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Sand Bags Stopping Bullets

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14 comments

  • tsavo303
    are you and highball building a fort?
    I think 1 would stop a std FMJ 7.62
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  • Colt Super
    They will stop some .30 cals., but not all.

    D.
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  • thunderbolt
    One time I built a backstop of a column of old tires full of hardpacked soil. A Garand in .30-06 cut it to pieces. Fortunately
    there was a nice hill behind the backstop to catch anything that got through. I collected the spent bullets to melt down for reloading.
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  • tsavo303
    are you building a backstop or something else?
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  • buschmaster
    the information is on the internyet. you can easily google how many sandbags, how much dirt or cement or wood or steel, etc. you need to stop anything from .22LR up to .50BMG or even radiation. it's all on the internet.
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  • gunnut505
    The answer to your question can be found in Hatcher's Notebook; there's a vast amount of knowledge concerning ballistics and penetration tests in that book.
    And, no; I don't think a sandbag will stop a .308 unless there are MANY sandbags stacked together. A better backstop would be 4x4s constructed as to have a cavity filled with rocks.
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  • mrseatle
    quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
    the information is on the internyet. you can easily google how many sandbags, how much dirt or cement or wood or steel, etc. you need to stop anything from .22LR up to .50BMG or even radiation. it's all on the internet.


    do you have any "good" links?
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  • Joe Drees
    Last year prior to deploying we had a "Cover and concealment" demonstration. Instructor fired an M14 and it went right through two sandbags AND a set of body armor (minus sappy plate). Sure made an impression on me !
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  • buschmaster
    quote:Originally posted by mrseatle
    quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
    the information is on the internyet. you can easily google how many sandbags, how much dirt or cement or wood or steel, etc. you need to stop anything from .22LR up to .50BMG or even radiation. it's all on the internet.


    do you have any "good" links?
    you can start here.
    http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/index.html
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  • HandgunHTR52
    quote:Originally posted by newtgingrich
    will two sand bags stop a 7.62 round or will it just go right through ?


    I am not sure, but I know a couple of "Wind-Bags" that may do it! [:D][:D][:D][:D][:p]
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  • dheffley
    quote:Originally posted by newtgingrich
    will two sand bags stop a 7.62 round or will it just go right through ?


    Depends on the size of the sand bags, and the bullet being fired. Two bench rest sand bags will not stop a 7.62 FMJ bullet, nor will two play sand bags in most cases.
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  • turkeyhunter36089
    I'm not sure how much sand is in a bag, but I shoot all my hunting rifles (300 win mag being the largest) at a five gallon bucket of sand and I haven't had a bullet go all the way through. Been doing this for 20 years from 25 yards all the way to 300 yards. One word of advise is to still have a good backstop, and one large enough to stop all bullets just in case you miss.
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  • Txs
    By the book, a double layer of dry GI sandbags (10in.) will protect against a single 7.62 X 51 ball round @ 100yds. Multiple projectile strikes are a different ballgame due to breakdown/spillage.

    If it helps, best I remember it takes 6 ft. of packed earth to stop shrapnel from a 1000lb. aerial bomb detonation at 50 yds. [:0]
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  • v35
    I poured a lot of 30-06 into an Army Chemical Corps bunker over six months on an almost daily basis and it held together pretty good. Much of the shooting was from automatic weapons.
    The bunker walls were two sand bags wide if I recall correctly. The filling had settled and packed some as the bunker was about two years old.
    50s were a pain to test because they destroyed my range in short order. Damage was magnitudes greater than from the 30-06.
    I still wouldn't trust being on the far side.
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