Which of these rounds will penetrate deeper?

Question

Between a FMJ .50 bmg and a .monolithic .58 Nayaita, which one would penetrate more metal/cars? I think the Nayiata has 10,00 ft. lbs. of energy and the bmg 12,00, but the nayiata has the advantage of being a monolithic solid bullet, what do you think?

If a .22 lr (70 ft. lbs.) can penetrate a car door with moderate effectivness, how many cars (side to side) could either one of the previously mentioned super-rounds go through? ive alaways wondered!

Answer 1

I own a 585 'Nyati' and have fired a 50BMG many times.

The 50BMG wins with most FMJ. Monolithic solids like the barnes super solid or A-sqaure mono or Thunderbird solid are usually made of brass, harder than the regular hunting FMJ, but not as hard as a lot of what a 50BMG would be loaded with. I have even seen monos bent on (very) rare occasions when hitting big animal bones.They will shoot okay through thin sheets of metal but flatten out and stop on thick hard targets.

The nyati itself,despite its power, has moderate velocity, and massive fat calibre, meaning it will generally not penetrate much more than a 375H&H mag using the same type bullets.

Which is still plenty! Since a hole that size through 6 feet of elephant is all it was designed for.

But the 50BMG is in another category on penetrating hard targets.

On game animals though the nyati wins. Simply because pointed solids as the BMG uses will not track a straight path through a largely liquid media, such as animal bodies. Pointed bullets can tend to destabilise after a foot or two and spiral off on other courses.

For pure penetration on the biggest animals you need round nose solids, which will stay on course more often once entering the animal. Which is why the nyati and all other elephant guns use them.

Answer 2

That's a tough one, but I can tell you that muzzle energy has next to nothing to do with penetration, contrary to popular opinion. In normal hunting conditions, with bullets of comparable construction, a 6.5 mm Mannlicher 160 grain load at a blazing (?!) 2400 fps or a 7mm Mauser with a 175 grain bullet at about the same speed will routinely penetrate at least as well as, and usually better than, one of the 30 caliber magnums with a 180 grain load. Those sectional densities > 0.3 are the difference. If you're comparing Barnes bullets of similar construction, and ignoring the likelihood of the 50 BMG spitzer deflecting and deforming rapidly, I'd vote for the long, skinny bullet, but that isn't a real-world comparison. In sheet metal it'll work, but with something more substantial the Nyati might do better, especially if the bullet has a tungsten core. In either case, though, it's an interesting proposition. Star for you!

Edit: I just realized I called a bullet of .510" caliber "skinny". And I haven't had a beer all day, I swear!

Answer 3

there are to many factors left unknown to determine. meaning bullet weight I believe the .50 is 647 gr I don't know the nayaita weight also sectional density of the bullet matters, velocity, ballistics coefficient, range at which weapons will be fired, but given what we know from your ? we can assume that the .50 shoots at a much higher velocity considering the muzzle energy is higher with a smaller diameter bullet but we don't know bullet wt.considering the bullets are similar or the nayaita is heavier the only way the .50 would have higher muzzle energy is that it shoots faster this being said I would consider the .50 to be the "deep threat " so to speak sorry the answer is vague but more info would help

Answer 4

I think your forgetting that the 50bmg has as steel penetrator core in the standard round. It can also be had in AP (armor piercing), incendiary, tracer, and a combination round that is armor piercing incendiary. Trust me when I say that "ma duece" ( the 50 BMG) will go thru four cars parked side by side when fired thru the door with few exceptions. Sometimes, if it hits the steel re inforcing bars in the doors, it won't clear all four, but otherwise, it will, easily. It will go thru 1/4 inch armor plate like butter, 1/2 inch armor plate with little problem as well.

Answer 5

I think it would make a cool field test. I would guess the 50bmg... without having fired the other.
And I wouldn't want to be in any of the cars!

Answer 6

never more than one car due to refraction of the bullets energy and deformation of the bullets shape. It may depend on how and where you shoot the car to even to determine if the bullets past the first car.