Doubting what I saw at the LGS

In side-by-side tests, PO Ackley used to shoot 220 swift through thicker steel than the old USGI .30 AP round could penetrate.

As far as the green tip, I've seen them loaded as accelerator rounds out of a 300 Win Mag, and their penetration was still negligible on good steel targets. Whatever their velocity was did not register on the chrony which the guy had there (just an 'error' message) And unfortunately there was no soft steel laying about on the day I saw these rounds tried out at the range.

A 220 swift or 22-250 Docent hold a candle to the penetration of an old black tip armour piercing bullet. I've shot and reloaded pulled ap bullets in 300 win mags 300 wsm 30-06 and 308 win. A 220 swift is like a gnat on an elephants *** when it strikes 3/8 thick ar500 or ar550 steel while an actual ap bullet loaded in a mildly slow 308 win will slice right through the steel after shedding the copper jacket. As long as the ap bullet dosent hit something and tumble before impact the lathed turned penetrating core in 30 cal will stick 3/4 of an inch into a 1 in mild steel plate when shot outs of a 300 win mag. Old ww2 black tip ap bullets have a lathe turned penetrating care that is about 780 on the rockwell scale if i remember right. I have picked up and dug out penetrator cores after going through a 3/8 ar500 plate steel plate, a bag of quickcrete and lodged in a big stump. A 220 swift wont even dent a 3/8 ar500 piece of plate steel. I have used a ap core for a center punch for years, they may crack but they will not mushroom.
 
Soft steel deff no match for 55gr hollow point out of 22-250 250yds it punched right thru small steel bird target 1/4 thick
Holes were very large or bullet diam.
I'm too lazy to type out several paragraphs out of Ackley's books, but here's a short synopsis of his test:

At 30 feet, he fired rounds into the half-inch-thick glacis plate of a GI half-track. The results were astounding: A 100-grain .270 bullet left a shiny spot on the armor plate; two shots from GI .30-06 AP left shallow craters of .070 and .098 inches; and a wee 48-grain .220 Swift bullet consistently burned holes with 0.375-inch diameters completely through the armor. The results spoke for themselves.... the bullet crossed the threshold of hypervelocity, creating a dynamic that cannot be achieved any other way. But does that translate to performance on game animals? Ackley allowed that, if he had to pick only one rifle for hunting North American game, it would be a .220 Swift.
https://www.tactical-life.com/firearms/long-gun-legends-p-o-ackley/



as far as hunting results, I know a guy who hunted cape buffalo with the swift.
 
Talking 220 Swift. I do know that if you shoot a 52 gr Speer HP doing over 4000 fps into a 1 gal. metal can full of REAL 100 octane gas at 100 yards it will explode into a huge ball of fire. It will also set everything around it on fire causing a dash to the area and lots of stomping to keep from starting a forest fire. Sometimes when your young you do stupid things.
 
Talking 220 Swift. I do know that if you shoot a 52 gr Speer HP doing over 4000 fps into a 1 gal. metal can full of REAL 100 octane gas at 100 yards it will explode into a huge ball of fire. It will also set everything around it on fire causing a dash to the area and lots of stomping to keep from starting a forest fire. Sometimes when your young you do stupid things.

By today's standards that's just being a kid......like to peeing on an electric fence......hell...might even do it a second time just to test results(scientific)...just have to figure if you did it twice and got hit twice the Peter Shirley doesn't need a third time....unless you are truly whacked in the head........because that's crazy.......
 
This was a long time ago but I had a target that I made for my revolvers. It was 2 8"x10" 1/2" plates welded together for a total of an 1" thick ( I wanted it heavy so it wasn't swinging to much). I ended up shooting it one day at 100 yds with my .223 55gr ballistic tips and my .308 150 cor lokts. The .223 penetrated farther every time and might have passed through the first plate if there wasnt another behind it. Both the holes of the .223 and .308 were very large for caliber. If remember correctly the .223 holes were easily 3/8 and the .308 holes were 5/8 or larger. I would have never guessed the holes were .223 and .308 unless I had shot them myself. I believe a big part of the excessive expansion in the mild steel was from the bullets dumping all of their energy on the heavy plate with out passing through.
No doubt all that energy in.
Hell I shot through an 8" white oak in October with 22-250 follow up shot on coyote that stood up at 80 yds to see what I smoked 100 yds the other way, that trunk was splinters and xylem outside like shattered bamboo. It's a mighty
 
This is a 1 inch mild steel plate shot at 500 yards with a berger 140 VLD hunting
7BB07B7C-E308-4E00-9E83-47C85EFCA5A1.jpeg
 
I had a range in my back yard at my house before we moved. The son-in-law asked if he could shoot my range with his rifle, an ar. I told him he could since I had multiple targets butts on the burms, and a permanant shooting bench. What I did not know is that he was going to shoot my rotating handgun targets I had made out of 3/8" 1020 steel. He totally destroyed them, putting at least 20 holes through the plates.
 
I had a range in my back yard at my house before we moved. The son-in-law asked if he could shoot my range with his rifle, an ar. I told him he could since I had multiple targets butts on the burms, and a permanant shooting bench. What I did not know is that he was going to shoot my rotating handgun targets I had made out of 3/8" 1020 steel. He totally destroyed them, putting at least 20 holes through the plates.
👀
 
This is a 1 inch mild steel plate shot at 500 yards with a berger 140 VLD huntingView attachment 369171

Which is why I quit using mild steel a long time ago. @500yds you're safe, but boy howdy are ricochets very possible. Be careful at closer range.

Several gents already beat me to the punch on steel penetration, velocity is king. I believe that is one of the major reasons PRS/NRL etc all have speed limits for competition. I think....




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