I saw something today that really impressed me. My brother in-law and his son were visiting this weekend and we did a little sh

[twoforks]

I saw something today that really impressed me. My brother in-law and his son were visiting this weekend and we did a little shooting. His son had been in the army with two tours in Iraq. He was given one of the old bullet proof vest that was about a half inch thick and I think fiber kelvar in it. We set it against some plywood backstop and backed up about twenty yards. We were shooting a 460 s&m; magnum with 260 grain handloads. We didn't think it would stop that bullet. We were sure surprised after we shot the pistol and checked the vest. It stopped that bullet, I couldn't believe it. It went through about five layers of the fiber cloth and stopped, and the bullet was a perfect mushroom. The other thing that surprised us was the three inch hole in the plywood behind the vest due to the energy transfer. Have any of you seen anything like this?

[Treestand]

Yes..That's a Cops worset nightmare to take a hit from a Magnum Handgun Caliber. was the Vest a level(4) or (5)??

[allegnmtn]

"Given" is like "Fell off the truck". The NSA has already talked to the CIA who talked to the military. Your lad had better start running for Hong Kong or Guantanamo is his next posting.

[mspl8sdcntryboy]

allegnmtn, Kevlar expires after a couple of years and usually the government auctions them off, so "given" wouldn't be THAT unusual. The police departments replace their vests every couple of years also, if you go to gun shops you can often find them for sale there.

[mike0714]

my roommate is a sherif and got shot like 10 months ago by a .357 from about 5 feet. Luckily he had a vest on and it stopped the bullet dead but he did get 3 broken ribs and a bruise about the size of a basket ball.

[Treestand]

Body Armor has a life span of 5Yr,But in Hot Climates like Fl.3yr is the life span. If you buy used B/Armor check the Date!

[Carl Huber]

From the description of the hole in the plywood; this still could have been a lethal shot. The way I understand it vests are measured against clay and the dents depth is measured. We had a tragedy on LI. A Lacrosse goalie was hit in the chest by a Lacrosse ball resulting in death.

[Sarge01]

We replaced our body armor every 5 years. If an officer perspired really heavy then every 4 years. If an officer gets shot he will remember it because even though he will survive, like someone said he will probably have broken rigs and a huge bruise. Hopefully he won't be standing against something solid like his patrol car or a wall.

[99explorer]

Even with very little or no penetration, a shot to the sternum would probably be fatal because a blow to the area directly over the heart often results in "commotio cordis," or sudden cardiac arrest.