Tree diameter. How thick does a tree have to be to provide cover? Of course if someone is shooting at you with say a FAL, that tree will have to be thicker and probably even for an AK but as a general rule, using a pine tree trunk as an example, what do you say?
My width plus at least a inch on either side.
I have shot trees plenty of times and rounds will go through some pretty good size trees. How much energy on the other side, I have no idea. I am sure it depends on what kind of tree it is also.
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MAC did a test on that a few years ago. I believe he used 3 different calibers. 308, 5.45x39 and I don’t remember the 3rd. Surprisingly 5.45 made it through a few trees that stopped 308.
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If it will stop a bullet it is cover, if it hides you but will not stop a bullet it is concealment. Too many variables to answer.
Don’t forget about stacking trees. I don’t know what kind of environment you are thinking, but in more of a woodland space, you can place several trees between you and them, increasing the density of cover.
Only the part your opponents rds will not penetrate is cover.
As said, doesn’t take a lot to penetrate fairly thick trees.
A long time ago when I was in high school I was using about a 18" diameter oak tree as a back stop when sighting in a 30-06 hunting rifle and at 100 yards pretty much all of my rounds went through that tree.
If that is the case, a 30-06 might go through a 30" pine tree. At some point, it may be hard to find a pine tree large enough to offer protection. Back in my failed deer hunting days, I used to wonder how far as stray bullet would travel through dense woods to where I was sitting in a tree.
Type of bullet will play a role too. Are you hunting with FMJ or soft point/expanding bullets?
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Well, a two foot diameter tree is not enough. Three feet at least seems the minimum. That is a good sized tree.
I feel like I remember reading in our FM that trees were bad cover due to splinters.
A 5.56 55gr FMJ will go through an 8x8 pressure treated post easily; the entrance and exit holes were nearly identical.
30-06 hunting rounds will go through 20"+ of a walnut tree.
Trees are concealment, not cover. Maybe for ricochets but that’s it for planning purposes.
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WWII found a lot of damage done through airburst artillery in forests.
He was calling the circumference the diameter. The first tree was actually about 13" in diameter, according to the circumference, and it stopped everything but the 5.45mm. The second tree was less than 10" in diameter, and also stopped the .308 until he fired a volley at the same spot. I’m inclined to think, based on the video, that any tree over 12" will provide an effective level of cover from most rounds, until multiple rounds have hit the same spot repeatedly.
We were trained that a minimum of 18" to stop AK rounds. That wouldn’t stand up to sustain fire but would work until you could find something better.
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Penetration of wood depends on range.
At 200 yards a 150 grain .30 cal bullet at 2700 fps will penetrate 32.5 inches of pine. At 50 feet it will only penetrate 11.25 inches…
It depends on a lot of things, yes!
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