any target shooters

fishlessman

anyone know a safe thickness of plate steel to stop a bullet from a typical handgun. seen something on the web that said 3/16 for a 9 mm but nothing that was really based on gun size or real stats. the guy buying this probably wont have the chance to buy it again if it doesnt work right the first time. :ermm:

Kokeman

Are you making a bullet trap or a swinging target?

fishlessman

a place to hide :blink: guy has a business in a bad neighborhood. door and back windows

Grandpas Grub

 
Jeez, that might be a bit risky.

Wouldn't that depend on the load and bullet configuration as well as shooting distance. There is also the thought of how many times could the plate be hit before it gives.

One aught to think about the mounting angle of the plate, ricochets can be a bit unnerving.

Why not call some shooting ranges and ask them what type of metal and thickness they use for their handgun ranges.

GG

Grandpas Grub

 
:woohoo:

How fast can he run to get into the safe room?

GG

fishlessman

i think its mostly the back of the store he wants to seal off, lot of bad things going on in the alley. ive done military shacks at .5 inch and they shot test samples with much bigger guns. im thinking 1/4 inch would stop the majority of smaller gunsshot directly at the steel.personally i would move the business. its a thick brick building so its just doors and windows. i was in the cities police station a couple years back, shoulda seen all the bullet holes :blink:

Cpt'n Cook

Why not just brick in the windows

hornhonk

Sounds like Lynn :ermm:

RVH

I have some experience with this and it all depends on the type of steel used. For example, a .308 Nato round blew a hole completely through 0.500 thick 1018 HR steel plate. It hit so hard that the plate had backflow that would indicate to the casual observer that the bullet had been fired from the other side. When the same round was fired at 0.375 4130HT plate it failed to penetrate. When an M-16 round (.556 Nato) was fired at the .500 plate, it only managed to make an indention of 0.008- 0.019 deep...we had to look hard to even see where it impacted.
Most handgun rounds were stopped by 0.250 thick 1018HR plate, certainly the 9MM rounds. Be aware that multiple hits in the same area(three to seven hits) would often manage to penetrate this thickness and type of steel.
As many as 35ea rounds fired at the 4130HT in the same place failed to penetrate.
While the 0.187 thickness you mention would stop many rounds, the use of 0.250 will give you much better protection.
Solid profile bullets were much more apt to penetrate the plate than hollow point styles, of course.
Slugs designed for 12 ga. shotguns ( These are the ones you have Grandpas Grub) would penetrate the 0.
250 plate with no problem, but not the 0.500 thickness.
Hope this helps.

fishlessman

bad section in lawrence, near the police station :blink: :ermm:

fishlessman

ive got some higher tensile wear plate, going with the 1/4 inch, thanks. i think that will stop most guns in the neighborhood. i would have to dig in the files, but, from memory, the army wanted .5 inch coreten for their shacks. this guy really should just move.

Panhandle Smoker

I have a video of a guy shooting a metal plate at 1000 yards with a .50 cal Barret. The round returned and ricocheted again off the ground in front of him and hit his ear muffs knocking them off of him. Most of the metal plates at the ranges I go to (I shoot a often) are around 1/2 inch thick. If you want to see the video e-mail me and I will send it to you.

Rusty Rooster

More than the thickness is the angle. Tell him, first to get it thicker than he thinks he will need. Even different types of bullet in the same caliber and load will make a drastic difference. Then tilt the top forward so it will deflect down and put a big & deep container of loose sand in front of it. That should catch most anything from pistols. Rifles are a whole nother story. Hope this helps.
Tom

fishlessman

i looked at building a shooting range once for a gun club, the design was like a curved inner ear path for the bullets to slide int a stop. this is a little different, its to stop stray bullets from a heroine junkee robbing a crack addict. :laugh: mostly smaller concealed hand guns, maybe a sawed off shot gun. have seen oozies but i think those dont penetrate to deep and that was in a different neighborhood :ermm: i wonder why i like the country more than the city :laugh:

Rusty Rooster

Sounds like you need a armored suit, good luck with it then.

Grandpas Grub

 
Interesting reading. Looking at those shells right now.

Kent

bitslammer

Is he trying to mitigate the risk of a "stray" round coming through the windows/doors, or is he looking to protect someone intentionally firing through them?

If he's just concerned about a "stray" round then simply bricking the windows over and getting a good reinforced steel door may be adequate. The probability of a stray round being fired at a direct 90* angle from optimal range seems very low. It's more likely they'd hit at an angle and be deflected.

If he's trying to protect against someone intentionally trying to fire through those openings then it will require much more as has been suggested.

Hoss

Put a guy on the roof to shoot back!Just funnin(not really)!!! It all depends on loads and bullets.1/2 inch good quality steel and brick will stop anything street level loaded.Some of the THUGS go hi tech!For NORMAL saftey purposes this combination will work.Never hurts to wear a FLACK JACKET.