Looks like you are showing an old, 1860s or 1870s photo of the Washington Navy Yard test targets, Lance. We gained some familiarity with such things when we visited that historical institution in 2006 and saw several plates, including the 6" thick wrought iron plate that a 15" Dahlgren Gun penetrated during Civil War testing. We used one of our photos we took of them as our Avatar as everyone has already noticed. So, you want some big bangs and flying steel shards, eh? It's a fairly dangerous activity, Lance and all the participants need effective cover when you do that kind of experiment, we mean sands bags or concrete, not a corregated steel shed. We will think about it, but everyone can see what we mean by dangerous when they look at the following pics pulled from our web site and a previous 2007 GBO thread. The golf idea is a very good one and if everybody used golf balls, it would be fair too. Log splitting is fun!! Milk jugs full of snap-line chalk or water are fun too.
We had 7,600 Lbs of Detroit Iron for cover when we did these experiments and we drove the Suburban home without any holes at day's end.
Mike and Tracy
We started on the ground with U-Channel targets.
.407" of mild steel penetrated by a 12L14 Parrott bolt at 1250 fps propelled by 400 grs. BP.
Then we got serious with the Ironclad Penetration tests of 2006. Charge was up to 500 grains, velocity 1,400fps and bolts weighed 5.5 oz to 14 oz. Some penetrated, some didn't.
5.5 oz bolt at 1,500fps went .690" deep in a .750" boiler plate. Nice crater.
7oz bolt with old gage-pin penetrator holed a .500" plate.
1/6 scale 7" Brooke Rifle bolt penetrates a 1" thick boiler plate with a 9oz hardened S-7 steel bolt at 1,700fps. The piece behind the plate on the dirt is the plug of plate punched out by the bolt that went .950" into the 1.000" plate. We conducted this test 2 feet underground.
