The Box O' Truth #47 - Laminated Bullet Proof Glass - Pistols

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The Box O' Truth #47 - Laminated Bullet Proof Glass - Pistols - Page 1

I recently had a friend of The Box O' Truth named David, who sent me an e-mail and told me about some glass he manufactures. (His web site is BP-Glass.com, but it not up yet. He can be reached at david@bp-glass.com)

He said, "I can provide you with some layered, laminated, bullet proof glass, that is much more bullet resistant than the cast poly sheet glass you shot before. This is rated as NIJ IIIA, for a .44 Magnum. If you want, I will also send you a sheet of NIJ III Rifle Rated glass."

How could I pass up a chance like this?

He shipped me two sheets of Pistol glass, and one Rifle sample.

Today, we will test the pistol rated glass.

The sheets are 20 inches by 20 inches, and are thick and heavy.

The first sample is 20 X 20 and 1.24 inches thick.

It has 3 layers of glass and weighs 42 pounds.

Yep, you read that right... 42 pounds. This is heavy stuff.

It is rated NIJ IIIA for Pistols.

I built a rack to rest it on so that we could shoot it. I also placed a plastic drip cloth on the ground, as this type of glass puts off shards of glass when it is shot and I wanted to be able to easily clean up the range after we are through.

To pass the NIJ tests, a sheet of this glass must be able to be shot 5 times, in a pattern like on a piece of dice, and not fail. So, it is okay to shoot one piece more than once. David also suggested that I shoot it with a rifle, even though it is not rated for rifles, just to see what would happen.

First, let's be clear about what we are doing. We know this glass will pass the NIJ IIIA Pistol standards, and that means 5 rounds of .44 Magnum without allowing any penetration. We are going to go "above and beyond" and see what it will take to break this glass today.

We will first shoot it with a 9mm Ball.

Here I am with my Shadow and some 9mm Ball, shooting at about 15 yards.

The glass stopped the 9mm, just as expected.

You will notice the large damaged area, but that is how this glass is designed to work.

Next, I figured we would try a round of 7.62 X 25 Tokarev, a very good penetrator.

Here I am with my T-33.

Just as I got ready to shoot, I swallowed a mosquito and got choked.

Vern thought that was funny, so took a picture of me choking.