLID U-238 (both hard and heavy as hell!)
The armor they are trying to pierce is about that thick, as far as I
know. A tank couldn't possibly have steel armor too much more than
an inch thick, or it would be too heavy to move.



Frontal armor on a tank can be much thicker than one inch, such as 4
inches or more. Plus, tank armor is stronger than mild steel, due to
metallurgy, use of composite materials etc. And I was asking about 1
inch of mere mild steel.

i


Metal strength doesn't matter that much, as I understand it. The

high velocity penetrating rounds MELT their way through, creating a plasma
that is projected into the armor by the forward momentum of the shell.



Jon