Eric from IraqVeteran8888 and crew are back at it with the cannon, this time instead of taking on poor, old, defenseless ballstics gelatin, takes on something a bit more formidable, AR500 armor. The armor is Level III) a standard “triple-curve shooters-cut” from Sparton Armor with an anti-spall coating.

Weapons used include:

• .577/450 Martini Henry (480 grains at 1,350 FPS – 1943 ft-lbs energy).
• .577 Snider (500 grains at 1,250 FPS – 1,753 ft-lbs energy).
• .72 Caliber Matchlock Musket (550 grains at 1,300 FPS – 2,064 ft-lbs of energy).
• 10 Gauge Rifle Slug (766 grains at 1,280 FPS – 2,786 ft-lbs of energy)
• Parrot rifle (8400 grains – ~45,000 ft-lbs of energy)

Each of the various antiques throws at least 480 grains of lead at the armor, which defeats all the center-fire ammunition with ease, albiet with some serious spall damage. Simply put, that much lead has to go somewhere and the anti-spall coating is decimated with a few rounds.

On the flip side, the antique firearms win the day with the cannon, hitting the armor with such ferocity that it goes concave, fractures, and ultimately becomes deadly fragments itself, even if the lead projectile ultimately does not penetrate the target.

My take-away? The Civil War would have been far less deady with any kind of serious AR500 armor.