European Archery/ Agincourt/crecy/etc

[kronckew]

ah, well. did a bit more research.

armour piercing handgun bullets are made with a sintered tungsten alloy or a case hardened steel penetrator core that unlike lead does not deform when striking a kevlar jacket. the deformation of the lead projectile (even if copper jacketed) spreads the impact load even further on the kevlar layers not yet penetrated, slowing the projectile and resisting penetrating further. the pointier tungsten penetrator doesn't deform and thus can get thru more layers of kevlar.

teflon is used to protect the bore of the handgun from frictional erosion from the harder projectile. they may also be copper jacketed to aid in engaging the rifling. they are also less accurate and have a shorter effective range.

kevlar jackets that have been shot have been compromised and are replaced as further shots in the area where bullets strike have broken kevlar strands and if hit again may be penetrated. normal bullets may also penetrate up to 18 layers of kevlar armour at close range when fired out of longer (5"+) barrels. people wearing kevlar who are shot are often put out of action temporarily or even knocked out due to soft tissue injury and trauma. it's like being hit hard with a hammer. still better than being penetrated by a bullet.

the gravity powered device used in the video to impact a soft iron bodkin onto a flat steel armour plate backed by what appears to be an inflexible hard backing layer may be an over simplification of the terminal ballistics. tests with actual arrows show penetration of breastplates, tho the points were usually stopped in the padded undergarment (but would have been uncomfortable to any wearer).

the agincourt video above implies the bodkin points were soft iron and could not penetrate armour at all. contemporary accounts recorded that they could at close range. case hardening was a known technique used since late roman times, often used to add carbon to rods used in pattern welded swords. maybe the bodkins were case hardened? not terribly hard to pack a bunch of them in an air tight container filled with leather, hooves, salt and urine and heat the mix. case hardening of armour items would be more difficult. actual tests with case hardened bodkins would be interesting.

the subject of kevlar also brings to mind the old layered linen armour which would stop arrows and resist sword cuts. british archers wore padded jackets for the same reason. nothing new under the sun.