.22 armor piering ???

K

k77/22rp

New member
Does anyone know where i can get .22lr armor piercing ammo and does it even exist how much steel could it penetrate???
 
I don't think you will find any. I still have yet to see 22LR FMJ. You would be better off with a FMJ 22WMR.
 
You don't have enough velocity or energy in a .22 LR or Mag to consider it as "armor piercing". I use the term armor as meaning hardened steel of at least 1/4" thickness.

I know from experience on a piece of WW II 5/16" armor plate that it takes a pretty hot .30-'06 handload to penetrate, at 100 yards. A .220 Swift will also do it, at that distance.

FWIW, Art
 
Not quite armor plating..

If we aren't talking about hardened, but just garden-variety mild steel, I'm pretty sure a 55gr FMJ .223 will penetrate. Two shots will go through a 1/2" plate of the same, anyhow.
 
Speaking of armor piercing....

Since I live out in the sticks, I've got a 120 yard range set up about 100' from my house. At the target end, I have a railroad tie backstop with a 4'x5' piece of 5/8" T1 armored steel as the primary backstop directly behind the target. I was told by the salesman at the steel company where I bought the T1 plate, that it would stop a .50 cal, and I believe it. A .44 mag just "splats" against it. What I don't believe, but I'm seeing it with my own eyes, is the erosion of that T1 armored steel by 55 gr FMJ.223 and 40 gr .22 cal mag rounds, fired from 100-120 yards. Everyplace a round impacts, it leaves a little dimple (indentation) about the size of a pencil eraser and 1/8" to 3/16" deep. There are several places where I have repeatedly hit in the same area of the plate, where the erosion is 1/3 to 1/2 way through the plate. I'm convinced that I could penetrate the plate if I could place 15 or 20 rounds in exactly the same place. It appears as though the bullets are literally vaporizing when they hit and generating enough heat in the process, to melt a little dent in the T1 plate.

Whaddya think? :confused:
 
.22AP

I've heard, but am not positive, that sometimes .22LR can defeat soft body armor by weaving in between the fibers of Kevlar.

If you want .22AP, buy an American 180. It was a .22LR submachine gun that fed from a 260 rund pan magazine, at a rate of about 2600rpm. It could grind through a cinder block, and it could also grind away body armor.
 
Aside from being illegal, the idea of a .22LR armor piercing bullet is a bit silly. There is simply not enough velocity available in that little case to provide serious penetration of even mild steel, let alone true armor.

There have been .22 FMJ bullets, used by the armed services in survival rifles to meet Hague convention rules. Sometimes the rounds are seen on the civilian market, but I have no idea where they can be obtained.

Jim
 
That steel plate will sooner or later be punched right through. Sooner if it is hit by a larger projectile than .224 diameter. Years ago on a base where I was stationed (Beale AFB, Ca.) there were, up in the foothills, some "pillboxes" that were built during WWII, for training the armored units. The concrete on these "pillboxes" was 12 to 14 inches thick. One day after I has slipped and dropped my 22-250, I placed a paper target on some rebar sticking out of the pillbox and fired a 10 round group at 100 yards with some Sierra 50 grain spitzer soft points loaded to about 3700 fps. Upon checking the target (the group was great, all 10 rounds in less than an inch) I discovered that all the rounds hitting in the same place had acted like a "stardrill" or a "hammer drill" and that 14 inches of concrete had the nicest hole right through it! Yes all the way into that pilbox. A 30-06 with 150 grain FMJ makes short work of 1/4 inch steel plate. The same round with 162 grain AP makes short work of 3/8 to 1/2 inch steel plate. I do not know if possession of .22LR AP is illegal or not. I do know that the manufacture for SALE of AP ammo is illegal, but lets face it a .22LR just does not have enough "get up and go" to be effective.
 
Southla1,

I know the pill boxes you speak of. The concrete could have lost some of it's strength over time, or been a bad mix. Concrete also isn't that strong to begin with. Very brittle.

Victor
 
I feel like I'm horning in on this thread, but....

I agree, guys, that at some point, I'll punch clear through the plate, but I've hit it with lots of 30-06 and a fair amount of 7mm Rem Mag, and even those rounds don't have any more, if as much, impact on the steel as the .223 rounds. Keep in mind though, that this is hardened 5/8" T1 armored steel, not JUST steel plate. I've also got a double thickness (18") of railroad ties with 6" of sand sandwiched in between (no pun intended), behind the plate, which I know will stop the 7mm. I'm told it will stop up to .375, but I also have over a mile of empty pasture behind that. I'm still intrigued though. I'd never have thought a round as relatively puny as a .223, and even the .22 mag, would have the effect on that steel that it's had.

I'll probably put some dirt behind the ties for additional stopping.

As for the concrete - yeah, I've punched LOTS of holes in concrete up to 12"-14" inches thick. I sometimes use solid concrete blocks to weight down some of my targets and I break those up all the time. :D
 
ok when i was typing i wasnt really thinking i didnt mean armor i meant steel i said armor in lack of a better word is there any .22lr round that can puncture 1/4 inch steel or even 1/8.
 
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