How armored are armadillos?

[Pat]

Just how armored are armadillos? Will there tough armor deflect a grazing bullet? I got off a couple shots at fairly close range with no apparrent effect other than continued motivation to depart the area. I'm not the best shot in the world with a pistol but I can routinely do better on smaller targets at equal or greater range.

I had a close and easy stationary broadside shot but asked the land owner for permision and the armadillo didn't wait for me to get the OK so I let the varmint run to the edge of the pasture because once in the brush they usually slow down as they feel less exposed. I approached and shot twice then put the gun away to avoid needless expenditure of ammo and making noise with no visible results.

I don't know how the armadilo felt but I was a bit embarrassed since I like to think I am a better shot with my regular carry piece than that. Hence my curiosity about the ability of an armadillo's armor to deflect a grazing shot. The shots were end on and could easily have not been dead center but I thought the probability of two misses at that range to be small. Oh well.


Side note: Not a comforting performance and to add insult to injury my baby glock with less than 200 rnds through it jammed on the second shot (first ever jam), did not eject the spent round after multiple attempts to recycle the slide and ejector and neccessitated being cleared with my leatherman.

Pat

[Ranchman]

<font color="blue">Will there tough armor deflect a grazing bullet? </font color>

No more than any other substance. Water or a twig will deflect a bullet, after all. A .22 will do significant damage that will dispatch one post haste, assuming your shot placement doesn't take out one of its feet or such. Anything bigger (like a common defensive handgun cartridge) will make an absolute mess.

No offence to your shooting skills, but based on your description, it sounds like a clean miss with "Army" reacting to the sound. You didn't say what type of gun (or cartridge) you were using, but you might want to check to see if the sights are misaligned since you believe your skills are above par.

[JazzDad]

It's not the question of defense, but offense when talking about Armadillos.

Not many are aware of this, but there are armadillo training camps in our country, right under our very noses. These creatures come from all over to hone their para-military skills. I've seen the secret video footage of the 9 banded variety using AK-47s and RPGs. Fortunately for us, most are killed trying to make their way home as they cross highways, and we are not subjected to their recently acquired, dangerous behavior.

Or I could be mistaken.

[bigbukhntr]

yep...sounds like "armadillo fever" set in....I have taken out many a armadillo while rabbit hunting with a .22 rifle....although it is more fun with the .270, as long as its not my property but the deer lease that we shoot it on!

[Pat]

bigbukhntr, If there were a reliable supply of those beasties in my buds pasture, I't take the 22-250 over for a workout. Man, that would make a mess. Better to spook them into running to the brush at the edge of the field where the "untidyness" would be less visible.

Pat

[Pat]

JazzDad, If the godless atheistic communist frogs being trained in Cuba by Castro and secretly smuggled into Dade county Florida ever joined forces with the ArmyDillos our women and children wouldn't be safe to walk the streets of our cities after dark nor would they be safe in their own homes.

The Birch John society, long underappreciated and often confused with a lunitic fringe group advocating wooden toilets, have warned ot this threat to life as we know it but most often their warnings fall on deaf ears. Stay vigilant.

Pat

[gadgetman]

Although the threads seem to be headed in the humorous vein, I have seen them hit (and I mean hit) numerous times with a .22 pistol and continue to move--usually out of sight. Of course, in about 2 days you will discover (WITH YOUR NOSE) that the .22 did sufficient damage. We have found that 12 guage #6 shot will usually dispatch them and leave the body easier (AND LESS SMELLY) to find and dispose of.

TANK THEY 'AINT.

I've shot them and had them JUMP 5 or 6 feet in the air. I shot one under the overhang of my fifth wheel and it jumped up and put a dent in the bottom.

If you are into golf they make plenty of cup holes.... My wife uses some of their holes to plant bulbs--usually right in the way of the lawnmower.

OK, let's see where this post continues...............

