During some of my casual testing many years ago, I decided to test the power of .38 Special versus .357 Magnum 158-grain lead semi-wadcutter bullets fired against cinder blocks (I used four-inch-barreled revolvers in the test). Cinder block walls are fairly good cover, in many cases. In my test, the .38 Special bullets fired against these blocks made a .35-inch diameter chip or dent in the block and precious little else. When I loaded the same gun (I believe it was a Ruger Security Six) with the .357 Magnum rounds, the block crumbled with the first shot. A single-row wall being pounded with this round would soon have holes punched through it with this weapon, and I daresay that rounds like the .41 and .44 Magnum and bigger would be even more destructive. The lesson here is don’t assume you’re safe behind cinder block or any other cover when your assailant “only” has a handgun. It all depends on the caliber and what particular round and load is in it.
I have mixed feelings about body armor for my personal calamity survival plan. I have worn soft body armor religiously since it became available to me in 1984. I don’t recall a time of not wearing it when on any form of duty. It is a critical piece of police gear, and anyone who won’t wear it on duty is a fool.
But, and this is a big but, the soft body armor I wear beneath my uniform shirt is rated to stop only the most commonly encountered pistol calibers. It will not stop rifle fire unless there’s an armored plate in the armor’s carrier designed for such things. This is why the armor-piercing (AP) version of the 5.7×28mm isn’t available to civilians. It will still punch through soft body armor when fired not only out of the PS90 carbine, but also out of the Five-seveN pistol.
When I wear my body armor, I’m traveling about in my police cruiser with access to air conditioning for most of my shift. I’m not walking with it on for miles. It takes NIJ (National Institutes of Justice) Level IV heavy-duty S.W.A.T. armor with armor plates to stop AP rounds. How many realize how heavy this type of armor is? The answer is, not many of you. I have worn that armor only for short-term purposes, such as on S.W.A.T. raids, where I was driven to the site in a van and had a distance of less than 100 yards to traverse by foot, including all the distances covered in whatever structure we were in. I would never wear that level of protection on an open area rural search unless I was searching for someone known to be armed with a rifle. It is so heavy it makes you clumsy, and that is one of the primary reasons cops don’t wear this much protection all the time.
Good armor is expensive, especially the stuff that stops rifle fire (and which is not normally available to civilians), and it is hot and heavy. If any Kevlar-type soft armor is worn constantly and gets sweaty, gets wet too often from rainfall, or is much older than five years, it is on its way to failure. If I felt the need for armor, I would get NIJ Level II concealable armor and perhaps add an armor plate, a small one, for the center of the chest (assuming there’s a pocket for one).
Since, armor has more limitations than you may have thought, I think there are better ways to spend your resources. For instance, used armor could be purchased and placed in the door panels of your car or rolled up in your windows to protect the glass (and you) from blunt-force trauma coming your way.
Protection by Your Vehicle
When cover versus concealment was discussed earlier, I mentioned automobiles as cover. Cars and trucks make the best cover when they are moving, as it’s much harder to hit a moving target in an area that disables the engine or the driver. The thing to remember here is that, if you are trying to clear out of a contested area in your car, keep low and keep driving. Only try to shoot if your vehicle is being overrun, otherwise focus on your driving. You are likely to make it out against all but the most withering fire from high-powered rifles.
Pistol bullets are small and low powered. They will rapidly disable an auto only with a lucky shot. The most vulnerable area in any car is the side window safety glass, which is designed to break easily to allow access to or egress from a vehicle in an emergency. Windshield and rear window glass is laminated glass. A thin sheet of clear plastic binds two sections of glass together in the middle. It is much harder for bullets to penetrate laminated glass, especially if the vehicle is moving and particularly if the window has a significant sloping angle to it, such as on a sports car.
Shooting tires does not rapidly disable a vehicle and certainly doesn’t make a vehicle blow up and flip over. Tires also don’t pop when hit by bullets. They’re made of synthetic rubber and steel and Kevlar fiber—just the kind of stuff you make body armor out of. You can drive a long way even on tires that have been totally destroyed by police spike strips. Just watch the evening news or episodes of Cops. Watch the vehicles continue to drive for a long distance (albeit much slower), on the steel rims only, as they throw up a rooster tail shower of sparks.
One last thought on this subject. A basic principle of carrying a gun either off-duty as a cop or with a license as a concealed carry permit holder is that the presence of that gun or guns does not make you invincible. If it did, we would never have cops killed or injured from anything other than automobile-related events. When I’m off-duty, I don’t want confrontation. Just because I have a firearm(s), doesn’t mean that I can or should drive through any neighborhood with impunity. If dangerous areas can be avoided, then do so. The route around them may be longer, but the issue for us is not one of the shortest distance between points, but, rather, what is the safest. Where can I drive without fear of being swarmed or carjacked, or even struck by unintended gunfire? No matter how many guns and guys/gals you have with you, always take the path of least resistance.
Indirect Ricochet Fire
In order to perform in a superior manner with a firearm, you have to understand not only its and your limitations, but also things it can do that may be advantageous to your situation. One of those advantageous characteristics of a rifle, shotgun, or pistol to be familiar with is the possibility of directing effective indirect or ricochet fire against a partially obscured opponent, who may be prone on the ground. Projectiles fired at less than a 45-degree angle to a hard surface (concrete, asphalt, hard packed earth, water, and brick or cinder block walls), don’t act like pool balls and just and bounce away at the same angle they came in. They bounce up and travel parallel with that hard surface, six to eight inches above it, until they impact something in their path. Yes, the bullet or shot may be deformed, but it’s gonna hurt what it hits, like a bad guy’s head—or your head while you hide under a car. The principle works both ways; it’s a law of physics. Understanding this phenomena means you can use it to your advantage in a firefight, knowing that your aim doesn’t always need to be direct or even in line of sight to be effective. Which brings me to the next area of concern, suppressive fire.