will standard 7.62x39 penetrate bullet proof vest ?

[Eight O Clock]

I was watching a show on the North Hollywood shoot out and the bad guys were using 7.62x39 rounds in an SKS and AK-47 I believe. They said the bullets would tear through a cops vest like it was nothing.

Does that mean they had special ammo or would standard Wolf ammo do that just the same ?

They also said the rounds were cutting through police cars like butter.

[bluestaterebel]

YES

[bluestaterebel]

Pretty much any rifle round will go through bullet proof vests

[bombadillo]

police class III balistic kevlar is only meant to stop handgun rounds in reality.

[Turo]

Pretty much any rifle round will go through bullet proof vests

This is slightly misleading. There are multiple levels of bullet proof vests, and while many rifle caliber rounds can penetrate the lower levels (I, II, and some III) There are vests specifically made to stop rifle rounds, along with ceramic plates that help tremendously.

Just make sure you are more careful making blanket statements, as they can easily be interpreted incorrectly.

[Noobert]

To quote box o' truth, "Pistols are pistols and rifles are rifles". Their vest may stop a pistol but not a 7.62

[Stanze]

AK-47 vs. Level IIIA Armor.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot16_5.htm

[Unit74]

Bullet resistant is more of an accurate description.

[SJgunguy24]

Bullet resistant is more of an accurate description.

I was gonna go there but thanks for saving me the trouble.
Level and 3a are rated for heavy handgun rounds. Level 3 is rated for rifle rounds, now thats only 1-2 hits before failure. Then there's level 4 which is rated for multible hits from 7.62 class rifles.
Any centerfire round will zip right through and of the 1-2-3a vests.

[tombinghamthegreat]

Standard police vest might stop some handguns, it more than likely will not stop most rifle calibers. In the case of the 7.62, it will defeat commonly used vests.

[nick]

police class III balistic kevlar is only meant to stop handgun rounds in reality.

Class IIIa, to be sure.

[hlcarbine]

I have shot at level 3 ballistic vest inserts and handguns are stopped but rifle rounds go straight through. I shot 223, 7.62 x 39, 7.62x54, 22-250, 6.8 spc and all went straight through.
I will say that even with a vest on I wouldn't want to get hit by any caliber round. After about 10 .40sw rounds the vest was real beat up. It looked like it caved in the middle even though it stopped all ten.

[CSDGuy]

An NIJ Level III vest will protect you against a .308 147gr FMJ bullet doing about 2780 fps.

That round will penetrate any Level IIIa or below, probably like the vest wasn't even there.

[SkiDevil]

North Hollywood shoot out . . . the bad guys were using 7.62x39 rounds in AK-47s. . . .

Does that mean they had special ammo or would standard Wolf ammo do that just the same ?

The two North Hollywood Bandits/ A******S used ARMOR PIERCING AMMO in full auto AKM/ AK-47 type rifles. It was rumored that the rifles were brought-in from Mexico.

ANY Body Armor can fail. Hence the phrase "Bullet Resistant."

It has happened in the past and will happen in the future.

Even armor rated for rifle rounds can fail as well. Best tactic IF possible is to stay out of the line of fire, when feasible.

[HotRails]

The two North Hollywood Bandits/ A******S used ARMOR PIERCING AMMO in full auto AKM/ AK-47 type rifles. It was rumored that the rifles were brought-in from Mexico.

ANY Body Armor can fail. Hence the phrase "Bullet Resistant."

It has happened in the past and will happen in the future.

Even armor rated for rifle rounds can fail as well. Best tactic IF possible is to stay out of the line of fire, when feasible.

I still marvel to this day that no one except the perps died that day!