Well, while I was up in College Station for Christmas, My soon to be Son In Law was concerned about just how well the plates would perform. So we loaded up various firearms and pulled the smaller 6X8 plates, one from my armor and one from his and drove out to Gunsmoke Shooting Range in Snook to test them out.
I wasn't able to get any videos because it was raining off and on and the range was rather crowded, but the small plates DID stop, .22 LR, .38 Special, 9mm, .45 ACP and then 7.62X39 and 5.56X45.
Some photos of my plate are below showing the various hits.
I took a picture of the plates, rotated it 90 degrees and took another to try to let the light to show the different hits better. These plates were all shot at 10 yards. Each plate took 8 rounds of .45 ACP 230 gr. FMJ, 17 rounds of 9 mm 115 gr. FMJ, 12 rounds of .38 special 130 gr. TMJ, 10 rounds of .22 LR 36 gr HP, 2 rounds of 7.62X39 123 gr. FMJ and 1 round of 5.56 55 gr. FMJ.
What I find amazing, is that the Tula 115 gr. FMJ 9mm made almost no marks on the plates but the Winchester Whitebox 230 gr. .FMJ 45 ACP left some OBVIOUS marks on the plates and the Winchester Whitebox 130 gr. TMJ .38 Special left very faint marks. The 2 7.62X39 123 gr FMJ's left the very obvious marks towards the edge, with the Wolf 55 gr. FMJ 5.56X45 left a slightly more prominent "Ding" in the plate.
I didn't test the LineX coated plates as I don't want to damage the lining because these plates will be USED by my son in law and myself. If someone would like to send me a Lined Plate I'd be more than happy to test it out.
Now the Condor Plate Carrier is a leetle bit conspicuous. So I also ordered a Blackhawk Low Vis Plate Carrier for both of us, for wear under a shirt from LA Police Gear. Once again I ordered them in black. My son in law's carrier fit him just fine after a few small adjustments, mine however because my chest is so large, I'm going to have to have some velcro extensions made up to fit around my chest, and over my shoulders properly. I just need 3 more inches of adjustment and those inches just aren't there. It sucks having a 48 inch chest sometimes.
I also have a similar issue with the Condor carrier, I can't get the shoulder straps adjusted low enough before I run out of adjustment space. So I'll need to find someone who can make up some extensions, unless there is already a company that does that, that someone can recommend.
If anyone would like to see how the coated plates stand up, please send me one and I'll fire it up.
I do plan on taking the 6X8 plate out again and testing it against my Chinese T-53 in 7.62X54R and also 7.62X25 Tokarev out of my Romanian TT33, and maybe I'll break out my 62 gr M855 5.56X45 rounds.
Possibly tomorrow if the weather cooperates, I'll be able to use my camera.
But my son in law and I KNOW these plates will protect against handguns and light rifle fire, (Yes I consider the SKS/AK and the AR-15 to be 'Light' rifles), that he or I might possibly face from a criminal. Remember these are supposed to protect against standard rounds. Armor pentrators are designed for just that, to penetrate armor. Although Maingun has the Patriot Two armor that is supposed to defeat AP rounds and weigh a few lbs less.
Note for the FTC: I PAID for these plates out of my OWN POCKET. I am NOT receiving any remuneration for posting this. No money, no products, nothing, nada.
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