Introduction: Body Armor for Rifles

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This body armor setup is going to be two ceramic tiles in front of one layer of quarter inch aluminum. Now, all these items I have here I'm going to be posting descriptions of them and links to go purchase them down in the description below for the instruction. And these are PEI level five tiles. This is the highest hardness rating you can have for the ceramic tiles. So, those are going to be stacked two on top of each other.

Step 1: Using the Aluminum Plate

And then this plate right here, it's 12 inches in length by six inches across. So, it's a decent size and it holds those two ceramic plates in it perfectly. And so the idea is, is that the bullet is going to have to travel through two tiles and then into the aluminum plate. And hopefully by the time it gets to the aluminum plate, the ceramic tiles have already removed the jacket of the bullet, and hopefully expanded or disrupted the actual bullet itself.

Step 2: Choosing the Right Glue

So, the entire thing, we'll be gluing each one of the layers together with this lock tight construction adhesive, and this is the pro line three times strong construction adhesive. And this premium stuff is worth every penny extra than the regular construction adhesive, and it's absolutely amazing.

Step 3: Choosing the Right Denim

But in front of everything I'm going to be wrapping it all in denim, and impregnating that with the construction adhesive. And what that's supposed to do is it's going to be capturing any spall that might come off of the tiles when the bullet impacts. So, anyways, I'm going to go ahead and show you that next.

Step 4: Using Glue and Denim

The first step is to create the inner tile denim layer, and in order to that you're going to be impregnating the strip of denim with the construction adhesive. And then once that's complete, you're then going to be adding on top of that the ceramic tiles. Now, it really doesn't have to be done in this order, but this is the way I did it, and it worked perfectly fine. And so the idea behind wrapping the denim around the ceramic tiles is to provide some type of constraining force, or tensile strength around the compressor strength of the tile so that when it tries to break apart or fragment, the tensile forces of the denim is going to work against those factors and the bullet impacting the tile.

Step 5: Creating First Layer

So, this inner layer is going to be wrapped up individually, and then it's going to be placed inside another denim layer, or behind the first ceramic layer in the next part. Once you get that complete, then you're going to be creating a second set.

Step 6: Creating the Second Layer

And then basically an overall encompassing denim layer that's going to wrap around the ceramic tiles and the aluminum itself. So, you're going to be placing down the two ceramic tiles and then you're going to be impregnating all that with the construction adhesive on top of the denim. And then once that's complete, we'll be setting the previously created ceramic portion on top of that. And then finally behind that, it'll be the aluminum.

Step 7: Making Completely Surrounded Area With the Denim

And so this entire thing is going to be wrapped up into the denim, with the idea that it's going to be completely surrounded area with the denim. And so it's going to be wrapped up so that way any spall that wants to escape will mostly want to escape back towards the shooter, and not towards the outside or towards the person that's wearing the armor.

So, anyways, try these methods and if you find anything inaccurate with these methods, or find anything that's better, please go ahead and make an instruction and post it.

Step 8: Choosing Right Materials

The following material were used in this instruction:

1. Medium Weight Denim: https://amzn.to/2Xp6oUq I used this denim to add tensile strength, and add spall protection to the body armor.

2. Locktite Premium 3x Strong Construction Adhesive: https://amzn.to/2Ueo5Ec This glue is strong and worth its weight in gold. It really is stronger than Liquid Nails and is worth buying over its competitor.

3. 6061 Aluminum: https://amzn.to/2UciNZX This aluminum provides compressive and tensile strength as a backing component. It is significant and stopping bullet penetration. It is both hard yet can capture great energy.