I'd be worried that I'd run into an attacker who thinks like me. "Hey, I hit him dead center chest and he didn't go down. I'll aim for the head next."

Sounds gruesome, but if you're serious about self defense you have to be willing to think through the various scenarios you might encounter and plan for them. Including an armored assailant.

So head shots are one potential minus for rifle plates. However, they are cheap (relatively speaking), and that's a definite plus for them. An additional plus is that even an untrained attacker will probably shoot for the chest - where the plate is - just by instinct. And a second minus is that they'll most likely pull the shot way low due to lack of training and practice, and get you in the abdomen, below the plate.

So the typical idiot attacker will pull their initial shot and hit you low, then under recoil their second uncontrolled shot will hit you high. Your rifle plate will remain unscathed. You can't win! (sarcasm)

If that happens, you are at least not worse off than not wearing a rifle plate. Your rifle plate will stay in mint condition . In some cases the plate may help.
I contemplated to get a chain mail shirt under my shirt. Culture shifted to a little more blade works and most injuries occur in the abdominal and chest region. OTOH incedients are really rare where I live.

Most people aren't great shots and hitting someone in the head is no mean feat on a two way range.

I shoot weekly with a couple of friends at a high end indoor range... they are content to slow fire at targets at 5 and 7 yards.. I shoot at 25yd...they are convinced that any attacker will wait until they get that close...I'm not so sure

I've been shooting the practical gun games for nearly 40 years... slowed down on the 3 gun and USPSA pistol, but shoot PCC and Steel Challenge... it is nice to know that your 3 gun rifle is capable of 10" MGM flash targets at 418m with a 15" wind hold off, and that an AR9mm handles just like the 5.56 version

I used to do high power metallic silhouette and bowling pin shooting. Tons of fun! I'd like to get back into some form of competition but it will have to wait til the pandemic blows over (and of course til ammo returns).

Some say there's no legal justification for taking a shot past 25 yards but simply perusing the news stories will show otherwise. I recall one case where a private citizen came to the aid of an LEO that was pinned down behind a tree by a rifle armed felon. The GGWAG opened fire on the BG at something like 100 yards with his wheelgun. Obviously if you're taking fire from whatever range and can't escape you probably have justification to defend yourself.

You can't armor up your entire body but a lot of people have been saved by body armor, hard and soft. I have some soft panels and some steel IIIa (hard to explain the thought process I grant you...) purchased back when pistols where the main threat. While they probably still are the primary weapons of your average criminal the ubiquity of the AR over the last decade has led to rifles being used in crime more. They're still not that common but if I wind up in a gunfight I'm already having a "Black Swan" kind of a day. There's a non-zero chance of facing off against an adversary that's armed with a rifle so I am at least considering it as an option.

For new gun owners, or those who have minimal training in the "art" of self-defense (vs. shooting holes in stationary paper targets), my friend Rich Grassi just published a column into which I had some input that may be worth your while reviewing:

https://www.shootingwire.com/features2c6d52e2-7eb8-4171-85f0-98b748dfa52b

At the end, you'll note that he suggests the Armed Citizen Legal Defense Network.  I prefer, and we endorse and have teamed up with, U.S. Law Shield. As disclosure, Knife Rights gets a modest payment when someone signs up through us: https://kniferights.org/legislative-update/protect-yourself    Signing up through us provides a significant discount.

Stay secure, stay safe.

More small and large gear bags.
gotta keep it all organized.

I'm still looking to find me one of them bad boy 10,000 amp batteries! Don't accidentally short the contacts, or you'll vaporize North America.

Got a bunch of filters for my mask. Don't want to smell my delicious Indian lunch the day after.

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