Scans of armor penetration vs. bolt momentum using copper bolts with contact area set to 10. Results should be the same for other bolt materials (as deflection only depends on momentum of the bolt in this regime) so long as the armor has SHEAR_FRACTURE and/or SHEAR_YIELD greater than or equal to the bolt - otherwise the armor will provide no protection at any bolt momentum.

Results are show for standard dwarf fortress armor (breastplate, helm, greaves, 2 gauntlets, and two low boots, with and without 2 chain mail shirts). They are shown with Armor using either 0 or 15 (grand master) and armor quality zero or 5 (masterwork). Increasing armor quality or armor user skill slightly increases the bolt momentum required to penetrate armor.