body armor standards

[Bezoar]

44 magnum has been used as the hallmark handgun cartridge to design standards for police and civilian purchased body armor. THe thing is, how much have the standards changed with the introduction of the garret and buffalo bore ammunition?

Seriously, the standard 44 magnum 240 grain jsp from American Eagle puts out about 1100 foot pounds at the muzzle. Buffalo bore and garret cartridges put out quite a bit more. Heck, Buffalo bore ammo for .41 mag puts out more then 1100 foot pounds.

What about the 480, 460, and 500 cartridges? have they been tested yet?

 

[Happiness Is A Warm Gun]

No body armor standards haven't been updated.

Same classes as before I, IIA, II, IIIA, III, and IV.

It would be possible that a Level III or IV vest would resist the calibers you mentioned however due to differing ballistic characteristics between low mass high velocity rifle round and high mass, low velocity pistol round I wouldn't want to be test wearing it.

Right now all the research is being driven by the demand for better 7.62 rifle protection. A secondary goal is improving wearability (I had a love/hate relationship with my IBA in Iraq), expanding the covered area with larger impact plates and lowering weight.

So before we see a new pistol category it is more likely we will see expanded IVA and V categories to defeat 7.62 AP, and higher velocity 7.62 .30 cal rounds.

 

[strambo]

Armor is like any security consideration. You match the protection to the anticipated threat and your lifestyle. The anticipated threat in the US is mostly pistols, so you don't see street cops wearing level IV plates.

The standards list both the caliber and MV it protects against. I think the current levels are fine and increasing comfort at each level would be good. Thinner, lighter level IV plates would be good too.

As a citizen, a rifle wielding home invader probably isn't very likely at all due to concealability issues for the criminal. That leaves handguns and sawed off shotguns. A level IIIA will do fine. Buffalo bore .44 mag or a 500SW would probably be less likely of a threat than a rifle. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a IIIA stopped them...but the back face deformation specs were exceeded.

 

[Soybomb]

No body armor standards haven't been updated.

I suppose it depends on how you define standards. The FBI has come up with their own battery of tests for armor that they feel is a better test of its performance. What meets NIJ standards for a certain level may not pass the FBI test. Ymmv, but if you need armor I'd do a good bit of research.

 

[fastbolt]

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/technology/body-armor/standards-testing.htm