how to make armor plating to resist 30-06 and 50 bmg

Ok the world has already ended and you and a band of dudes are the last ones standing. planet X has already destroyed 99% of civilization. There are roving gangs with all sorts of firepower such as machine guns and 50 caliber rifles.
You have access to a torch metal cutter, charcoal, engine crane, swimming pool and bones from a grocery store. a leaf blower, and on the street are those heavy thick metal plates used for covering street work. I will tell you how to make hardened steel using nothing more than these and a pit in the ground.

If you have superior armor plating you can definitely be king in your neck of the woods.

The steel i am talking about are those huge plates that are one inch thick. provided that you have a way to transport them.
Gun experts may scoff that a inch thick steel plate can resist penetration by a large caliber high velocity round such as this but ordinary steel is like butter compared to heat treated steel. I will tell you how to heat treat and anneal your own steel.

take that huge plate cut it up into four sections. and drill 1/2 holes around the perimeter.

make a large pit in the ground about 5 feet around. and a smaller hole to the side when the pit is 5 feet deep connect the 4 inch hole made tot he side to the pit at the bottom. this small hole will be your air hose for the forced air.

take a towel put the crushed bone in the middle of the towel where the layers is towel bone steel plate, bone towel etc. Soak bones in motor oil first.

Put one foot of charcoal in pit stick the towel plates standing up sow that you have one towel per foot inches. fill rest up with charcoal and attach the leaf blower to the small hole. You must have forced air or you will not get right temperature. Light charcoal wait until it turns white turn on leaf blower. Heat for 15 hours use engine crane to lift steel plates out charcoal pit. dunk in swimming pool until cold.

Here we use bones which have been used for thousands of years to harden steel. bones contain phosphorus and nitrogen which are both important to the process. Afix the steel plates to your humble bug out location.

Macgyver is back

Seriously though what are the odds your gonna have only these exact items at hand. You need to make your hypotheticals a bit more plausible.

Something like how would you booby-trap your apartment given just what normal people have in their apartment to allow you to survive an assult from a roving gang after your supplies.

reply to post by kro32
and DU rounds will just say you wasted your time

if you have a 50 cal you will have a 75, a 105 or a 125mm as well, if your smart, SPA's and M1 not to mention the towed alt just there for the taking, no need for armor plate, just good set of feet, but then, you can run but you can not hide, just to keep it real.
it was a good idea if you have all that all ready if not by the time you get to it you will face the possibility of being discovered the plate being discovered you camp site being discovered or falling pray to the ones your trying to defend your self from.
What no one has thought of the heavy stuff?

This may stop DU rounds as well depends on fast you can cool the plates

i liked the op reminds of that clint eastwood movie where he has the train part as a vest.

How about a plated vest,I'd be interested in that.As in many countries you can't buy.

Thank you for the helpful advice! Though if the world did end because of an epidemic/nuclear war, I would go to the nearest police station and loot their, get the bulletproof vest, ammo, guns, then go wandering the wasteland Fallout 3 style looking for survivors

...or, move to a state like mine and just buy it.

Some places body armor is illegal which makes NO sense to me. "You cannot have that, sir, it makes you too hard to kill".

But.. but I wanna be hard to kill.

Originally posted by pellian
Ok the world has already ended and you and a band of dudes are the last ones standing. planet X has already destroyed 99% of civilization. There are roving gangs with all sorts of firepower such as machine guns and 50 caliber rifles.
You have access to a torch metal cutter, charcoal, engine crane, swimming pool and bones from a grocery store. a leaf blower, and on the street are those heavy thick metal plates used for covering street work. I will tell you how to make hardened steel using nothing more than these and a pit in the ground.

If you have superior armor plating you can definitely be king in your neck of the woods.

The steel i am talking about are those huge plates that are one inch thick. provided that you have a way to transport them.
Gun experts may scoff that a inch thick steel plate can resist penetration by a large caliber high velocity round such as this but ordinary steel is like butter compared to heat treated steel. I will tell you how to heat treat and anneal your own steel.

take that huge plate cut it up into four sections. and drill 1/2 holes around the perimeter.

make a large pit in the ground about 5 feet around. and a smaller hole to the side when the pit is 5 feet deep connect the 4 inch hole made tot he side to the pit at the bottom. this small hole will be your air hose for the forced air.

take a towel put the crushed bone in the middle of the towel where the layers is towel bone steel plate, bone towel etc. Soak bones in motor oil first.

Put one foot of charcoal in pit stick the towel plates standing up sow that you have one towel per foot inches. fill rest up with charcoal and attach the leaf blower to the small hole. You must have forced air or you will not get right temperature. Light charcoal wait until it turns white turn on leaf blower. Heat for 15 hours use engine crane to lift steel plates out charcoal pit. dunk in swimming pool until cold.

Here we use bones which have been used for thousands of years to harden steel. bones contain phosphorus and nitrogen which are both important to the process. Afix the steel plates to your humble bug out location.

Outstanding stuff and ideas my friend.
I could write a short story right now on that!
The bones trick works too as in the middle ages blacksmiths would use bones for fire-hardening arrowheads to pierce through french armour!

