This is not a scientific test. This is a buyer's guide with a pulse. We own lots of guns and we like to blow stuff up, so when "diff cover shootout" popped into Hazel's head one staff meeting, the natural progression of things led to flying lead.
While there are lots of scientific variables to take into consideration when determining a bullet's ballistic effect on steel, we ignored virtually all of them. We just took a bunch of guns to the desert and shot at plate steel in varying thicknesses up to 7/8-inch to determine our running order from least to most destructive. Then we called up a bunch of manufacturers and invited them to send a Dana 44 cover for our story. When a bullet rendered the cover no longer usable, either by puncture or deflection, we'd rate it at that caliber. Most companies jumped on board like we were hauling them out of shark-infested waters.
With covers in hand, Hazel welded up a fixture to hold the covers at our 30-yard target distance and Cappa built a 3/4-inch plywood and Lexan shrapnel shield through which we could shoot. At the end of the day, we were left with about 15 pounds of expended brass, 13 worthless diff covers, and the knowledge that we had a whole mess of redneck fun.
| Caliber | Velocity (feet per second) | Energy (lb-ft) |
| 1) .22 long rifle | 930 | 69 (sissy little bunny plinker) |
| 2) .45 ACP | 850 | 369 (man stopper, but not a diff dropper) |
| 3) .357 Magnum | 1,500 | 624 (kicks like a mule from the snubby, but doesn’t do much damage to metal) |
| 4) .454 Casull | 1,900 | 1,923 (basically, a Magnum version of a .44 Magnum—a vicious round) |
| 5) .460 S&W | 2,200 | 2,149 (the madman—for dropping bull elk in one shot; one of the fiercest handgun rounds on the planet) |
| 6) 7.62x39mm Soviet | 2,350 | 1,520 (nasty FMJ round that has some hustle and hits hard) |
| 7) .303 British | 2,460 | 2,418 (fullsize rifle round comparable to U.S. World War II M1 Garand’s 30-06) |
| 8) .450 Marlin | 2,225 | 3,572 (a shoulder-fired artillery piece for rapidly dropping any big North American game) |
| 9) 22-250 Remington | 4,150 | 1,530 (tiny .22-caliber pill hustles so fast it almost turns steel to plasma) |
The Good Stuff
It's nice having shooting titles like Guns & Ammo and Petersen's Rifle Shooter magazines in the same building for us to mooch off of. We went up a few floors to visit our buddy Rich Venola, editor of Guns & Ammo and raided his ammo locker of whatever Hornady ammo would fit our weapons. Hornady is just great stuff, delivering high levels of accuracy with match-grade dependability. If you're a shooter, we highly recommend checking the company's product out for yourself.
Contact: Hornady; 800/338-3220, www.hornady.com
The Running OrderTo prerun for this event, we hit the desert and shot the following caliber weapons at varying thicknesses of steel plate to determine how destructive each was from 1-9. For what it's worth, we've included the ballistics data as taken at the muzzle for each round as found on Hornady's Web site (where applicable). Note that sometimes velocity can make up for sheer impact energy when it comes to punching holes or damaging steel plate.
 Cover: Stock Dana Construction:...  Cover: Stock Dana
Construction: Thin-stamped sheetmetal
Notes: The stock Dana Spicer cover got worked over harder than celebutard Paris Hilton at a Naval convention.
Caliber rated: .22 long
|  Cover: Crane High Clearance...  Cover: Crane High Clearance
Construction: Thick, cast ductile iron with painted finish
Notes: The .454 put a serious dent in the cover, shattering the inside and causing a tear that would result in a severe fluid leak. The .460 punched a hole clean through.
Caliber rated: .454 Casull
Contact: Crane High Clearance;303/917-4851, www.highclearance.com
|  Construction: Thick, nodular...  Construction: Thick, nodular cast iron with powdercoated finish
Notes: The .357 caused a very slight deflection in the steel when hit high on the cover. The .454 Casull could blow holes through the cover anywhere at will.
Caliber rated: .454 Casull
Contact: Dynatrac; 714/596-4461, www.dynatrac.com
|
 Cover: Fab Fours Construction:...  Cover: Fab Fours
Construction: 1/4-inch steel formed and welded with zinc plating and powdercoated finish
Notes: The .454 easily passed through, leaving a clean hole. In one spot, the bullet impacted near a weld and tore the cover lengthwise down center.
Caliber rated: .454 Casull
Contact: Fab Fours; 877/239-4322,www.fabfours.com |  Cover: Rugged Ridge by Omix-Ada...  Cover: Rugged Ridge by Omix-Ada
Construction: Thick, cast iron with painted finish
Notes: The .454 was able to punch a ragged hole through the cover wherever it impacted.
Caliber rated: .454 Casull
Contact: Rugged Ridge; 770/614-6101, www.ruggedridgeoffroad.com |  Cover: Solid Axle Industries...  Cover: Solid Axle Industries
Construction: Thick, cast iron with raw finish
Notes: The .454 dented a ripping wound clean through that would've leaked as well as imparted a long crack and peeled back a portion of the cover. A subsequent lucky shot in the same place ripped that portion of the cover completely away.
Caliber rated: .454 Casull
Contact: Solid Axle Industries; 330/538-9791, www.solidaxle.com
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