Editor’s Note: Rumors say that the AmEx Centurion card can stop bullet and save your life. Can metal cards really stop bullet? We are very honored to have gun enthusiast Long Yu with us to do actual tests! In these tests, we didn’t use AmEx Centurion; instead, we used the heaviest credit card — Chase Ritz-Carlton, which weighs 28g and is about twice as heavy as AmEx Centurion.
Test 1: Air Rifle -> 2 Cards
The first test is done with a high power pre-charge pneumatic air rifle, the Hatsan Galatian chambered in .25. The rifle is capable of pushing the 25.3 grain JSB EXACT match pellet to approx. 1100 feet per second at the muzzle.
Hatsan Galatian .25
Magazine
The JSB EXACT MATCH .25 pellet
The first shot was fired at both cards stacked together from approx. 10 feet away. A deep dent is left on both cards but the pellet didn’t go through.
Test 2: Air Rifle -> 1 Card
The second shot was placed on one single card from the same distance. A penetration is recorded to the lower left region of the card.
Test 3: Pistol -> 2 Cards
We then move on to Smith & Wesson M&P 9, a full-size striker fire semiautomatic pistol chambered in 9mm. The round fired from it comes with a 115 grain full metal jacket ball and leaves the barrel at approx. 1250 feet per second, having a kinetic energy about 6 times that of the pellet just shot. Both cards were stacked together to withhold the impact and one shot was fired from approx. 10 feet away.
M&P9 2.0
The .25 pellet (up) and the 9mm 115gr FMJ round (down) side by side comparison
A very clear penetration is recorded and the card to the back of the two is easy shredded.
Conclusion
It is highly unlikely for a metal credit card to hold a gunshot. However in some rare situations when the kinetic energy of the bullet has been mostly spent on obstacles like a windshield (like this case in the news), a stack of metal credit cards are possible to withhold the impact from the remaining kinetic energy and save the owner’s life.