Gun myths: Kevlar "bulletproof" vests won't stop .22 LR

[1KPerDay]

I was informed by a family member that this is the case. He argued until he was blue in the face. I said there's no way a modern vest won't stop a .22 LR round. He said it 'moves the fibers out of the way' and makes it through the kevlar. 9mm/.357/.40/.45 rounds will be stopped, but not .22 LR.

Anyone have some proof/videos/reports that I can show him? :banghead:

 

[PTK]

Actually, .22lr out of a rifle will zip right through. My testing, anything over a 10" barrel will do it.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Kevlar won't stop a knife either, on it's own.

That's why you see so many vests with pockets for trauma plates. Either steel or the newer ceramic trauma plates are needed for maximum protection.

Here is a chart from Pinnacle:

http://www.pinnaclearmor.com/body-armor/ballistic-chart.php

 

[Titan6]

I guess. I think it kind depends upon the thickness of the kevlar vest. The rounds seemed to deflect well off a hardened helmet even at relatively close range. Also the age of the vest plays a role.

 

[PTK]

I tested IIa, II, and IIIa. All three, the .22lr went through when using a 10" barrel. 2" barrel, 5.5" barrel, and 7" barrel didn't do it.

 

[Justin]

I find that extremely hard to believe. Do you have any documentation?

 

[TexasRifleman]

Do you have any documentation?

II-A clearly won't stop it, that's in most of the ballistic charts including the one above. II is claimed to stop a 40gr FMC at 1850fps.

I do find it odd that they only show testing with the FMC bullet. Dunno if that's good or bad.

 

[PTK]

Justin

No documentation, and I have no way of knowing how old the vests were or what conditions they were stored under. All I can do is share my experience.

 

[JImbothefiveth]

I think bulletproofme.com sells old vests for testing(not for protection, as they are old), and they are probably pretty cheap. You could test one of those.

 

[Polish_Pounder]

Sometime in January a Park Ranger I shoot with and I are going to perform extensive testing of his old duty vest. I'll make a thread and post a bunch of pics when we do it.

-Polish

 

[jeffsenpai]

I thought this was a joke thread, wow I am amazed.

 

[czrami9]

Because of the small size of the round there is more pressure involved when it hits the vest, than say...a .45.


Pressure= Force/Area

So as the area goes down, the pressure goes up.

Think of it like this. If I stomped on Bob's foot wearing a work boot, I doubt I would go all the way through his foot. But if I did the same in high heals the possibility is much higher.

 

[Justin]

Testing vests that are worn out or old isn't going to tell you anything about the level of protection afforded a vest that is in good working order.

Same goes for testing a vest by shooting at it a bunch of times. As I understand it, vests are rated to stop a certain number of rounds, and after that, they're considered compromised, even if they will still stop a bullet.

 

[Seenterman]

LoL wow I learn something new everyday.

WAIT OHH NOZZ
we need to keep this info to ourselves. God forbid the antis learn of our new super deadly armor defeating tactical assault 10/22's!

No seriously Im amazed and a little incredulous.

 

[PTK]

Justin

Yes indeed! I never said I did a proper test, just what I experienced. The only vest I NEEDED stopped two large-ish rounds (40, 45 or something) in the back and three smaller ones (22, 25, 32 or similar) in the front. Never found out the exact caliber, never wanted to know.

 

[TexasRifleman]

God forbid the antis learn of our new super deadly armor defeating tactical assault 10/22's!

That's why the 5.7x28 took such a political beating. You will notice in the chart above that the x28 isn't stopped by anything less than what Pinnacle calls Level III-B.

 

[MD_Willington]

Well, why not have a "chip in" for a brand spanking new vest, and someone can shoot the crap out of it and post the results..?

 

[PTK]

TexasRifleman

That's with ammo no longer easily found, though not illegal. The two you can find in stores are designed to deform/fragment when hitting any resistance.

I still have some of the legal "nuclear" rounds, though. Damn things are ABSURDLY powerful.

 

[TexasRifleman]

That's with ammo no longer easily found, though not illegal. The two you can find in stores are designed to deform/fragment when hitting any resistance.

No, the Pinnacle testing includes the SS192 bullet, which is the standard hollow point. It's still for sale everywhere, and legal. SS195 replaced 192 but uses the same bullet, just lead free primer compounds, so the same could likely be said for SS195.

That's why the x28 still gets lots of bad press even after FN's change on the SS190 bullet. It's still a very lethal round against most body armor even in the "sporting" rounds out there.

But, and this is where Brady Campaign was so misleading, so are most hunting rounds out there already.

 

[HexHead]

"Actually, .22lr out of a rifle will zip right through. My testing, anything over a 10" barrel will do it."

So I'm guessing then that .22 Magnum from a revolver will zip right through then?

 

[PTK]

If round nose, not hollowpoint, it should.

 

[General Geoff]

There's no law change on the SS190. Just FN's policy of not selling or making it available to civilians.

 

[PTK]

Correct re:SS190, which is why boxes sell for over $500 nowadays. Glad I grabbed some when it was $40/box...

 

[Justin]

I have not been able to find any testing results from the National Institute of Justice showing that .22 rimfire rounds are able to penetrate a vest.

I would presume that if .22 rimfire rounds represented a threat capable of defeating a kevlar vest, the NIJ would have listed it in Table 11. Special type threats of particular concern to law enforcement, on page 72 of their Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor NIJ Standard-0101.06 document, which can be downloaded as a PDF here.

 

[expvideo]

The most common caliber used in a crime is 22lr, right? Police wear vests to protect them from gun crime, right? Something doesn't add up here. Very interesting.