M2 Bradley vision block vs .22 through .50 AE: bulletproof glass test

Key points: M2 Bradley vision block

• The target is a vision block from an M2 Bradley viewing port, bought on eBay; it shows about 15 ridges, and the shooting confirms it is built in layers rather than as one solid block.
• Calibers are ranked by bullet diameter, not energy: .22, 5.56, 7.62x39, 9mm, then a .50 AE hollow point from a Desert Eagle, with no armor-piercing ammunition in the lineup.
• The .22 stops at the first layer, and 5.56 and 7.62x39 leave deep impacts without exiting, disproving Lujan's hypothesis that 7.62 would defeat the block.
• Neither the 9mm nor the .50 AE hollow point penetrates.
• Around 40 rounds of 5.56 miss the block entirely until the crew works out the rifle is printing low and holds high.
• Repeated 5.56 hits on one spot finally peel layers off the face and fill the block with pulverized glass, down to what Lujan guesses is a polycarbonate backing.
• The video is sponsored by Sonoran Desert Institute and includes a Silencer Shop read.

About this Ballistics Focu video

M2 Bradley vision block test: Lujan shoots the layered bulletproof glass from an Army Bradley viewing port with .22, 5.56, 7.62x39, 9mm and a .50 AE hollow point, working up by bullet diameter to find where it fails. No single round gets through. It takes a sustained string of 5.56 on one spot to break the block down, layer by layer, into glass powder. This is an informal, comedic range test with no velocity readings and no armor-piercing ammunition, not a lab measurement.

Transcript: M2 Bradley vision