# American Builtrite Dura-Shield (red rubber)



## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

Anyone try this stuff? Opinions?

*American Builtrite Dura-Shield*

We have a local rubber dealer who sells this product. I tried it a few years ago and wasn't impressed. It's available in 1/16" thickness so I tried 3/4" x 1/2" x 8 1/2" just like I was using for gum rubber. No good! Then I tried 1/2" x 8 1/2" straight strips and still couldn't get anything out of them (32" draw).

I was in the store area yesterday so I stopped to see if they had anything else that was interesting. The shop caters to industry so they have a lot of thick rubber products. The shop worker gave me a piece of 1/16" Dura-Shield and said to try it out. This afternoon I cut some bands to see if it was any different than the previous stuff that I tried years ago.

Dura-Shield has a reddish colour and looks and feels like gum rubber. The piece that I have measures .068" to .071" thickness. It has a polished surface with no rough side. It's tough to cut with a rotary cutter but still possible. A pair of sharp shop scissors works great for cutting this stuff. It's thick enough that it's not flimsy like Theraband. Draw your line and cut with scissors.

*Speed Test - 3/8" steel *

1/2" x 8 1/2" = 158 fps

5/16" x 8 1/2" = 163 fps

1/4" x 8 1/2" = 155 fps

1/2" x 1/4" x 8 1/2" = 183 fps

*Stretch Test*

I tried the stretch test with the Dura-Shield. A short 1 1/2" length with approx 1/4" width would go 800% but it was a difficult stretch with vise-grips. It did not return to the original length. I tried it a second time and the piece broke in the center. The company rates Dura-Shield at 600%.

When I tested the 1/2" x 8 1/2" bands I could not quite bring them to a 32" draw length. They seem to hit a wall at around 29"-30". The lighter cuts would go 32" but this seemed about as far as I would go for a shooting band at the 8 1/2" length. The milder bands all started at 8" and quickly stretched to a resting length of 8 1/2". I shot the tapered bands for a while and after about 60 shots they hadn't stretched any longer and speed was the same 183 fps. More testing will show if they are good for high volume shooting.

*Durability*

Dura-Shield was designed for industry and made to be abrasive resistant and withstand severe conditions. I'm guessing that it will take a beating but the question will be if it can take repeated stretching for hundreds of shots while maintaining it's properties.

*Opinion*

I think I narrowed down a good Dura-Shield cut for 3/8" steel. The wider cuts are a brute to pull and the rubber is too heavy for reasonable velocity. A narrower straight cut increases velocity but too narrow and it drops again. The heavy .70" thick rubber greatly benefits from a tapered cut. The 1/2" x 1/4" x 8 1/2" gives reasonable speed with 3/8" steel and also a light draw weight. It's not a band for setting records or hunting but for plinking it should work fine. When plinking at a plastic golf ball from 10 yards I was doing quite well with the tapered cut. Speed is only about 5 fps less than what I get with full loop 2040 at my draw length.

*Product Link*

http://www.american-biltrite.com/performance-sheet-rubber-product-style/detail/productTypes/10/productStyleID/63


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## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

I think I remember trying this stuff out after I requested a sample. It was kind of flat performance wise. Maybe I'll give it another try. I have tried ( and failed) to get a real actual piece of natural red gum rubber from the Alibaba group but they deal in huge quantities so no samples there. They still have the original red inner tube rubber ( natural red gum rubber). Good info on the Dura-shield stuff Bud!


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## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

Flatband said:


> I think I remember trying this stuff out after I requested a sample. It was kind of flat performance wise. Maybe I'll give it another try. I have tried ( and failed) to get a real actual piece of natural red gum rubber from the Alibaba group but they deal in huge quantities so no samples there. They still have the original red inner tube rubber ( natural red gum rubber). Good info on the Dura-shield stuff Bud!


Hi Gary... Yah this is the same stuff that I sent you a few years ago. Try the tapered cut with 3/8" steel and see how it works. Too bad the original red gum rubber is so difficult to find. It would be interesting to try out.

We have two local shops that sell rubber products. Apparently the second shop has a small amount of 1/16" Linatex so I'll have to visit them next week. Hopefully it's not old stock.


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## Btoon84 (Nov 22, 2011)

Great little write up Northerner :thumbsup: thanks!!!


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