#NIJLevelIV

Aside from huge rifles like .50 BMG and the like, that is. NIJ 0101.06 Level IV specifies that the plate must be able to stop .30-06 M2AP at 2,880 fps. I’m case you’re not familiar with M2AP, it is a copper jacketed projectile with a hardened steel core. It was issued during WWII originally as special purpose ammunition, as is typically the case with armor piercing ammo, but eventually replaced M1 .30 caliber FMJ due to its superior performance. Joes loved it because it could get through almost anything and it was quite terminally effective. It’s so good at getting through barriers that armor designed to stop M2AP has been able to stop almost anything else thrown at it. YouTube armor testers such as Buffman R.A.N.G.E. and The Wound Channel have determined that .300 Winmag is no match for level IV and only one really hot .338 RUM load was able to get through an Armour Wear Level IV.

That seems like a pretty straightforward question, doesn’t it? On the surface, armor piercing ammunition ought to be ammunition that pierces armor, right? Seems pretty simple. Except it isn’t. At least, not according to the BATFE. Under 18 United States code, AP ammo is defined rather arbitrarily as: