I took a group of 357 Mag rounds out for testing today.
From left: 38 Spl 158gr +P L-HP, Win 110gr SJHP, 148gr L-SWC, 158gr JFP, Win 158gr SJHP, 158gr Gold Dot, 73gr THV Arcane, 158gr Arcane
Only the Win 110gr SJHP and the two Arcane rounds were tested against the vest as these were the only ones suspected to have a chance of penetrating.
The Win 110gr SJHP moving at something like 1500fps only penetrated 7 of 21 kevlar layers.
The 73gr copper TVH Arcane surprisingly did not fully penetrate the vest. The point made it through 17 layers but the body of the bullet remained stuck in the first layer. I suspect this round had an ignition issue as a large amount of unburnt powder was found on the surface of the vest and a subsequent round penetrated wet paper quite well.
The 158gr Arcane round penetrated the vest and an additional 16" of wet paper.
For the nosey types, real THV rounds are quite prohibited in this country. A bit of research showed the copper Arcane round pictured here to not be consistent with typical THV rounds. As well the two rounds I "inherited" from Wayne were both expended so the entire argument is pretty much moot.
The silver Arcane round is of unknown origin and was donated by James from TSE. It is apparently a target bullet that just happens to penetrate kevlar. 8)
For more info on these types of bullets see: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/THV.htm
All the above bullets were also tested in wet phonebooks.
The most impressive round was the one least suspected to be so: The 38 Spl 158gr LSWC-HP penetrated 8.5" and expanded to .620". This is comparible to the 147gr 9mm tested previously.
Unfortunately the 110gr SJHP got lost. How a bullet can get lost in a phonebook is somewhat of a mystery but it happens.
The 148gr L-SWC went out the bottom of the 16" tall bucket and was not recovered.
The SJFP penetrated 10.25" but only expanded to .440". I only had one of this bullet so there is no live round to photograph in front of the recovered bullet.
The Winchester 158gr SJHP penetrated 6.5" and expanded to .565". It lost 2/3 of its weight in the process. Not very impressive compared to the 147gr 9mm results. I expected better from the bigger 357 Mag cartridge.
The Speer Gold Dot penetrated 10" but it failed to open up. This also has happened with other bullets so I'll have to retest but it is disappointing to see it happen to a premium bullet. It just goes to show you can't predict terminal performance by how a bullet looks cause these things look like flying ashtrays.
Neither the 73gr Arcane or the 147gr Arcane expanded in any manner. although they do penetrate impressively with the lighter copper bullet stopping at 13" while the heaver version went the whole 16" to the bottom of the bucket.
From left: 38 Spl 158gr +P L-HP, Win 110gr SJHP, 148gr L-SWC, 158gr JFP, Win 158gr SJHP, 158gr Gold Dot, 73gr THV Arcane, 158gr Arcane
Only the Win 110gr SJHP and the two Arcane rounds were tested against the vest as these were the only ones suspected to have a chance of penetrating.
The Win 110gr SJHP moving at something like 1500fps only penetrated 7 of 21 kevlar layers.
The 73gr copper TVH Arcane surprisingly did not fully penetrate the vest. The point made it through 17 layers but the body of the bullet remained stuck in the first layer. I suspect this round had an ignition issue as a large amount of unburnt powder was found on the surface of the vest and a subsequent round penetrated wet paper quite well.
The 158gr Arcane round penetrated the vest and an additional 16" of wet paper.
For the nosey types, real THV rounds are quite prohibited in this country. A bit of research showed the copper Arcane round pictured here to not be consistent with typical THV rounds. As well the two rounds I "inherited" from Wayne were both expended so the entire argument is pretty much moot.
The silver Arcane round is of unknown origin and was donated by James from TSE. It is apparently a target bullet that just happens to penetrate kevlar. 8)
For more info on these types of bullets see: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/THV.htm
All the above bullets were also tested in wet phonebooks.
The most impressive round was the one least suspected to be so: The 38 Spl 158gr LSWC-HP penetrated 8.5" and expanded to .620". This is comparible to the 147gr 9mm tested previously.
Unfortunately the 110gr SJHP got lost. How a bullet can get lost in a phonebook is somewhat of a mystery but it happens.
The 148gr L-SWC went out the bottom of the 16" tall bucket and was not recovered.
The SJFP penetrated 10.25" but only expanded to .440". I only had one of this bullet so there is no live round to photograph in front of the recovered bullet.
The Winchester 158gr SJHP penetrated 6.5" and expanded to .565". It lost 2/3 of its weight in the process. Not very impressive compared to the 147gr 9mm results. I expected better from the bigger 357 Mag cartridge.
The Speer Gold Dot penetrated 10" but it failed to open up. This also has happened with other bullets so I'll have to retest but it is disappointing to see it happen to a premium bullet. It just goes to show you can't predict terminal performance by how a bullet looks cause these things look like flying ashtrays.
Neither the 73gr Arcane or the 147gr Arcane expanded in any manner. although they do penetrate impressively with the lighter copper bullet stopping at 13" while the heaver version went the whole 16" to the bottom of the bucket.
