[roscoe]

Two threads (on tactical lever guns and the Hollywood shootout) had me wondering. Would a .357 from a 16" or 20" rifle have been sufficient to penetrate the body armor the robbers were wearing?

I was thinking about Golgo13's comment that a lever gun would be sufficient for 99.99% of tactical situations - a 30-30 would have been enough that day, I assume, but what about a .357? I seem to recall Jim March commenting that a .357 can be better than a 30-30 out to 100 yards or so, which I found surprising. Since body armor penetration seems to be one of the major justifications for the AR in law enforcement, I wondered whether an a lever gun might not be sufficient for most police. It certainly was good enough for Andy Taylor to keep Mayberry clean.

[CaesarI]

short answer: No.
Long answer: unless it's made out of Zylon. In the lower ratings (IIa) there may be significant blunt trama, but it will not penetrate.

-Morgan

[otomik]

http://www.nlectc.org/pdffiles/0101.04RevA.pdf
go to page 2 on the document or 14 on the pdf file

it's really pretty specific
if you handload your own super hot .357 using 9mm FMJ bullets with their nice penetrating ogive it will probably penetrate Type IIIA (rated for SMG 9mm FMJ of about 124grs at 1400fps) but type III is for rifles, not gunna happen.

and i think andy taylor would be better served by an m1 carbine

[Mulliga]

I seem to recall Jim March commenting that a .357 can be better than a 30-30 out to 100 yards or so, which I found surprising

:confused: :confused: :confused: