Originally Posted by
Naphtali
Yes to the NIJ standards, but I'm also a surgeon who did a year of general / trauma surgery internship before my residency in a different subspecialty surgical field. Took care of 2 LEOs shot with handgun rounds in their vests. Wasn't part of the initial team but rotated on prior to their discharge.
Both survived with vests that captured the bullet, but 1 spent some time in the unit with hemopericardium / significant myocardial bruising / sternal hole after the vest (+ captured bullet) hit the heart directly after fully penetrating through the sternum, and the other had an exploratory laparotomy through a penetrating abdominal wound. There was nothing to find though - it had just penetrated the abdominal wall. But that's why I don't wear IIIa panels without a pistol plate. I'd infinitely prefer to be shot with a 1oz slug wearing that vs 9mm on a IIIa panel alone.
I've shot one my own plates before (shot it to death to torture test it, 3 rds in the same hole, ball vs HP, etc.), and the deformation pattern is very broad (for 1 round striking 1 place). Think of a hill with a very gradual slope on the backface of the plate. It's blunt trauma without penetration.
IIIa panels are the opposite (worse) - think of a bigger-diameter-than-the-bullet sized finger (because it's the bullet + the panel thickness surrounding it on all sides) that pokes directly into you. It's basically being stabbed 1.5" deep by a piece of rebar. Death is unlikely with prompt hospitalization, but you really do not want to go through that recovery.
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