S&W .500 vs. a Kevlar Vest

EddieCoyle

EddieCoyle

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I despise conjecture and I like to test anything I can. After shooting my .500 Magnum, my son once asked me, "Would body armor stop that bullet?" I said, "I don't know, but I'd like to find out."

I got the chance today. Gerry Caruso was good enough to supply some kevlar body armor for an experiment.

LINK REMOVED

Apart from the .500, we tested it with Gerry's Tokarev (7.62x25) and a .22LR machine gun. The 7.62x25 didn't penetrate, but several of the .22LR rounds did.

In all fairness, I cheated. No vest ever was designed to withstand a solid copper, 275gr projectile moving at almost twice the speed of sound - especially one with a cavernous hollowpoint that was sharpened like a paper punch.

I was impressed that it withstood the other .500 rounds - like it would've mattered. There's no way anything would've survived a hit with any of the .500 bullets.
 
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Really cool video! I heard that a .22lr will penetrate a vest but I didn't really believe it before. Neat stuff!
 
I can't view it at work but what level vest was it? I never shot a vest before but I unloaded several different rounds against a kevlar helmet(i have some pics someplace) with interesting results.
 
Taking the vest off the wooden frame helps asborb more of the penetration energy. It is likely those rounds would have penetrated if the vest had been backed with say, Modeling Clay typically used in testing balistic cloth vests.

If you're expecting to have .500 caliber rounds flung your way, better have a rifle plate.
 
Bob P said:
Really cool video! I heard that a .22lr will penetrate a vest but I didn't really believe it before. Neat stuff!
Click to expand...

I saw some dumb ass in a video let his friend shoot him with a 22 while wearing a vest. Darwin awards in the making.
 
Yeah, a lot of .22LR rounds will penetrate standard kevlar vests, the weaves really weren't meant to stop such small projectiles.
 
Awesome firepower there. The 22LR was fired from a machine gun, correct? I'm wondering if the 22 got through because of multipile hits in the same spot on the vest.
 
yanici said:
Awesome firepower there. The 22LR was fired from a machine gun, correct? I'm wondering if the 22 got through because of multipile hits in the same spot on the vest.
Click to expand...

Nope. The .22s are just small enough to squeak through if they hit the fabric just right. The benefit of the MG is that you get lots of hits.
 
EddieCoyle said:
I was impressed that it withstood the other .500 rounds - like it would've mattered. There's no way anything would've survived a hit with any of the .500 bullets.
Click to expand...
Jim, you are one sick f**k. And I mean that in the nicest way! [wink]

Thanks for sharing. While I don't expect to ever own a kevlar vest, nor ever shoot at someone wearing one with a .500, it's still interesting to see.
 

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