Can .22lr defeat soft armor?

[scaatylobo]

"Eons ago, vest wise, there was a fellow who made vests. He had several folks with different caliber handguns shoot the vest while he was wearing it"
He eventually had to stop on doctor's orders (I think he was getting internal organ damage over time, as well as gradually getting more powerful rounds as his products improved their capabilities; I believe 30-06 or 308 were among them at one point). He was famous for contact shooting a 357mag into his gut, though. Probably similar situation as a retired cannonball-catcher.


"Where are you getting this?"
I suspect he is referring to the fact that practically all common center-fire cartridges of intermediate power level (223) or higher will generally not be stopped by soft armor (at least not historically, the newer stuff may be able to). Deflection injuries are part of the equation, as well, so even 45-70 may not be a given.

That "owner" was Richard davis of Second Chance armor.
That was the first company that I ever owned a model of.
Wore it for about 5 years,and it too NEVER stated it would stop any carbine or rifle round ---- even a pistol caliber from such.
Velocity is THE enemy of body armor.
.22 rimfire [ from a rifle ] will defeat any armor I ever saw worn.
Unless you had the plate that added a good deal to the weight and a good bit to the stopping ability.
YES, I did wear the plate [ I was a rookie } and it was a HUGE pita.
But it sure as hell did stop a punch

 

[scaatylobo]

Hope this is readable,it is pretty obvious that it excludes rifles of any caliber.
First one that came to hand and I do have a "few" others.

 

[barnbwt]

".22 rimfire [ from a rifle ] will defeat any armor I ever saw worn."
If you mean 22 Magnum, with specific bullets, maybe (granted, I don't know exactly what armor you saw worn, but 5.7x28 SS197SR will NOT penetrate most soft armor despite going at least as fast as 22mag from a rifle. No armor expert here, but the fact Class III seems to be the standard nowadays suggests we're at least 'two better' than we used to be, so perhaps that's what's changed over the years ). Unless they are rigid projectiles or contain rigid penetrators, a small lead slug let alone hollowpoint at ~2000fps should not be getting through modern soft armor reliably; that's part of the reason 5.7 ammo never got banned. I guess there's different definitions of 'defeat' as well, which further complicates things.

TCB

 

[MachIVshooter]

I guess there's different definitions of 'defeat' as well, which further complicates things.

Back face signature (deformation). Lower level armor may stop the bullet fired from a round it's not rated for, but if the back force deformation is too great, then the wearer would still be critically or mortally injured by blunt force trauma, even though they weren't actually penetrated by the bullet.

NIJ maximum BFS is 44mm. A level II vest may well stop a .44 magnum bullet, but the BFS exceeds that limit, thus it is not so rated.


http://www.ppss-group.com/blog/understanding-blunt-force-trauma-backface-signature/

 

[jmorris]

He had several folks with different caliber handguns shoot the vest while he was wearing it... and he was not a stupid man.

That might be a topic open to debate. I have safety measures in many areas of my life but the older I get (hopefully smarter) the more I intend to not need to employ them.

Maybe "marketing genius" would be a better term to use..

Remember, never point a firearm at anything you do not intend to destroy.