Can 8mm penetrate Level III AR500 armor?

Can 8mm defeat level III steel armor?

  • Yes, it gets through

    Votes: 9 69.2%

  • No, armor stops it

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .
A

Andrew Wiggin

New member
It's not rated to stop it, but can 7.92x57mm defeat an AR500Armor.com Level III plate? You've seen my earlier tests. What do you think? The ammo in question is Turkish surplus and the impact velocity was 2,888, fired from a Yugoslavian M48. Don't cheat. Make your prediction before you watch the test. This one really surprised me.



Link to test video
 
I predicted it would go through before watching the video.

The shooter may not be wise to stand that close to the steel plate though.

-TL
 
I'm not at all surprised another nation's .30-06 cartridge zips right through modern body armor.

Go ahead and do the same test with 7.5mm French, 7.62x54, 7.65 Argentine, etc., etc., any of the .30 caliber rifle rounds of WWII era and I bet you one jelly doughnut you will get the same results.
 
I've done a fair amount of testing that didn't make it into video and my opinion is that eyepro is absolutely mandatory with steel at any range. You should be wearing eyepro when you shoot anyway, but it's extra important with steel. That said, hardened steel like the AR500 in that plate doesn't tend to send anything back in the direction of the shooter. The pieces usually either go downrange or parallel to the plate. What bits there are could cause a cut, but are unlikely to cause any serious injury to anything but your eye.

kilimanjaro,
Level III is rated for 7.62x51mm, which is very close to .30-06 M2 ball. Other folks have tested level III plates with M2 ball and it stopped it. I'm happy to test versus M2 ball and other military cartridges, but I don't think it's at all certain.
 
Last edited:
Gewherpatrone 1888, .318 Diameter Round Nose Bullet 225 Grains. Produced 1888, updated 1903/1905 with a .323 Diameter 196-198 Grain Spitzer.

.30-03. Designed 1903, 220 Grain Round Nose Bullet. Updated 1906 with a 174 Grain Spitzer. Updated again with a 150 Grain Spitzer.

Both great rounds though. :D
 
Turk 8mm is very hot stuff. It's great ammo. The stripper clips are a bit iffy in my experience but they seem to work well when they are used. Just kind of "floppy".
 
AR500 Armor® Level III Body Armor is rated for calibers up to 7.62x51 M80 Ball (.308) at 2,800 feet per second.
Standard W.W. II 8mm Mauser used 197 grain FMJ bullet giving a muzzle velocity of 2500fps.
Depends on the bullet and range.
 
As stated in the OP, the ammo is Turkish surplus. It is 150 gr and one shot clocked 2,888 fps from a k98 style rifle at the muzzle. The test shots occurred at 10 feet and at 65 yards.
 
Does it MATTER if it penetrates?

I don't know how good the AR500 Level III armour is at diffusing blunt trauma, but I would expect internal injuries on the armour wearer, at least out to 100 yards, perhaps a bit further.
 
There is no notable back face deformation, so I don't expect that it would be injurious, but it would probably sting a great deal if there was nothing between the plate and your skin but a T-shirt. If you were wearing a PC, soft armor, blouse, and T-shirt, though, it may not be that unpleasant.
 
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