Quote:
Originally Posted by dragoon500ly
Only online source I could ever find is forgotten weapons.com, who did tests on the German version, this was proof against rifle fire at up to 4-500 yards.
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Just a note that, if it's the video I saw, it was a reproduction with different (softer) metallurgy than the actual German armor. What's seen in the video is less than what the actual armor could do.
An American heavy armor was developed in 1918; while (as far as I know) it was never used, a single company (Mullins and Company) received the prototype, developed dies and had 50 sets of armor on a ship to France 26 days after receiving the prototype. It consisted of a breastplate (16 pounds) and thigh plates (6 pounds) with vulcanized sponge rubber padding on the inside. It was frowned upon by the testing unit because it caused fatigue and was noisy; they recommended discarding the thigh plates and adding a backplate to better balance the weight. In testing, it was proof against 7.92mm machinegun fire at 300 yards and .30-06 rifle fire at 200 yards.
American light armor consisted of a breast-and-back-plate weighing 8.5 pounds. It was developed by the Engineering Division of the Ordnance Department, and made of manganese steel plates held together by leather, padded with an inch of sponge rubber. It was proof against pistol fire ("service ammunition of the automatic revolver") at 850 feet per second - I assume the M1917 is the revolver in question, since its .45 ACP round in military ball should have a velocity around the quoted 850 fps.