vest buster

plural vest busters

1. engineeringA handgun or cartridge that can fully penetrate a contemporary bulletproof vest.

   After the vest-buster big boomers came out and appeared on the scene in Seattle, Jax bought the forty-four.

   2016, Melanie Thompson, The Virgin Shifter

   4 more examples

   Yet, according to data published by the company, the gun press, and the federal government, it appears that the .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum is plainly capable of defeating the highest level of police body armor worn in all but SWAT-type situations. It is a vest buster.

   2004, Violence Policy Center, Vest Buster: The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum—The Gun Industry’s Latest Challenge to Law Enforcement Body Armor

   Joby nodded, “I'll wait,” and offered his support—two live rounds of 9mm Black Talon ammunition. “Vest busters,” in case the cops harassed him.

   2008, Kerrie Droban, Running with the Devil: The True Story of the ATF's Infiltration of the Hells Angels, page 121

   for, among other things, improving regulations to combat “straw purchases,” better regulating how weapons that are particularly attractive to criminal groups (such as “vest-buster” […]

   2011, Clare Ribando Seelke, “Merida Initiative for Mexico and Central America: Funding and Policy Issues”, in Current Politics and Economics of the United States, Canada and Mexico, volume 13, number 4

   A related design and marketing innovation has been the sale to civilians of “vest busters,” handguns specifically designed to penetrate body armor.

   2013, Tom Diaz, The Last Gun: How Changes in the Gun Industry are Killing Americans and what it Will Take to Stop it, page 166