How Well Does Armoring Work? Matt Farah Finds Out

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire is one of TTAC’s most loyal readers, and we’d hate to see anything bad happen to him. But sometimes he really brings it upon himself.

When a $2500 Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard turned up on Craigslist, Matt decided to do his own road test of it. And by road test, we mean “ sit in it while somebody shoots a bunch of 9mm rounds at the car from close range.

It’s nice to know that even after nearly two decades on the road, the Guard can still save your life in the event of a violent encounter. Having been around a few third-party armored cars, I know that there’s a big difference in quality amongst the various outfitters. Sometimes the armoring components can degrade, while in other cases, they don’t properly think things through. My cousin once rear ended another car in his bulletproof XJ Cherokee; it turned out that the brakes had worn prematurely, because they weren’t upgraded to cope with the extra weight of the armoring. Matt, next time you see one of these on Craigslist, let me know. I think the station wagon lovers of TTAC have it out for me…

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Namesakeone Namesakeone on Jun 18, 2013

    I hope he has a source to get a new driver's window. I doubt he will find one for the bulletproof model in the local Pick-a-Part.

    • Namesakeone Namesakeone on Jun 18, 2013

      Sorry, didn't realize that the car was about to be destroyed anyway.

  • Wmba Wmba on Jun 18, 2013

    Hey Matt, why waste this opportunity? Get onto Guinness and apply for a World Record post haste. It'll put you right up there with your fellow countryman Jack Bibby who holds the record for number of live rattlesnakes held in the mouth - ten.

  • Danio3834 Danio3834 on Jun 19, 2013

    I'm not going to deride Matt for this stunt any more that I would have Evil Kneivel for jumping the fountain at Cesar's Palace. Bravo for delivering a spectacle.

  • Carrya1911 Carrya1911 on Jun 19, 2013

    Speaking as a guy who for at least part of my paycheck training people in the use of firearms: ***There's no way in hell I would allow something like this to go down on my watch.*** Matt's a great guy and I enjoy his stuff...but the risk here was too great. If you don't know what level of armor rating the vehicle has, what warranty/service life the manufacturer puts on the various bits of the vehicle, or how the vehicle was maintained then hopping in it and hoping you don't get shot is a pretty bad risk. Even if there are trained 18-Deltas standing nearby with a full trauma kit, it's a bad idea. Armored vehicles aren't really "bullet proof". Prolonged exposure to sunlight can significantly alter the performance of the "glass" (often made of layers of glass and polycarbonate) which is one reason why the Secret Service buys new limos for the President every ten or so years. The protection offered by the door itself depends on the method of manufacture. If the door was armored with steel rated to handle .30 caliber rifle fire (7.62 NATO, 7.62x39, .30-06) then a few 9mm rounds to the door are going to be no big deal. If, however, the manufacturer used some of the "wonder" polymers that were new on the market around the time that Merc was manufactured, (lighter than steel, stronger) then it's asking for a gunshot wound. Police on the street found out *the hard way* that Zylon and similar products (it went by many names) degraded significantly with exposure to the heat and moisture of the human body. Obviously being crammed inside a car door exposes the armor to more moisture and heat than just being next to skin does. Without knowing these important details and lots of others, (like where, exactly the armor plating actually is, because rarely is the armor plating all-encompasing on a typical armored car, especially an older one) it's very difficult to know what level of protection the thing you're about to shoot actually offers...which makes it an exceptionally bad idea to be in the passenger compartment when someone is shooting at it. I have some experience shooting at targets inside vehicles and given all the stuff in the car and all the angles involved its difficult to know where a bullet is going to end up. This was a bad idea full stop. It's highly likely that the people involved did not really appreciate the danger involved in what they were doing, or just how bad it sucks to try and treat a gunshot wound. I can tell you from personal experience that having a gunshot wound isn't much fun...so I would strongly encourage people to avoid it. Guns are simple machines, but not everything that involves firearms is simple. Even those who the general public thinks of as "experts" with firearms (like police officers) often don't really understand all the risks involved in using them. Just look at the Weeks trial in Detroit for a graphic example of how badly a SWAT-trained guy can screw it up. So the short version is: Kids, don't try this. *Ever.* Unless you have a lot of very detailed information and a trained marksman who understands exactly where he can and can't put a bullet in whatever armored whatsit you're "testing", you run an unacceptable risk of ending up with a bullet hole in you. A bullet in your femoral is really going foul up your day. If you want to "test" and armored car, do what I do and use a training dummy or a target in the car and have everybody else stand well away from the vehicle to avoid concerns from ricochet. (Another risk that didn't seem to be accounted for) Then when the range is called cold and the weapons have been cleared bring the camera in for a glamour shot of the bullet holes and shattered ballistic glass. To the guy in the video who pulled the trigger: I hope you realize that all responsibility for Matt's life would have rested entirely upon you from a legal standpoint. Had he been injured or killed you would have been 100% criminally and civilly liable for what took place. When you pull the trigger, you own what happens with every round you let loose. In exigent circumstances (like a gunfight) you are afforded some small leeway for mistakes caused by the extreme circumstances. In this? You'd own every bullet and the consequences that went along with it. When there's a gun in your hand you need to think long and hard about what it is you're doing. I don't care if you're new to guns or if you came out of an SF unit...I can point to people from any conceivable description that launched a round unintentionally and hurt somebody. In this case you were launching rounds *intentionally*, seemingly without really understanding the risks of what you were doing. You got lucky. I strongly suggest you resist the urge to try it again.

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