hmm never heard of any vest that would stop a 30-06 AP round doing its standered velocity. I could see possibly the best heavy duty trauma plate stopping one round ...maybe but not more!
Some level IV and most level V I've seen tested will stop them and without trauma plates. Now, these aren't "under the t-shirt" type vests, of course. These are big, bulky, and heavy pieces that ADA guys would normally wear. A variant of "dragonskin" can defeat a direct shot from an M-67 grenade with zero penetration. It isn't pretty, but there's ZERO penetration.
Most of these items are thick and defeat projectiles by flattening them initially which spreads out the force of the bullet and then slowing it down as the garment compresses. This minimizes ablation of the suit.
There are some theories that they work well on AP rounds by turning the bullet sideways as it is "caught", and that drastically increases the penetration surface area.
I guarantee you that you will have one hell of a bruise where the round hit the plate!
Maybe . . . maybe not. It depends on where the plate was and how the suit works. It also depends on the size of the plate. Where the plate is bad is that it stops the bullet instantaneously transferring ALL the energy to the person instantaneously. The GOOD thing is that it spreads that force out over the surface area of the plate i.e. the bigger the plate, the less the concentrated impact. So, depending on the plate size, it could be a significant impact or it may not phase the subject in the least.
Most level IV's and V's I've worked with don't use plates per se as the main stopping component. There's going to be several layers of material slowing that projectile down over time as well as spreading that force out.
Bullets don't have this amazing destructive force through a vest like people might think . . . not a GOOD vest, at least. Think about the recoil of the average handgun. More or less, the bullet has the same force as the recoil that launched it (basic physics). One can argue losses, BUT, the bullet will suffer more losses than the firearm by far (depending on range). So, if a bullet has the ability to crush bones, rupture organs, and cause the heart to stop, then so would the recoil of the gun, right?
If you want to see a great example, check out the video of the two bank robbers in California who were in extensive body armor. It's pretty telling. They're standing up against round after round of handgun and shotgun vollies. You can see them being hit as they walk around, return fire, reload, and operate like nothing much was going on. They're NOT being knocked unconcious, suffering massive internal injuries, and all the things we're told will happen even with a vest. There's some footage of one of them being shot from behind while he's firing to the front, and it doesn't even look like he noticed the hits. And those suits weren't as sophisticated as something like DA or other reactive plate armor.
The "Box o' Truth" has a level III vest getting shot. It's pretty good. It shows modeling clay behind the vest to see what happens. While the cavities are fairly dramatic, one must keep in mind that . . . it's modeling clay i.e. VERY soft. I'm not sure how to simulate modeling clay v.s. flesh. Of course, level III is against handgun and shotgun only, and is considered an "emergency" vest i.e. "we might need it . . . one day". When you get into level IV and level V suits, those are "most likely I'm going to need this" things.
its like that stupidity the cops did in that Hollywood bank robbery. all they had to do was use slugs and or buck on the feet.. suspect down! feet shot to pieces and if the armor had stopped a slugs penetration then the impact would have broken ribs... I saw a vid of a clay dummy with the big IV class vest on take a hit on the plate with a one oz. rifled slug, huge crater in the clay!! no way the ribs survived that one.
Actually, if memory serves me correctly, they had coverings on their feet.
As for a class IV vest not protecting against a slug, I'd question the vest. Here's a modeling clay shot of a 12 guage slug against a threat III vest. It's not particularly impressive:
Actually, a slug is more conducive to being stopped as it is a low velocity "fat" projectile. That's ideal for a vest to stop, really.
Think about it this way. Get a GOOD threat III or threat IV vest. Put the butt of the shotgun against the vest. Pull the trigger. Did it rupture your spleen or break your ribs? If not, why would the slug? Energies would be very close to each other one would think. Granted the butt is significantly bigger in area, but you could just put the edge of the butt against the vest for accuracy.