What can stop a .50 cal BMG AP round? (2024)

FAQs

What can stop a .50 cal BMG AP round? ›

Hard armor systems “strikeface” along with a composite blend can be the perfect armor against calibers up to 50 caliber ball and armor-piercing rounds. These products can absorb up to 72 to 75% of the energy from most rounds in the ball format and 68 to 78% of the kinetic energy from armor-piercing rounds.

3/8 inch thick AR500 steel plating will stop . 50 BMG ball rounds fired from further than 300m. 1/2 inch plating will reliably stop ball rounds at 200m. Only 1-inch plating will reliably stop ball rounds at 100m.

Most body armor is useless against . 50 caliber rounds, as they are only meant to protect against cartridges with less than 1/3 of the energy of the . 50 caliber. But some special body armor exists that protects against .

50 caliber armor-piercing cartridges, went on to function as an anti-aircraft and anti-vehicular machine gun, capable of penetrating 0.9 inches (23 mm) of face-hardened armor steel plate at 200 meters (220 yd), 1 inch (25 mm) of rolled hom*ogeneous armor at the same range, and 0.75 inches (19 mm) at 547 yards (500 m).

It takes about 2.2 inches (50 mm) of steel to stop a . 50 caliber round. At most an aircraft would carry enough armor to protect the pilot at most it was going to stop a . 50 but not a 20mm.

50-caliber armor-piercing bullet usually sinks nearly three inches into conventional bulletproof glass before stopping. Aluminum armor can stop it in half the distance—using a piece of material half the weight and thickness of traditional transparent armor.

Hard armor systems “strikeface” along with a composite blend can be the perfect armor against calibers up to 50 caliber ball and armor-piercing rounds. These products can absorb up to 72 to 75% of the energy from most rounds in the ball format and 68 to 78% of the kinetic energy from armor-piercing rounds.

It doesn't take a lot for most calibers. Three feet of dry sand can stop any bullet that I have shot in my 50 BMG. Wet sand for some reason takes more sand, but I am unaware of the reason for that.

At the . 50 cal range in Infantry OSUT they told us that if a . 50 round were to hit a guy in the hand, it would take his arm off at the shoulder. If it hit a torso, it would leave a hole the size of a soccer ball (probably exit wound), if it hit his head, he wouldn't have one.

50 caliber, firing AP rounds at 100 meters, 90 degree impact, can penetrate a couple of inches of concrete. Repeated hits in the same area would chew a building up a lot.

What is the best metal to stop bullets? ›

Ultra-High Hardness (UHH) armor steel is the best performing steel alloy for protection against armor piercing (AP) bullets. Thanks to a 578 to 655 HBW hardness, UHH steel panels are able to break AP projectiles' core and provide efficient protection with reduced weight compared to High Hard (500HB) material.

An inch thick Grade 8 titanium sheet will probably stop a single M903 . 50 SLAP projectile travelling at about 4000 fps. A foot thick titanium block will be impervious to pretty much anything you can throw at it until you start getting into the types of projectiles tanks are firing.

Fifty caliber is the largest round of ammunition generally available to American civilians today. Fifty caliber anti-armor sniper rifles are specifically designed to engage and destroy materiel targets on the battlefield at long range.

Any bullet would go through 2 layers of graphene. Including bullets dropped from a small height rather than fired from a gun. Materials engineering details are given at the end of this answer.

Generally speaking, a standard brick wall is sufficient to stop any round under 50 caliber from something like a Barrett 50 Cal. Heavier rounds such as a 7.62x39mm or . 308 rifle may penetrate the walls of a brick-veneered house, but it is not likely.