Level III Patrol Armor Test

[BLACK LION]

Not that I need to reiterate what hs already been said. These rounds are readily available in the countries which support terrorist, narco-terrorism and sources of illegal arms that are regularly sold to gangs and such.

Selecting body armor based on the "typical" (under-powered) round that you would encounter is like selecting your patrol cars based on the average speed posted in your jurisdiction. It's narrow-sighted at best.

Personally, if I could wear armor that would stop a .50 AP rounds, I would. JM2CW.

I agree....

[DocGKR]

PPI PLATE TEST

A bit of range time opened up during the holidays, so more Level III plate testing was able to be conducted, again using the same protocol as previously described above, except for the addition of a 24” barrel M1 Garand to fire .30-06 M2AP shots at a distance of 3 yds.

In this round of testing, we shot two plates, including the PPI 10x12” triple-curve Level III/IV ICW IIIa model 2518 (2518) and the PPI 10.5x13.5” triple-curve size large model 10008L “ESAPI Surrogate” (10008).

Plate weights and construction are as follows:

2518: 6.4 lbs—8 mm of aluminum oxide over what appears to be resin reinforced Kevlar.
10008: 6.5 lbs—Thin closed cel foam layer over 10 mm of boron carbide, followed by resin reinforced compressed polyethelene (likely Dyneema or Spectra).

The plates were shot in exactly the same manner as previously discussed.

TEST RESULTS:

2518: (one plate used for 5.56 mm shots; second plate used for .30 caliber hits; third plate used for AP shots)
3 shots M193 successfully stopped by the plate.
3 shots of M855 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of LeMas successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M43 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M67 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M80 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M2AP successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of SSA 70 gr AP successfully stopped by the plate
1 shot of 12 ga slug successfully stopped by the plate

10008: (one plate used for 5.56 mm shots; second plate used for .30 caliber hits; third plate used for AP shots)
3 shots M193 successfully stopped by the plate.
3 shots of M855 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of LeMas successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M43 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M67 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M80 successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of M2AP successfully stopped by the plate
3 shots of SSA 70 gr AP successfully stopped by the plate
1 shot of 12 ga slug successfully stopped by the plate

Projectile Penetration Protection: The PPI plates offered level III PPP on par with the DBT, MSA, and TenH plates previously tested; they also offer level IV PPP protection like the DBT plate.

Back Face Deformation: The plates had midrange BFD that fell in between the best and worst plates previously discussed.

Spall: Like the DBT plate, the PPI plates exhibited an extensive amount of spall.

Plate Weight: The PPI plates were among the heavier plates compared to previously tested plates.

Durability: The PPI plates used significant amounts of ceramic and are thus more fragile than non-ceramic containing designs.

Annual X-ray Assessment: The PPI plates should have a yearly x-ray analysis to assess for hidden cracks in the ceramic elements.

Cost: The LE pricing of the 2518 is around $300, while the 10008 is in the $1000 range.

CONCLUSION:

The PPI 2518 level III/IV and PPI 1008L “ESAPI Surrrogate” plates are capable of stopping all level III threats commonly faced by LE officers, including both 5.56 mm M193 55 gr FMJ and 5.56 mm M855 62 gr FMJ. In addition, they are capable of defeating the .30-06 M2AP Level IV threat.


DISCUSSION:

Thankfully, the folks at PPI sent us enough plates to conduct a thorough test, as there have been numerous questions about these plates. It appears that the Level III/IV ICW IIIa PPI 2518 plate offers very similar construction, performance, and price range as the DBT level III/IV ICW IIIa plate (labeled as being constructed by Leading Technology Composites, part number 27400) which received limited testing as discussed in the first post of this thread. Both the PPI 2518 and DBT 27400 are relatively thin plates that offer a low profile due to their reduced bulk.

With these ceramic plate types, the amount of spall is a significant concern—during testing of the 2518 plates, a can of spray adhesive sitting 4 feet to the side of the plates was unexpectedly punctured by spall fragments and burst. In addition, with plates that depend primarily on ceramic elements to stop projectiles, shot spacing can be critical. Because of the generosity of PPI, we had enough plates to experiment with this parameter. These ceramic plate types are able to successfully stop projectiles when a 3” spacing between shots is maintained, however, when shot spacing was decreased to 2” or less, the additional shots fully perforated both the plates and underlying IIIa soft armor.

Due to the spall issues with these ceramic plates, I would definitely feel more comfortable wearing soft armor underneath, even if only anticipating level III threats. These are probably not the plates you want to casually throw into the trunk of a patrol car and then load several hundred pounds of other gear on top of; annual radiographic assessment of these plates is likely a very good idea…

[RFB]

Sir,

Do you have any vendor contact information for the DefenseTech (DT855) Defend-X TCPL LIII?

Thank you,

RFB

[DocGKR]

http://www.defenstech.com

[Burt Gummer]

EGI is selling level III rifle plates mentioning DocGKR as one of the consultants for the product:

http://www.expertguns.com/shop/catal...products_id=28

What's the skinny on these?

[DocGKR]

Oh, the joys of truth in advertising.

My "consultation" with EGI consisted of a 10 min telephone call where I told them the problems with steel plates and why they were not a good idea for CONUS LE use, followed by a brief email exchange...

[298436]

Doc,

You mentioned in another thread about contact shots with certain IIIa armor with handguns and the vulnerability thereof.

Would you know if these rifle vests offer protection against contact shots with rifles and handguns?

[DocGKR]

Generally not a problem with rifle plates.

[298436]

May I ask another question...?

A buddy is in the sandbox with standard IBA with plates, and wants to know what range would he be "safe" from handgun and rifle fire against his armour? 300m? 200m? 100m?

[DocGKR]

What threat ammo? What armor (hard or soft)?