# Steel Plate 1 foot by 3 feet , at front door , how thick necessary to stop bullets ?



## Survive7 (Mar 24, 2014)

My idea is to place these steel strips across a door to stop bullets that may come thru front door.
Not sure how to mount them ,but there might be 3 or 4 separate strips.
Maybe hung with chains attached to strong steel door frame for quick setup...

Need to know thinnest lightest thickness steel that would stop these : 9mm , 45cal. , shotgun 12 gauge , 22cal , or other suggestions .
Need to know the thickness of steel plate needed for each bullet mentioned above .

Do not want to replace whole door at this time.
Might also want to mount iron door gates ( inside ) my house AS WELL AS outside my front door . Is that feasable or even possible ?
Thanks , S-7


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

I don't think it's the thickness of the metal as much as the way the steel is formulated and heat treated. Armor plate steel is very expensive.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Are you running a drug house?
You can get away with 3/8" hot rolled plate with a case hardened to .015" deep facing for the rounds you specified.
They can be hung on hooks screwed into the door, drill the holes before hardening. 
Nickel, vanadium armor steel plate is very expensive.


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## Survive7 (Mar 24, 2014)

SOCOM42 said:


> Are you running a drug house?
> You can get away with 3/8" hot rolled plate with a case hardened to .015" deep facing for the rounds you specified.
> They can be hung on hooks screwed into the door, drill the holes before hardening.
> Nickel, vanadium armor steel plate is very expensive.


When brains were handed out...we now know who got there alittle late , hummm ?
This area is for prepper or survival info. not to list your hobbies, bro .
That line about " drug house , was in poor taste and wasn't necessary.
Mounting the metal ON the door would make the door extremely heavy and possibly ruin the hinges rather quickly.
Well, thought out:laughhard: . The rest of your info will be checked out for accuracy .


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## SecretPrepper (Mar 25, 2014)

Steel varies a lot. You need to pick a steel you want to use or can afford. Then you can decide how thick it would need to be. You need to do some research. No, asking here does not count as research. I'm not trying to slam you here but, you need to study the metals needed for this.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Survive7 said:


> When brains were handed out...we now know who got there alittle late , hummm ?
> This area is for prepper or survival info. not to list your hobbies, bro .
> That line about " drug house , was in poor taste and wasn't necessary.
> Mounting the metal ON the door would make the door extremely heavy and possibly ruin the hinges rather quickly.
> Well, thought out:laughhard: . The rest of your info will be checked out for accuracy .


Your description of what you want to do with plating and gating is exactly what drug dealers do.
List my hobbies? I don't think so, I was in law enforcement for 20 years.
Seen just what you described. You can take and throw out the info.
If you had any brains, you would not have needed to ask the question.
The comment was a joke, I would have not followed up with details if I thought it was so.
You will get along here well.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Survive7 said:


> My idea is to place these steel strips across a door to stop bullets that may come thru front door.
> Not sure how to mount them ,but there might be 3 or 4 separate strips.
> Maybe hung with chains attached to strong steel door frame for quick setup...
> 
> ...


I'd just shoot through your walls or windows.

Unless you plan on wrapping your entire house in AR550 Steel it won't matter.

PS Are you running a drug house or something?


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Door least of your worries walls are easy for bullet to past through in many cases.


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

I'm not sure standing behind a bullet proof door will do anything long term in a seige against you. You may take some with you but if you are targeted by an organized group with arms you won't be able to Alamo. They will win. 

Drug ops in post shtf will be huge targets by law and non law alike. And well trained govy swat will walk all over untrained militant style defences. And trained persons in gangs will too. To think cops swat and military that have no command won't turn to gang life for survival is a much overlooked topic. They are human and not holistic. They will justify it too.


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

When word gets out, and it will, about your steel door, the law will most likely want to know why you have such a door.
Do you really want that attention?


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

Of the calibers listed the 12 gauge with the right slug will go through standard 1/4 cold rolled steel plate. Not in great condition and it may be considered sufficient for some. You would need to jump up to 3/8 standard cold rolled and it will make a belly in the metal but will stop through penetration unless you are worried some one will have an AP round for the 12 gauge.

I bring home steel scrap from work or from the farm and setup steel course at my home. These are actual observations from me actually shooting.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

I do know that a 30-30 will go right through a 3/16" mild steel plate. 

What kind of neighborhood do you live in that you would feel a steel lined door would be a good thing?


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## dsdmmat (Nov 9, 2012)

Never barricade yourself in any structure that can be burned down around you. 

A concrete structure like a dome home with 4 inch thick bullet resistant glass and 3/4" AR 500 steel door shutters will keep them off until the guy with the RPG shows up.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

I know my Nemo 300 Win mag will go right through 5/8 plate steel and keep on going. If that helps. With my "custom" 220 grain loads at 100 yards. Even with the target hanging on chains.


