Reply #84: Hunting rifles will penetrate at far greater range...

[benEzra]

since "assault weapons" are generally much lower-powered than hunting rifles (and some "assault weapons" like civilian Uzi lookalikes fire handgun rounds that won't penetrate level II or IIIA body armor at all).

What most people don't realize is that police soft body armor (level II or IIIA) is designed to resist common handgun rounds only, NOT rifle rounds. Rifle-proof body armor (proof against everything up through .30-06 military armor piercing) are available but are so bulky that only SWAT teams generally wear them. The vests issued to U.S. troops overseas are rifle-proof up through 7.62x39mm or so, but wouldn't be very comfortable for police patrol use.

BTW, here are some raw energy figures:

.Uzi lookalike (9x19mm)........................450 ft-lb
.AR-15.............................................1,275 ft-lb
.AK-47 lookalike (7.62x39mm)...............1,495 ft-lb
.30-06 deer hunting rifle....................2,900 ft-lb
.375 big-game hunting rifle (.375H&H)...4,230 ft-lb
.577 big-game hunting rifle (.577NE)....7,000 ft-lb

As far as velocity, "assault weapons" also don't rate all that high. Civilian Uzi lookalikes nominally propel a 115-grain bullet at only 1250 to 1350 ft/sec, compared to a .30-06 hunting rifle's 180-grain bullet at 2700 ft/sec. My "AK-47" lookalike throws a 123-grain bullet at 2350 feet per second and the .223 throws a little 55-grain bullet at 3250 ft/sec or a 62-grain bullet at 3000 ft/sec, but a .30-06 hunting rifle can throw a 55-grain bullet at 4080 ft/sec or a 125-grain bullet at 3140 ft/sec.