Preview: Full Forge Gear Shooter’s Cut Armor Plates

by
posted on January 26, 2025
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
Full Forge Gear Shooter’s Cut Armor Plates

A maker of durable backpacks, range bags and gun cases—Full Forge Gear recently leveraged its knowledge of heavy-duty materials to leap into the personal-armor market with the introduction of the Shelter plate carrier and two different lightweight plate options compatible with it.

Both offered in a shooter’s cut, which provides a greater coverage area than swimmer’s cut plates but grants the arms less range of motion, the Extreme Lite plates are Level IIIA (rated to stop handgun bullets up to .44 Mag.) by the National Institute of Justice, while the Feather Weight plates meet NIJ’s Level IV standard and are thus capable of countering even many high-velocity rifle cartridges. Incredibly light for their respective ratings, Extreme Lite plates weigh only 1 lb., 5 ozs., each and the Feather Weights run 6 lbs., 11 ozs., apiece.

MSRPs are as follows: Shelter, $180; Extreme Lite (Level IIIA), $136; Feather Weight (Level IV), $216. For more information, visit fullforgegear.com.

Latest

Taurus Expedition Rifleman Review 1
Taurus Expedition Rifleman Review 1

Rifleman Review: Taurus Expedition

Taurus entered the bolt-action rifle market with its Expedition, a Remington 700-pattern design that's built to be versatile and affordable.

New For 2025: Charter Arms Pathfinder II

Charter Arms updated one of the oldest models in its lineup with the new Pathfinder II, which features a lightweight 7075 aluminum frame, making it more well-balanced and easier to carry.

Review: Kimber 2K11

The 2011-style pistol was designed to address the capacity limitations of the single-stack M1911 platform, and Kimber's approach to the concept is its 2K11, a competition-ready offering with several notable features.

Favorite Firearms: A High-Flying Hi-Standard “A-D”

Manufactured in New Haven, Conn., in late 1940, this Hi-Standard pistol was shipped as a Model “A,” but a heavier Model “D” barrel was installed later to replace the original, light barrel, leading one American Rifleman reader to call it a Model “A-D.”

Ruger Helps Families In Need Through The Kids & Clays Foundation

In the effort to help tens of thousands of critically ill children and their families across the nation through local Ronald McDonald Houses, Ruger is among some of the industry’s foremost Platinum-level sponsors of The Kids & Clays Foundation.

Unlocking The Future: Smith & Wesson's "No Lock" Revolvers

The future is shaping up to be a good one for fans of Smith & Wesson revolvers. The iconic American company had released 14 new models thus far in 2025 at the time this was written mid-year. And, with one exception, they have all shared a common feature—no internal lock.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.