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## Operator6 (Oct 29, 2015)

Layer your barrier to deform/frag the bullet.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Build an Earthen Berm around your house. Place spikes and concertina wire and an electric fence powered by a self contained nuclear power plant that you built on your property. Guard the entire perimeter with 4 teams of trained Spec Ops and 8 highly trained guard dogs. Stay in constant contact with your pilots of your F-22 Raptors and Apache Helo's that you bought from the guy who knows a guy. 

Get a good high quality popcorn popper and sit back and enjoy the apocolypse!


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

Slippy said:


> Build an Earthen Berm around your house. Place spikes and concertina wire and an electric fence powered by a self contained nuclear power plant that you built on your property. Guard the entire perimeter with 4 teams of trained Spec Ops and 8 highly trained guard dogs. Stay in constant contact with your pilots of your F-22 Raptors and Apache Helo's that you bought from the guy who knows a guy.
> 
> Get a good high quality popcorn popper and sit back and enjoy the apocolypse!


They sell those?


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Moonshinedave said:


> They sell those?


I understand that Financing is available! :encouragement:


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## SecretPrepper (Mar 25, 2014)

Slippy said:


> I understand that Financing is available! :encouragement:


A guy that knows a guy that knew a guy before he disappeared. Told me the interest rates are killer. You don't even want to know what he said would happen if you missed a payment.


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## shootbrownelk (Jul 9, 2014)

rice paddy daddy said:


> I do know that a 30-30 will go right through a 3/16" mild steel plate.
> 
> What kind of neighborhood do you live in that you would feel a steel lined door would be a good thing?


I saw a guy shoot a homemade 3/16" gong at over 100 yds with an 8mm Mauser using FMJ bullets and it punch perfect 8mm holes through it.


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## XMULE (Nov 8, 2015)

My qualifications: hobby knife maker ( metallurgy), certified welder, I've built industrial explosion proof containers and " blowout" chambers, and I've done this very test, with all the calibers but the .45.

Alterego is spot on with what I've seen. It doesn't matter that a 20 mm LAAR will punch a hole through 1 inch armor plate at a bazillion yards. If the question is what thickness readily available steel will stop those calibers, then the answer is 1/4 mild steel, cold rolled preferred. The 12 gauge, as mention, will not do it any favors, and mounting it securely will be an issue, without having some bolts sticking through the front face of the door, you will need to think of a decent way to conceal the fasteners. Hooks, in my opinion, would not be secure, and would allow it to swing and generally be a pain. I'm sure Smitty has seen it, but that doesn't mean they were doing it right. Mild is cheap enough to get a free door from Craigslist, some scrap steel, and run some tests on your own to determine what will actually work for you. I'm assuming you want a secure, long term solution for home security, rather than something to frustrate ( for a few seconds) a no knock raid.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

How to choose the correct steel for your shooting needs | MOA Targets Official Blog

What about your walls?


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## jdbushcraft (Mar 26, 2015)

tango said:


> When word gets out, and it will, about your steel door, the law will most likely want to know why you have such a door.
> Do you really want that attention?


What? Why and how would, "word get out" and why would anyone care. I can say with 100% confidence that no legal official is going to come asking why you installed a door. You can put bars on your windows too and not get questioned except maybe by homeowners association.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

jdbushcraft. Maybe in texas but other places that might not be the case. If police are fixated on you, they would likely note anything that is "odd". Example armoring a car, house etc.. while legal does not mean it won't show up in your police report. Eg. my police record has me as being a gas mask owner and a ballistic helmet owner - and this being a sign that I am "dangerous". Its nonsense but this is how the police use that info. Having protection clearly means that you intend to resist police assaults on you for crimes you are hiding from the police.... atleast this is how the police paint people who aren't completely defenseless to police corruption.


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## dsdmmat (Nov 9, 2012)

Will2 said:


> jdbushcraft. Maybe in texas but other places that might not be the case. If police are fixated on you, they would likely note anything that is "odd". Example armoring a car, house etc.. while legal does not mean it won't show up in your police report. Eg. my police record has me as being a gas mask owner and a ballistic helmet owner - and this being a sign that I am "dangerous". Its nonsense but this is how the police use that info. Having protection clearly means that you intend to resist police assaults on you for crimes you are hiding from the police.... atleast this is how the police paint people who aren't completely defenseless to police corruption.


Alarmist much?


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

For most pistols up .357 mag and 45 ACP and 12 ga with 2 3/4" shells and a pumpkin ball slug 5/16" thick mild steel will do. 5/16 will probably stop a 3" 12 ga pumpkin ball but a rifled sabot round in a 12 ga probably will get through. Rifles are a different matter entirely. I've shot .223, 6.8, .270 at 3/8" mild steel plate and all will penetrate easily, not sure about a M1 carbine but I suspect it would also penetrate 5/16" mild steel as would a 44 magnum.

But the weight of the steel plate will be hard for most entrance doors to handle, the hinge screws may slowly rip out. A square foot of mild 3/8" steel plate weighs 15 lbs.
1/4" plate weighs 10 lbs per sq/ft.


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## Jakthesoldier (Feb 1, 2015)

who stands in front of the door when the guy outside might start shooting?

Don't shoot through the door, shoot through the wall NEXT to the door.


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