.22 Rimfire vs a Bulletproof Vest

Right. Vests stop bullets by "catching" them. Some bullets manage to destroy or pass through layers of fiber. That is the first stage of bleeding off energy. Any part caught in the fiber pulls the fiber which acts to create drag, bleeding off more energy. Bullets that expand will impact more of the fibers and bleed off more energy.

You pass through vests in a couple of manners. First is by slipping between the fibers like an ice pick (.17 hmr., .223). Second is to use brute force through the fibers, moving, destroying and pulling them as the bullet passes all the way through. A 230 gr. .45 acp at 900 fps (ball or hollowpoint) won't pass through a typical soft vest, but a 325 gr. .45-70 hollowpoint at 1850 fps will.

Some 12 ga slugs will brute force through. Others like yours will not pass through the vest, but will hit will sufficient force to create significant blunt force trauma underneath.
 
Back
Top