Coming From Medievil Interest, Interested In Armor, Tools

I'm stemming from an interest in medievil lifestyle. I started making a cheapo butted ring-maille sheet, and might make some full shirt or something.

of course one thing leads to another, (hopefully my teeth don't fall out from all the candy), and now I'm thinking about making a shield, but a shield needs to stop bullets these days. I may actually try to find a shooter to test any armor I make.

anyway, I am hoping to discuss many things, but my first topic is this shield. If I make the shield out of 2x4, by having two layers of 2x4, one horizontal one vertical (a square or rectangle), then put thin sheets of metal available at home depot on the front, would it stop a 9mm bullet? if I put three sheets of metal with 2x4 between them, would it work like the layered tank armor?? is it imaginable to stop rifle rounds with inexpensive steel and wood?? I saw demolition ranch shoot a rifle through about 2 or 3 feet of lumber (total thickness), and am honestly discouraged,,, but then the shield is just for exercise anyway,,,, I'm not going to battle. Does anyone know about this sort of thing??

then,,, I'm also interested in learning about other materials,, probably common in survival forums??

 

Warm Welcome from the Arizona valley folks. USA

To stop firearm bullets, it is mass and velocity. I seriously doubt you will be able to develop a shield, that can be carried by a normal person, that will stop rifle rounds. A person can load 110 grain sabot bullets into a 300 Win. Mag and they will have a muzzle velocity close to or exceeding 5,000 feet per second. That does not even take into account of the 338 Lapua or the 50 BMG. I have seen so home made armor that would stop many handgun rounds but they all fail to stop rifle rounds. JM2C

 

This might help you. For more, just search firearms penetration chart.



Dale

 

Good morning Troy,

Welcome to the forum.

I've carried a couple of different types of ballistic "shields" provided by our insurance company (although we paid for 'em).

One was a composite ceramic plate that fits into an attache case or flight bag. It is heavy and beneficial only in limited situations such as against one non-professional shooter.

Another shield was the kevlar umbrella. It, too, mimics the ceramic plates. Limited protection and many trade-offs lost when carrying it.

Home Depot and similar big-box stores are not the places to go to.

 

Polycarbonate will do better for weight. I have bounced .38's off 1/4" Tuffak (similar to Lexan). I installed a double layer, one on each side of the bars, in the sally port of the State Jail for ballistic protection. Nobody wanted to test this in a real world scenario but it was figured that even the reduced power of any rounds would help.