In an earlier message I stated that older Seagate (5.25") drives are
nearly bulletproof. I said NEARLY because they do not stop bullets. I
know.
My brother Mike and I used to take dead hard disks out to the 'informal'
fireing range in South Miami. An St4096 will not stop a 30 caliber rifle
bullet but does stop 9mm pistol ammo. Range was something like 25meters
from the target drive. An ST225 will not stop any bullet larger than .22
long rifle it seems. Fewer platters makes for less armor.
We generally placed the drive on it's faceplate with the board facing
toward or away from the shooter - I mean tester. Those old five-platter
drives look and feel sturdy, but they were never intended to turn a
bullet....
Obviously, our preliminary results needed confirmation so we made it
something of a habit to take these mechs out for 'field testing' on a
regular basis. Both of us being professional computer techs, we had no
shortage of targets.
Some results:
Even though a .22cal will not generally penetrate, it really shakes the
drive badly. Enough to ruin it if it wasn't allready ruined beforehand.
They leave a 'splash' of vaporized lead on the drive's cover.
This surprised us, but the next least destructive rifle ammo is full-metal
jacket 'spitzer'-type rounds such as 7.62x39 Warsaw Pact, 5.56 Nato, and
7.65x54 'San Francisco' (Model 1891 Argentine Mauser). These FMJ rounds
travel at 2000 to 3200 feet per second and just fly right through without
expanding. 5.56 (.223 Remington) is the most interesting of these because
at least it will tumble a bit due to the very light weight of the round
(55 grains versus 90 to 220 grains for the others).
The most interesting is hollowpoint pistol ammo. The low muzzle velocity,
large throw weight, and expansion all contribute. The rounds expand on
impact causing massive damage to the hard drive. These rounds kinda
trundle along and do not exit the larger drives which results in heavy
internal damage.
My Winchester model 94' in cal. 30-30 is a pretty interesting hard drive
tester. It is very high velocity, but just one of it's flat-nosed, 'wad
cutter' rounds will tear the heart out of even a largish Micropolis. This
is due mainly to expansion.
My brother had one of the more interesting shots. With a .357 magnum
revolver fireing .38 ammo, he very cleanly drove the spindle out of a
Connor IDE drive at about 25meters. There was little damage to the drive
other than the spindle which, of course, we never found....
Conclusions:
Expanding rounds are best. Pistols get the best results due to lower
muzzle velocity and a heavy slug. You will have to stand the target back
up after each shot.
Not having a muzzel-loader, we were unable to test, but from the other
data, it is almost certain that a .50cal miniball would be spectacular on
impact.
Military-style, high-velocity ammunition allows multiple shots at the
target - frequently without having to re-set the target after each shot.
This is because they pass cleanly through the drive without losing much
speed, and the rounds do not expand.
The strongest part of a hard disk drive is at the spindle. Even a
Miniscribe 3650 will stop a 9mm if hit in the spindle area.
Very small calibers provide greater target longevity but increase the
possibility of ricochets and knock the drive over every time.
A .22long rifle cartridge will launch a bottle of red Christmas soda appx
80' vertically if you hit the bottle right at it's base. Larger calibers
perform more poorly because of the massive damage done to the base of the
bottle.
Our data with hard disk drives translates very well to whole computers and
monitors.
A .22 will not penetrate a monitor's business-end and it is unsafe to try.
Use large calibers for monitors.
The materials used in hard disk covers are generally brittle and porous.
Especially older Seagates.
Never go to the 'informal' range during hunting season. Deer don't shoot
back and the law will wonder what the hell is going on with all that
noise.....
It is a very satisfying thing to do to the hard disk what it did to you or
your customer. Poetic justice you might say.
Pick up after yourself when you are done shooting. This includes brass as
well as the peices of your peices of equipment. This is polite to others,
environmentally concious, and gets rid of evidence.
Regards,
jeff
--
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Jeffrey S. Worley
President
Complete Computer Services, Inc.
30 Greenwood Rd.
Asheville, NC 28803
828-277-5959
THETechnoid_at_home.com
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Received on Tue Oct 17 2000 - 18:00:48 BST