Where can I buy 30x cold rolled stainless steel for testing?

tomasrey

Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Threads
6
Messages
13
Reaction score
22
Location
USA
Vehicles
Tesla Cybertruck
Country flag
I want to buy a panel of 30x cold rolled stainless steel for testing. I want to shoot it with a 9mm, 357 magnum and 45 auto. I want to see just exactly HOW bullet proof it is. I also want to buy a panel of ALON glass and test it as well. I want to do the test and put the video on YouTube. Please let me know how I can go about buying it. Thanks.
Sponsored

 

Eye of Elon

Well-known member
First Name
Paul
Joined
Nov 30, 2019
Threads
5
Messages
305
Reaction score
637
Location
Vancouver WA
Vehicles
Toyota Yaris
Occupation
Driver
Country flag
We need this! I've been searching YouTube for ballistics tests against cold rolled stainless steel. Remember, that tailgate/ramp is many layers of steel.
 

Nightf0rge

Well-known member
First Name
Nick
Joined
Dec 1, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
58
Reaction score
67
Location
Santa Rosa CA
Vehicles
Cybertruck
Occupation
Teacher, Blacksmith
Country flag
The name itself indicates they arn't saying which version of stainless it is. the X in 30X is replaced by a number. 310S has been a guess. I want Tesla and Elon to issue a Cybertruck key-card made from Starship MK1 scrap with a Cybertruck and Space X logo, would be so cool.
 

shocker

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 27, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
70
Reaction score
121
Location
Michigan
Vehicles
Bolt, Silverado,
Occupation
Retired scientist
Country flag
1/8" of work hardened 3XX series stainless should stop a standard velocity 9 mm just like the demo showed. Whether a "Nato" 9 mm would penetrate is debatable. I'd expect a 357 FMJ would zip through.
In the final product I would expect the wording to be "up to 1/8" thick".
TBH, bulletproof isn't on my list of criteria for truck selection.

Edit - if you really want to try this I would suggest 301 1/2 hard. And leave a respectful distance between you and the target - impact craters can reflect bullets and bullet fragments directly back at the shooter. At my sportsman's club the targets are made of hardened AR500 steel plate 1/2" thick.
 
Last edited:


Keeney

Well-known member
First Name
Rick
Joined
Dec 11, 2019
Threads
19
Messages
530
Reaction score
687
Location
Minnesota
Vehicles
F150 Lightning Pro
Country flag
Somewhere Musk said it’s a proprietary alloy.
There was an alloy composition listed somewhere supposedly from Elon himself that essentially matches up with 301. Its probably Full-hard or "extra-hard" from the description of how hard it is to bend. Its not so much that there is not a press strong enough to bend it as much as thicker, hard metals crack when you bend them to too tight of a radius.

You can buy some small sheets of 301 full-hard here, but the thickest they stock is only 0063" https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/stainless/0-063-stainless-sheet-301-full-hard/pid/9658

Or get a quote for pretty much any size you would want them to process it at from here: https://www.upmet.com/products/stainless-steel/301
 

Wanderer351

Member
First Name
Wanderer
Joined
Dec 12, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
8
Reaction score
23
Location
Columbus,Ohio
Vehicles
2003 E350 ford Sportsmobile , 2012 Wrangler Unlimited
Occupation
Fabricator
Country flag
My impression was that it was cold rolled 30 times to both work harden and get the desired thickness.

Cold working stainless steel makes it magnetic

I also heard Elon say that they have to score the backside of the material at a fold for the machines to even be able to bend it.
 


Nightf0rge

Well-known member
First Name
Nick
Joined
Dec 1, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
58
Reaction score
67
Location
Santa Rosa CA
Vehicles
Cybertruck
Occupation
Teacher, Blacksmith
Country flag
My impression was that it was cold rolled 30 times to both work harden and get the desired thickness.

Cold working stainless steel makes it magnetic

I also heard Elon say that they have to score the backside of the material at a fold for the machines to even be able to bend it.
Yes, think laser scored, bent and reinforcing weld at bends.
 

alan auerbach

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2020
Threads
16
Messages
554
Reaction score
446
Location
Waterloo, Ontario (West of Toronto)
Vehicles
'90 Isuzu PU (has to last until my CT arrives), '91 Grand Marquis, '02 Grand Cherokee (I'm so grand I can't stand it), e-bike.
Occupation
Retired prof.
Country flag
I want to buy a panel of 30x cold rolled stainless steel for testing. I want to shoot it with a 9mm, 357 magnum and 45 auto. I want to see just exactly HOW bullet proof it is. I also want to buy a panel of ALON glass and test it as well. I want to do the test and put the video on YouTube. Please let me know how I can go about buying it. Thanks.
"Bullet-proof" is like "weather-proof"; the definition depends on the details. For instance, a panel of the identical material might behave differently than it would as a CT door surface.

But it wouldn't hurt to ask Tesla if they might be interested in cooperating with you. Good luck with your interesting project.
 

gphenix

Well-known member
First Name
Gary
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Threads
1
Messages
50
Reaction score
75
Location
Canyon, Texas
Vehicles
75th Anniversary Jeep Grand Cherokee, MERCEDES AMG SLC43
Country flag
I want to buy a panel of 30x cold rolled stainless steel for testing. I want to shoot it with a 9mm, 357 magnum and 45 auto. I want to see just exactly HOW bullet proof it is. I also want to buy a panel of ALON glass and test it as well. I want to do the test and put the video on YouTube. Please let me know how I can go about buying it. Thanks.
Sounds like someone who has never shot steel plates. If it doesn’t go thru it comes back at you.
 

carpedatum

Well-known member
First Name
Dave
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Threads
0
Messages
84
Reaction score
136
Location
SF Bay Area
Vehicles
Ridgeline, R1200RT, 4285 Express
Country flag
I don't know how you deal with the possibility of a ricochet in a test like that. Hope nobody gets hurt! McMaster (https://www.mcmaster.com/metals/stainless-steel/) sells various stainless steel types but you'd probably have to guess at the specifics Tesla will use and somehow extrapolate from what you can buy. Maybe it would do to test multiple grades, tempers, thicknesses, etc.
 

jhogan2424

Well-known member
First Name
Jason
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Threads
8
Messages
331
Reaction score
497
Location
USA
Vehicles
Moped
Sounds like someone who has never shot steel plates. If it doesn’t go thru it comes back at you.
WRONG, almost never does it come back. The lead is relatively soft compared to the steel plate so it flattens and falls down, or fragments and goes perpendicular to the plate in all directions. The flattening or fragmenting of the bullet eats up almost all of the energy and there is no energy left to send it back your way. The only time you need to really worry about something coming back at you is if you are using steel or equivalent ammo. Steel ammo won’t deform much so it doesn’t lose as much energy on impact and does have a decent chance at coming back. Not too many steel handgun rounds left floating around since it has been banned. My guess is the big slow .45 has no chance of penetrating the 3mm stainless, the smaller and faster 9mm has a slim chance, and the ultra fast .357 will cut straight through.
Sponsored

 
Last edited:
 




Top