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Posted: 2/19/2013 6:20:12 PM EDT
Inspired by this thread I decided to test whether it was possible to make homemade "body armor" that would actually work. I'm pleasantly surprised by the results.
I used three PEI grade V porcelain floor tiles with a coat of Herculiner on the front and between tiles and a thick coat (about a quarter inch) on the back to capture fragments. I placed a paper grocery bag behind (to see if anything came through) and shot it at about twenty feet with .223, 7.62x39mm, and .40 S&W. Unfortunately, I didn't know the close range POI on my AK as well as on my AR so I had to shoot it three times with the AK to get a hit where I wanted. The reason is that the first shot was too close to both edges and caused the whole corner to bend back into the paper. I don't *think* the bullet made it through but I couldn't be sure until the third shot. Afterward, I shot it with an additional ten rounds of .40 and not a single round made it through. This stuff did quite a bit better than I expected. ETA: To clarify, I don't think that the first two 7.62 shots penetrated but I couldn't be sure. The third definitely did not penetrate. I did not weigh this "plate" because this is just a proof of concept. On page 46 of the thread I linked to above, AKengineer got positive results for one round of 5.56mm at 20 yards with just two plates and duct tape. My next test will be with two plates held together by a light coat of Herculiner and backed with an HDPE cutting board. Then I'll give the whole thing a light coat of Herculiner. I'll also cut it down to 10"x12" and cut the corners for a sort of shooter's cut. For reference, though, my wildly inaccurate bathroom scale says that three tiles without bed liner weighs about 12 pounds. Also, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel or even present an alternative to NIJ rated protective plates. The thread linked to above was started to provide a cheap/easy way to reduce frag on an AR 500 plate. The idea was to find something that a person could make from common materials even in a SHTF situation. AKengineer pointed out that the tiles can do a decent job of stopping bullets and I wanted to test how well they would work in conjunction with bed liner. I already have proper Level III steel plates but if further testing works out well, I might make up a plate carrier with these for the truck and a couple more for handouts to friends and family for the inevitable economic collapse. Even if they didn't stop rifle rounds at all, they obviously do an awesome job stopping pistol projectiles. A $6 "plate" that provides protection from even some cartridges is pretty cool, I think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXmyCfB_k5I "Mk II" test: http://youtu.be/BORLLkLpG6U Cliff's notes: two tiles with cutting board and bed liner defeated by 7.62x39mm. Stops one round of .45 ACP and defeated by the second. "Mk III" test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk_fxBi-a5Y&feature=youtu.be Cliff's notes: three tiles with layers of fiberglass and thin layers of bed liner are defeated by 7.62x39mm and 5.56x45mm. |
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This could be a cheap, easy solution to catching spall with steel plates, esp. at less than $1 per tile.
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Now you've done it...
Now everyone's preps need to include floor tiles and Herculiner, so that we can make IAFV*'s out of our vehicles if TEOTWAWKI occurs. *-Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles |
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What I get out of this thread is that you don't know your POA/POI on your rifle at 20 feet. You should spend less time making condoms out of floor tiles and more time on proficiency training.
I'm just fuckin' with ya man. Very cool test! |
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How much does that piece you were shooting at weigh? My first thought. I'm thinking 25ish pounds for that finished piece. |
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This could be a cheap, easy heavy solution to catching spall with steel plates, esp. at less than $1 per tile. FIFY |
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I do wonder what we could do with layers of common materials, though...perhaps thin layers of hardened steel laid up with epoxy polymers/aluminum to accept some deformation energy. Betting we could make a plate that's lighter and acts as its own anti-spalling guard.
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Quoted: I do wonder what we could do with layers of common materials, though...perhaps thin layers of hardened steel laid up with epoxy polymers/aluminum to accept some deformation energy. Betting we could make a plate that's lighter and acts as its own anti-spalling guard. Two bare pieces of tile duct taped together will stop one 5.56 hit with no spall. |
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I do wonder what we could do with layers of common materials, though...perhaps thin layers of hardened steel laid up with epoxy polymers/aluminum to accept some deformation energy. Betting we could make a plate that's lighter and acts as its own anti-spalling guard. Two bare pieces of tile duct taped together will stop one 5.56 hit with no spall. Yeah. One. Also, ceramic tile is way dense. |
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Quoted: That is at 20 yards. It is probably multihit capable at 100 yard+ distances.Quoted: Quoted: I do wonder what we could do with layers of common materials, though...perhaps thin layers of hardened steel laid up with epoxy polymers/aluminum to accept some deformation energy. Betting we could make a plate that's lighter and acts as its own anti-spalling guard. Two bare pieces of tile duct taped together will stop one 5.56 hit with no spall. Yeah. One. Also, ceramic tile is way dense. |
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Improvise, adapt, overcome. That's some fucking MacGyver shit right there.
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I do wonder what we could do with layers of common materials, though...perhaps thin layers of hardened steel laid up with epoxy polymers/aluminum to accept some deformation energy. Betting we could make a plate that's lighter and acts as its own anti-spalling guard. A simple 4 ply laminate of with two ceramic tiles and two rubber tiles taped together would be a worthwhile experiment. |
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Cool.. it looks more like armor you could use for your car or home - a little big for body armor. Cool stuff
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What I get out of this thread is that you don't know your POA/POI on your rifle at 20 feet. You should spend less time making condoms out of floor tiles and more time on proficiency training. I'm just fuckin' with ya man. Very cool test! Hell; that's MOA shooting for an AK or SKS!! Yes, impressive test. The key would now be to find ways to bring down the weight, so one could actually utilize it as protection. Thanks for the video! |
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Hmmm....I wonder if I could make this my senior design project.
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I do wonder what we could do with layers of common materials, though...perhaps thin layers of hardened steel laid up with epoxy polymers/aluminum to accept some deformation energy. Betting we could make a plate that's lighter and acts as its own anti-spalling guard. Two bare pieces of tile duct taped together will stop one 5.56 hit with no spall. Yeah. One. Also, ceramic tile is way dense. one is better than none |
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I do wonder what we could do with layers of common materials, though...perhaps thin layers of hardened steel laid up with epoxy polymers/aluminum to accept some deformation energy. Betting we could make a plate that's lighter and acts as its own anti-spalling guard. A simple 4 ply laminate of with two ceramic tiles and two rubber tiles taped together would be a worthwhile experiment. I think trying to make one thick tile with fiberglass embedded in it might be worth while. The fiberglass might not survive firing the clay but if it did it would help stop cracks from propagating and would really strengthen the plate. |
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This could be a cheap, easy heavy solution to catching spall with steel plates, esp. at less than $1 per tile. FIFY Whats 1 tile weigh? |
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Holy shit, I would never have the balls to do that. |
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Holy shit, I would never have the balls to do that. you call that balls? |
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cool now somebody needs to make like 100 of them and attach them to their BOV and take it to the range.
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Holy shit, I would never have the balls sheer stupidity to do that. |
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