In an earlier message I stated that older Seagate (5.25") drives are nearly bulletproof. I said NEARLY because they do not stop bullets. I know. My brother Mike and I used to take dead hard disks out to the 'informal' fireing range in South Miami. An St4096 will not stop a 30 caliber rifle bullet but does stop 9mm pistol ammo. Range was something like 25meters long rifle it seems. Fewer platters makes for less armor. We generally placed the drive on it's faceplate with the board facing toward or away from the shooter - I mean tester. Those old five-platter drives look and feel sturdy, but they were never intended to turn a bullet.... Obviously, our preliminary results needed confirmation so we made it something of a habit to take these mechs out for 'field testing' on a regular basis. Both of us being professional computer techs, we had no shortage of targets. Some results: Even though a .22cal will not generally penetrate, it really shakes the drive badly. Enough to ruin it if it wasn't allready ruined beforehand. They leave a 'splash' of vaporized lead on the drive's cover. This surprised us, but the next least destructive rifle ammo is full-metal jacket 'spitzer'-type rounds such as 7.62x39 Warsaw Pact, 5.56 Nato, and 7.65x54 'San Francisco' (Model 1891 Argentine Mauser). These FMJ rounds travel at 2000 to 3200 feet per second and just fly right through without expanding. 5.56 (.223 Remington) is the most interesting of these because at least it will tumble a bit due to the very light weight of the round (55 grains versus 90 to 220 grains for the others). The most interesting is hollowpoint pistol ammo. The low muzzle velocity, large throw weight, and expansion all contribute. The rounds expand on impact causing massive damage to the hard drive. These rounds kinda trundle along and do not exit the larger drives which results in heavy internal damage. My Winchester model 94' in cal. 30-30 is a pretty interesting hard drive tester. It is very high velocity, but just one of it's flat-nosed, 'wad cutter' rounds will tear the heart out of even a largish Micropolis. This is due mainly to expansion. My brother had one of the more interesting shots. With a .357 magnum revolver fireing .38 ammo, he very cleanly drove the spindle out of a Connor IDE drive at about 25meters. There was little damage to the drive other than the spindle which, of course, we never found.... Conclusions: Expanding rounds are best. Pistols get the best results due to lower muzzle velocity and a heavy slug. You will have to stand the target back up after each shot. Not having a muzzel-loader, we were unable to test, but from the other data, it is almost certain that a .50cal miniball would be spectacular on impact. Military-style, high-velocity ammunition allows multiple shots at the target - frequently without having to re-set the target after each shot. This is because they pass cleanly through the drive without losing much speed, and the rounds do not expand. The strongest part of a hard disk drive is at the spindle. Even a Miniscribe 3650 will stop a 9mm if hit in the spindle area. Very small calibers provide greater target longevity but increase the possibility of ricochets and knock the drive over every time. A .22long rifle cartridge will launch a bottle of red Christmas soda appx 80' vertically if you hit the bottle right at it's base. Larger calibers perform more poorly because of the massive damage done to the base of the bottle. Our data with hard disk drives translates very well to whole computers and monitors. A .22 will not penetrate a monitor's business-end and it is unsafe to try. Use large calibers for monitors. The materials used in hard disk covers are generally brittle and porous. Especially older Seagates. Never go to the 'informal' range during hunting season. Deer don't shoot back and the law will wonder what the hell is going on with all that noise..... It is a very satisfying thing to do to the hard disk what it did to you or your customer. Poetic justice you might say. Pick up after yourself when you are done shooting. This includes brass as well as the peices of your peices of equipment. This is polite to others, environmentally concious, and gets rid of evidence. Regards, jeff -- ----------------------------------------------------------- Jeffrey S. Worley President Complete Computer Services, Inc. 30 Greenwood Rd. Asheville, NC 28803 828-277-5959 THETechnoid(a)home.com -----------------------------------------------------------