Looking into plates. My buddy gave me a level 4 plate but I probably wanna buy a set. Browsing all the sites begs the question, who's reputable?

http://www.bulletproof-it.com

I used this guy, he travels the gun show, lives just north of Vancouver and met me at a gun shop same day, and for a good price.

The next option is these guys down in Texas http://www.bulletproofme.com

http://www.ar500armor.com/
https://www.spartanarmorsystems.com/lev ... rid-armor/

I have Spartan's level III+ plates. Pretty happy with them.

I gotta set of level 4 from ar500armor.com. I haven't tested them. They're heavy. I hope they'll stop rounds.

It seems like AR500 only sells a standard curved plate where a lot of other companies sell different "cuts"

If you want to put your hands on them locally go to Grey Ghost (near Rainier Arms) or Fed. Way Discount Guns.

AR500 also has left, & right handed. They are awesome. I have one of their plates, and one of their soft level IIIA for handgun.

It's been awhile since I shopped these. Here's the basics.

Materials
1. Ceramic - more expensive by about 50%, thicker, lighter, and fragile (prone to breaking if dropped or shot repeatedly). Beware of used ceramic since they may have hairline cracks only detectable by xray.
2. Steel - cheap, heavy, thin, durable, prone to spalling, won't break
3. Steel with coating - the coating reduces spalling

Various cuts and shapes. Ideal for most is a curved cut from the front, and flat for the back. Some have shooters angled cuts; personal preference.

III and IV are rated for rifle.

You should be able to get a good plate for around $100-$150 new.

AR500 seems to be a great product and they do a lot of online testing with large calibers (762x54r and 12 ga slugs). I'd probably go there unless I found a superior product for less.

An entire set of fronts, sides, and carrier should come in around $500 or so. A very good investment for the bump in the night situations.

I also have spartan plates. Great pricing and very fast product turnaround.


Haven't tested it yet....

I only see that there's one type of plate that's rated level 4 on their website. Were you able to get a different style for front or back?

AR500 also has shells to cover their plates for spall protection, they were originally advertised at $35,00 each, been a while since they announced them, they may have reduced/increased the cost since then.