Can Level IIIA armor stop .357 mag fired from a carbine?

[Andrew Wiggin]

Level IIIA soft armor is rated for 158 gr .357 mag at about 1,400* fps but a 16" carbine pushes that bullet about 400 fps faster. On the one hand, it is moving seriously fast, about 1,800 fps. On the other hand, It is a pistol bullet with a low sectional density compared to rifle bullets and a flat nose with exposed lead. Care to make a prediction?

The load in question is American Eagle 158 gr JSP. The rifle is a Rossi M92 carbine.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-vHYUx01FM


Link to video of test (https://youtu.be/T-vHYUx01FM)



*Technically, Level IIIA is rated for a 240 gr .44 mag at about 1,400 fps and for everything that Level II and below is rated for and Level II is rated for 158 gr .357 at about 1,400 fps.

[Jeep]

Another very nice test, Andrew. A 158 gr .357 round out of a revolver is a an excellent pistol round. Out of a carbine it is a decent rifle round--it isn't much weaker than normal commercial 30-30 loads, and the 30-30 is an effective round.

The JSP (or for some uses a hard cast 180) is also the way to go with a carbine.

[Andrew Wiggin]

Thank you. Yeah, a 158 gr JSP from a carbine does damage in gel that looks a lot like a heavy OTM in .223.