Steel Core Ammo Tree Penetration Test! [VIDEO]

On the heels of the viral tree penetration test video, there were several comments on how we should test more steel core ammo of various calibers.  And by all means, we agreed.

Gathering every surplus firearm and basic steel core ammunition I could find (the cool stuff is restricted to military only) we found enough for part 3 of our ballistic tree penetration experiments.

Calibers used were:

• 5.56mm (M855 “Green Tip”)
• 5.45×39 (7N6)
• 7.62×39 (Chinese steel core surplus)
• 7.62x54r (Spam Can Surplus)
• 8mm Mauser (Chech Steel Core Surplus)
• 30.06 M2 AP (Black tip)
• .50BMG API (Silver tip)

Firearms were an assortment of historical rifles:

• M16A2 clone (20″ AR15)
• AK74
• SKS and RPK
• Mosin Nagant 91/30
• M48 (Kar98K clone)
• M1 Garand
• Barrett M99

• The armament to test steel core ammo penetration on a tree.

The lower powered rounds didn’t stand a chance through the 19″ pine tree.  However we did have very surprising results with the 30.06 M2 AP ammunition.  Not only did it cut right through the pine tree, 2 out of the 3 rounds cut through the stacks of ballistics gel and sailed into the berm!  But we did recover one M2 steel core in the ballistics torso.

Expanding on the test we outfitted the Clear Ballistics Gel torso with Lifesaver body armor from an earlier test.  The M2 round was stopped in the plate.

The 50BMG rounds actually penetrated the tree less than the M2!  Of the 3 rounds fired we captured one that barely penetrated the tree.  It had spun around backwards inside the wood and with the tail end of it barely protruding.  It was effortlessly plucked out.

If you would like a chance to win one of the steel cores feel free to sign up at topshotdustin.com

In the meantime, stay tuned for more interesting ballistic experiments and entertainment on my YouTube channel.