The only draw back is your propulsion unit, unless you've a decent sized diesel bunker it might be a problem keeping a battle-wagon going post SITX....

One piece of the steel road plate 1" thick and 8' x 10' weighs 3,325 pounds.

Better add a crane to your list of items....

Also just any torch won't cut 1" steel.....you better have a damn heavy duty torch!!

But it is the concept. You can harden any type of steel and use it as armor.

reply to post by pellian


Dude....
shakes my head in wounder...

If someone is shooting at you with a 50 BMG you got bigger worries then trying to make armor... remember the Ma-Deuce is the smallest of the heavy machine gun class and they make appropriate rounds for a heavy machine gun
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9a8890c5ec38.gif[/atsimg]

edit to add... there is one more color code I didn't see listed... Red Black and White... Armor piercing exploding tracer round... yup your troubles just started if someone is gunning for you with one of these babies

reply to post by pellian
ok if you say so, there are hot knives that will go this "plate" like butter cseserv.engr.scu.edu... from the link , just to see what your "plate" would look like after a DU round hits it, have a look see

IV. RECENT EXAMPLES OF DU AMMO USAGE

· Case 1: Iraq (The Gulf War)

· Case 2: The Balkans (Bosnia and The Kosovo Conflict)
Hence, DU doesn’t have to be a military necessity in terms of destroying armored vehicles.

This widespread Soviet-era RPG is more than adequate at taking out armored vehicles at ambush range. Image source: P15



Iraqi Soviet-made T-72 hit by 120 mm tank shell fired from M1 tank. Overkill? Image source: P14



A Yugoslav M-84 tank destroyed by DU fire from A-10 during the Kosovo conflict. Image source: P2

ok so the picks do not link up, that figures, and there are some picks that not might be good for little ones, or the fainthearted. it is a nasty round in more ways than one.

Originally posted by DaddyBare
reply to post by pellian

 

Dude....
shakes my head in wounder...

If someone is shooting at you with a 50 BMG you got bigger worries then trying to make armor... remember the Ma-Deuce is the smallest of the heavy machine gun class and they make appropriate rounds for a heavy machine gun


edit to add... there is one more color code I didn't see listed... Red Black and White... Armor piercing exploding tracer round... yup your troubles just started if someone is gunning for you with one of these babies

edit on 7-7-2011 by DaddyBare because: (no reason given)

Of the military is shooting at you with one of these you better need more than just shielding. anyway this steel plate will be just as hard as the round in the bullet. equal softness noes not equal penetration.

You could make your armor 4 feet thick, it wouldn't help you.


Somebody would aim microwaves at you and cook you inside your armor. It's not bullets you need to be concerned about.


Rapture will essentially occur where people with the technology will decide who gets to live, and who dies. It wouldn't matter if you had a 20mm chain gun from a fighter jet strapped to the top of your truck.....you'll get cooked inside your armor.

Originally posted by Pervius
You could make your armor 4 feet thick, it wouldn't help you.


Somebody would aim microwaves at you and cook you inside your armor. It's not bullets you need to be concerned about.


Rapture will essentially occur where people with the technology will decide who gets to live, and who dies. It wouldn't matter if you had a 20mm chain gun from a fighter jet strapped to the top of your truck.....you'll get cooked inside your armor.

What technology is this?

Originally posted by Pervius
You could make your armor 4 feet thick, it wouldn't help you.


Somebody would aim microwaves at you and cook you inside your armor. It's not bullets you need to be concerned about.


Rapture will essentially occur where people with the technology will decide who gets to live, and who dies. It wouldn't matter if you had a 20mm chain gun from a fighter jet strapped to the top of your truck.....you'll get cooked inside your armor.

What technology is this?

its better to build a bunker/command center and focus on booby traps and wire control demolition robots and weapon systems than to jeopardize your position, there are many old world warfare tactics and new gorilla tactics that can get the job done if you're serious about your quest.

I could teach you, bet then i would have to kill you, because you would tell on me

Better off to build a bunker.. cause Ill use a .22 and shoot you in your face, knees, balls, shoot you under your arm when you raise your gun and expose the vulnerabilities of the vest, set you on fire and ring the bells for the cannibals ( like corn on a cob in tinfoil) or kick you in the balls.. unless you're gonna have a fancy motor oil and bone codpiece with razor sharp spikes.

....even more seriously, you ever been hit in a bullet proof vest with even a 9mm?? Its gonna HURT and youre going to be knocked off balance.. you can also die even if the bullet doesnt penetrate the metal or material of the vest.

Best thing for being bullet proof: Stay out of the line of fire.

Everyone is shooting holes in your idea ( pun intended ) but the bottom line is at least your thinking about how to make useful items after the SHTF.

It may be impractical but an idea non the less.

The best "Armour" to me is just to be undetected in the first place. Stay stealthy and un-seen.

I don't have any plans to get into a tangle with anyone much less someone with a .50 cal.

I might be cleaning a deer someday and someone could snipe me with a .270, .308, 30.06 or whatever....

If they do their job right I will never see it coming and I guess there are worst ways to die, let's hope for a clean shot.