[Pat]

gadgetman, What you have described is a great delineation between lethality and stopping power. A .22 short may be lethal but has little stopping power. I believe that a .45 ACP (HI Vel soft nose or hollow point) has great stopping power, perhaps way more than a .357 magnum but it is not as lethal as the realy fast rounds. I personally think that lethality favors energy (proportional to the square of the velocity) and that momentum (linear with veloity) is more related to stoping power or knock down power. Consider a bowling ball or medicine ball tosssed at your center of mass, likely to knock you down, maybe stop you temporarily , but not likely to be lethal. Figure the momentum (mass times velocity) of a bowling ball it is likely greater than a lot of pistol cartridges. It'll knock you down but probably not kill you. Consider a .17 cal varmint round (not the new .17 toy but some of the original stuff) Velocities a significant percentage of C (the speed of light) OK, I exaggerate a bit! When they hit they Osterize the wound area but won't knock down a decent sized target very well. You don't hunt deer with it. It will kill a deer but the long tracking period is a bother.

I found out 2 things. 1. I was rusty with the trusty Glock. 2. the Glock wasn't trusty (2 misfeeds in less than 50 rnds. Resolved: Glock will get checked out A N D I will return to the field of combat with one of my supressed .22 weapons. They are quiet enough to allow you to hear the bullet impact with the target (of course you don't wear muffs). Also I am way better with a Walther P-22 or Ruger 10-22 than the above Glock. In the unlikely event (just kidding) that the first round misses Mr. Armydillo it will have been so quiet that it won't spook him unless it kicks sand in his face.

Don't have a supressor for a 12 gauge and not sure what it would take or how well it would work. I'll ask my gunsmith.

Pat

[gadgetman]

Pat, I understand (somewhat) what you say. In "BUBBA ENGLISH" The bigger the bang the deader the target!!!!! Just ask a Tank Gunner!!!!!

I used to shoot IMHSA and NRA from .22 to 44 MAG. At 200 yards, the 44 MAG would (as long as you hit it right) take down a 20 plus pound Ram Sillouette but you could use a .22 all day and at least not have to reset the target.

Out in the country where I live we can still get away with the 12 guage. And you usually just have to be "CLOSE"!!! Think those supressors are illegal in most states.

Just keep up the practice and remember, an armadillo has at least 4 each litter, so the targets will not run out in our lifetime. Just know what you are aiming at and HIT IT.

Of course, I haven't tried a bowling ball yet. But a car tire (attached to my truck) usually takes care of them...........

[Pat]

Gadgetman, Actually supressors are lisc through the BATF (Fed Gov) They are treated as a firearm and the make, model, and serial is recorded. If you transfer one it is the same as a gun of the same class. Pretty much the same as full auto stuff. Lots of fingerprinting, passport photos, background checks with a lot of alphabet soup agencies at all levels. You have to get the top cop at the county mounty shop to sign off that he thinks it is a good idea for you to have the device before the paper drill goes any further and your fee (I should say F E E !!) is gone win lose or draw. Be prepared for a lengthy wait. A few secret handshakes helps too.

It is pretty neat to be able to plink without muffs. The hottest .22 ammo I have found comes out of the P-22 with supressor at a sussonic velocity, i.e. no sharp crack. With a long gun like my 16 inch barrel Ruger 10-22 the muzzle blast is quieted but with high vel rounds you still have a supersonic projectile and and the sonic boom (loud crack). Of course lower velocity rounds are real quiet. All you hear is the action slaming shut, the empty hitting the ground, and maybe the bullet hitting the target.

I can attest to the fact that it is so quiet that no one knows or cares that you are shooting. Framers 100 ft behind me thought I was shooting a low power pellet gun. With multiple varmint targets, followup shots on subsequently targeted animals are improved because you don't scare everything in your end of the county when you make a couple shots.

Of course, some states in their infinite wisdom, infringe on the 2nd ammendment and although they have concealed carry on the books they make getting it impossible for the average citizen. Ditto supressors! It isn't right, it just is.

Try to find a reliable source of statistics that has much to say about crimes being committeed by folks with legal concealed carry or legally lisc supressors or full auto weapons. Those folks do not constitute a clear and present danger to anyone. They are under-represented in crime statistics, i.e. less likely to be involved in a gun related crime than the rest of the population. Still they are a focal point for rabid anti-gun nuts. Seek out the folks who are part of the solution not part of the problem and harrass them.
//SOAPBOX MODE OFF//
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Pat