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Carnage, Version 2.0 (shot through 1/4" steel plate)

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:12 pm
by DYI
Have you ever noticed that you can try to solve a problem for months without ever achieving anything, and then realise one day that the solution had literally been sitting in your shop the whole time?

Today I took what is likely the most impressive shot I have ever done, and the ammunition was nothing more sophisticated than an ancient hole punch wrapped in duct tape.

I've been trying to shoot through a piece of 1/4" steel plate for about 5 months now, ever since I upgraded the SCTBDC to high pressure bottled gas, and today I achieved that milestone of performance which very few spudguns will ever reach. The obvious solution came to me at work when I was looking on McMaster to see what kind of steel I should get for my APFSDS rounds. I saw "S7 tool steel", read the description, and realised that I already has some on hand, pre-sharpened. After a few scratch tests, I confirmed that it would likely be hard enough, and proceeded to convert it to a non-finned, non-discarding sabot type ammunition to save weight over the APFSDS format.

I loaded up the SCTBDC (which has a ridiculous number of different possible configurations now), using the 2" valve, 2" x 144" barrel, a 40 layer (~340 psi) disk, ~230 ci of chamber and the 150 gram hole punch, which weighed about 170 grams with the sabot and wadding (an old rag). The target was placed roughly 1" from the muzzle to prevent the unstable round tumbling, with 1.5" of wood and a bag of concrete behind it to avoid damage to my shed.

I then set up the camera to record the shot, and started turning up the nitrogen reg. At roughly 340 psi, the rupture diaphragm fulfilled its final purpose, and my 1/3 pound hole punch was propelled down the barrel at just over 700 feet per second, hitting the target 24 milliseconds later, and doing this:

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After cleanly penetrating the plate and leaving a hole that looks a lot like the hole from a .50 AP round, the hole punch continued on to split a 2x4 in half, fly through a bag of concrete, and punch through the front of my shed. Sideways. I found the punch lying on the floor, bent about 45 degrees off of straight, with a point just as sharp as it had before it was shot. The only thing I can't do is prove that this was actually done with the SCTBDC, and not a .50 rifle with a carbide tipped AP round. You can however, realize that no firearm ammunition capable of doing this is available in my entire country.

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:20 pm
by SpudUke5
Wow vey nice accomplishment :shock:

So... whats next? lol

But in all, very nice shot and this shows that you can teach a old dog (hole punch) new tricks.

New dicovery, 1/4 inch steel isnt bullet proof, now you can make a killing off your gun by mass producing it :D

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:28 pm
by Novacastrian
You bloody ripper, i had a feeling that someone was close to achieving this particular goal. The hole is just so round and pretty :D
You finally realised JSR's facination with your shed too- two birds with one stone!
You have my Kudos plus some!

DYI IS THE KING :P :D :king:

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:29 pm
by pizlo
I'm speechless, that just... damnit
all that increase from using better ammo?
and what is the picture that looks like a hole in the ground?
just fuck man..
Edit how dare the forum change my post I said fuck I can't express myself without that word.
I'm honored to be posting in this topic.

Edit2 and damn do you have the vid?

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:36 pm
by brogdenlaxmiddie
HOLY S#!T

I thought I was a badass by shooting a potato through a solid door....
But this is a whole new level.... BTW- make sure the police don't find the gun... I think it may have been upgraded from a noisy hobby :twisted:

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:40 pm
by DYI
About the vid... For the first time since I shot the original hole in my shed ("Carnage"), my camera recorded, but froze when I stopped recording, failing to save the film. I'll be sure to take lots of pretty videos of shooting through steel plate at the range in the summer, but it's kind of a shame that the first one didn't work. For what small comfort it is, the video wouldn't have shown much anyway.

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:45 pm
by TurboSuper
Holy shiat :shock:

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:02 pm
by c19o
One word : Wow..... :shock:

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:13 pm
by daberno123
Awesome! I look forward to seeing that whole steel plate full of holes.

Any before and after pics of the hole punch? You said it was still sharp? I'm surprised the tip didn't break off

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:26 pm
by bigbob12345
OMG
there isnt much more I can say than that

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:43 pm
by SpudBlaster15
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:46 pm
by DYI
Based on the appearance of the "wound", it appears to normalized.
Don't quite know what you mean here...

And as for a backstop, I might need a bit more than 1/2" plate soon...

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:47 pm
by Lentamentalisk
Congrats on reaching GOD status on spudfiles!
That is downright insane!
Next time put more cement behind it and see how far it will go through solid cement... Also you don't want your neighbors calling the cops, saying someone shot an AP round through their window...

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:48 pm
by bigbob12345
Ill try this once I get my KAMG to 500psi I dont expect to succeed but I may Have a chance if I use a really long barrel(30ft or maybey even 40ft)

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:02 pm
by SpudBlaster15
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