So......what's it take to STOP a .50??

[predator86]

im getting my .50 in the next couple of weeks and my dad and i are looking to start building a range, i was just curious as to how big of a berm or how thick the steel needs to be to stop a .50 cal bullet.....and i dont wanna find out the hard way either....does anyone know???

 

[SDC]

It really depends on the specific ammo you're using, how far away you shoot it from, and how many times you hit it in a given spot; the "Improvised Munitions Handbook" gives the following figures for a BALL round, fired from 10 feet away:
Mild Steel - 3/4"
Aluminium - 2"
Pine Wood - 32"
Gravel - 11"
Dry Sand - 14"
Wet Sand - 21"

These are all for ONE hit, and don't take into account multiple hits in the same spot, so you really want to make sure that you build any backstop deep enough and strong enough that rounds won't get through or ricochet, because they can end up MILES away. At a minimum, I'd say you'd want several truckloads of sand and gravel dumped into an open-ended containment box on the ground, with the containment box made of concrete, and INSPECT IT REGULARLY. There was a range up here that fired .50s indoors, and found that the rounds simply ate their way through the backstop, and they were actually firing THROUGH the backstop in short order. Safety first.

 

[CPTMurdoc30]

I would get a D5 cat dozer and build the berm 30' thick and as high as you want. That is an awful big chunk of lead scooting down range.

I have been thinking about how I want to build my range (Dreaming about a move in the next 3 to 5 years). I came up with building a berm then in front of it taking 6x6 post and building an 8'x7'x6' 8 wide 7 tall 6 deep tunnel Then covering it with dirt on all but the front. That way there is no chance of a ricochet.

 

[ELMOUSMC]

Medium for .50 cal bullet stop

When I built my range I used railroad switch ties they are 16 ft long.I built them 5 ft high on 3 sides the open end toward the firing position.In the back of the 3 sided box I had 2 tandem loads of asphalt millings( the material taken off when resurfacing a blacktop road) dumped and formed with a bobcat,next I had 2 tandem loads of road lime(coarse) packed and formed with a bobcat.Lastly I had 4 tandem loads of Masons sand dumped over the top and front of the 3 sided box.I had a little more than $1000 in the whole thing.I keep it covered except when in use to prevent leeching of the lead due to rain and snow.The sand prevents ricochets,the lime stops or drasticly slows the round and the asphalt stops it.There have been at least 500 rounds of .50 cal of all bullet types fired into it and for the most part it is hard to see where they impacted.In the 4 years since I built it there have been at least 15,000 rounds of all calibers fired into it with ZERO ricochets or penetrations Good luck and good shooting ELMOUSMC

 

[Sins-of-Mosin]

How about some pictures of these custom built backstops?

 

[Yellowfin]

My budget stops .50....from being fired in the first place

 

[T.A.Sharps]

I know a guy who's son came back from Iraq and brought back an arm plate that goes over the arm/shoulder from him body armor, basically a ceramic plate. He wanted to shoot a 50cal at it to see if it would really stop it.

It did.

 

[spctim11]

Don't think it will stop it.

It all depends on at what distance you will shoot at it. It need to be able to withstand the closest you will ever shoot at it. Make sure to post pics when completed.

 

[T.A.Sharps]

There is also that video on Youtube to check out of the guy shooting the 50 at steel and it came back and hit him in the head.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc

 

[JAXX]

Haven't any of you seen mythbusters? All you need to stop a .50 cal BMG is about 2 feet of water

 

[3StrikesNC]

I'd be extra cautious. Shooting my 7 mm STW with handloaded Nosler Ballistic Silvertips, 150 gr., I was punching holes straight through 5/8" thick hot rolled steel, in a vertical orientation, at 100 yards.

Obviously, a .50 BMG is MUCH stronger than my STW.

The Range I belong to does not allow the .50 BMG. It's the only cartridge, other than any full auto firearm, that is not permitted on the range.

Good luck.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

AR500 steel ("rifle" steel) 3/8" thick will stop .50 BMG ball ammo from 300 yards on out without deformation or penetration over lots and lots of hits. At 200 yards on a fixed stationary target (not swing/hanging), you can get some deformation (dents) that you may not get on the swing/hanging target. At 100 yards, you will get dents. From personal experience, if you fire 10 shots into the same basic 4x4" area at 100 yards, you may get as many as three that penetrate. I ruined a MGM target that way. Basically, the multiple impacts overloaded the steel and caused it to fail.

.50 BMG AP ammo will penetrate 3/8" AR500 steel out to 600 yards with no problem (seen it happen). It will penetrate from much further, but few people have personally owned ranges greater than 600 yards anyway.

LaRue uses 1" AR500 steel for their resetting targets that they consider to be .50 BMG capable, and they are.

 

[Tex570]

Yea, if they happen to be using SLAP rounds the best bet to stop them is prayer (that the shooter missed)...

 

[predator86]

hey ELMOUSMC, you got a pic of that backstop?? i will probaly build one similar to yours.....sounds pretty sweet!!!

 

[Jack O'Conner]

This is our long distance sight in range. (Nat'l Forest land)
Jack

 

[ELMOUSMC]

scanner took a dump!

As soon as I get my scanner cleaned up I will post some pictures of my range.My 8 year old grand son tried to copy a BPJ sandwich for his 3 year old sister,apparently HP scanners are alergic to peanut butter ELMOUSMC

 

[AmesJainchill]

Man, that's beautiful.

 

[rhgunguy]

I know a guy who's son came back from Iraq and brought back an arm plate that goes over the arm/shoulder from him body armor, basically a ceramic plate. He wanted to shoot a 50cal at it to see if it would really stop it.

It did.

Unless you are talking about a .50 muzzelloader, I am going to call BS.

 

[ELMOUSMC]

Ceramic Plate stop a .50?

Years ago in country far,far away an APC(a M111 or a M117 crs just hit) hit a mine and was disabled,before it could be recovered so of our NVA brothers decided it would be a wonderful position to ambush patrols from.Some of the gear heads from a Army unit had mounted a quad .50 on a Deuce and 1/2 to make a short story even shorter the rounds penetrated the APC from side to side and also front to rear including some that passed almost all the way through the engine.The .50 BMG is not someting that is to be taken lightly if you have ever seen one in operation you would relize how silly ceramic armor stopping a round like that islease reread the directions on how I built my range back stop ELMOUSMC

 

[Jim Watson]

A range design expert told me that a plain dirt berm should be tall enough to minimize the risk of shooting over and wide enough on top for your dozer. The angle of repose will give you 12 - 20 feet or more of actual bullet trap. For a monster rifle like .50 BMG, it should be periodically serviced by filling in the impact area dug out by hits.

A friend has a target gong made out of an aluminum extrusion die blank, about 1.5" thick and very hard steel. Ball .50 or .30 AP at 100 yards would barely mark it, as would a Swift. At 600 yards where it is now? Forget it.