ANSI Z87.1 vs MIL-PRF-32432: the two ratings, one table, and which one your range actually needs

The two standards in one table

Figures from the sources at the bottom of this page: the ANSI test description from MSC's Z87.1 guide, the fragment sizes and velocities from the ballistic-eyewear overview, the APEL description from the U.S. Army.

What ANSI Z87.1 tests

ANSI/ISEA Z87.1 is the American standard for occupational eye and face protection. The ISEA writes it, ANSI approves it, and OSHA points to it in 29 CFR 1910.133. The current edition was published in 2020; makers cite 2010, 2015 and 2020 editions on their pages and the impact tests are the same across all three, which is why you will see "Z87.1-2010" on a pair sold today.

The part that matters for a shooter is the impact-rated designation. A lens marked plain "Z87" met the optical and basic requirements. A lens marked "Z87+" passed the high-impact tests: a 500 g pointed weight dropped from about four feet onto the lens on a head form, and a quarter-inch steel ball fired at about 150 ft/s. Frames are tested too, so a pair is only Z87+ as a whole. The marking codes that ride alongside — U6 for the UV scale, L for visible light, W for welding shades, H for small head sizes, X for anti-fog — are covered in what Z87+ means.

The steel ball is the test to picture. It is a blunt, round object at a speed you might see from a ricocheting BB or a piece of ejected brass. It is not a jagged fragment.

What MIL-PRF-32432 tests

MIL-PRF-32432 is the U.S. military's performance specification for combat eye protection — spectacles and goggles in one document, replacing the older MIL-PRF-31013 (spectacles) and MIL-DTL-43511 (goggles). Its signature test is ballistic fragmentation: a T37-shaped fragment-simulating projectile fired at the lens. The published figures for the spectacle spec it replaced are a 0.15 caliber, 5.8 grain projectile at 640–660 ft/s; goggles took a larger 0.22 caliber projectile at 550–560 ft/s. Revision publishes a STANAG V50 of 807 ft/s for its StingerHawk — the speed at which half of the fragments would defeat the lens — which gives you a sense of how much margin a good ballistic lens carries over the requirement.

Gatorz, which makes both Z87+ and MIL-PRF frames, states that the MIL-PRF-32432A test "produces approximately 7 times more impact energy than the ANSI Z87.1 standard". Howard Leight makes the same claim for its Genesis clear and amber lenses ("7X higher than ANSI"). The projectile is smaller than the ANSI ball but far faster, and it is shaped to concentrate the hit.

Where the APEL fits

The Authorized Protective Eyewear List is the U.S. Army's qualified-products list, managed by PEO Soldier through the Military Combat Eyewear Protection program. A pair on the APEL has been tested by the Army to the MIL-PRF-32432 fragmentation requirement and to optical, UV, chemical and environmental criteria, and it carries the APEL logo on the eyewear itself. The Army's own guidance is blunt: eyewear without the logo is not authorized for soldiers. For a civilian buyer the APEL is the most independent rating available, because it is the only one where someone other than the maker ran the test. The full list and how to read it are on the APEL guide.

'Meets', 'certified', 'tested to': read the verb

Every rating on this site is quoted in the maker's own words because the verb carries information. "Certified to MIL-PRF-32432" and "APEL approved" are claims of a pass on the record. "Meets" and "exceeds" are the maker's statement of a pass. "Tested to" — the wording in the press coverage of the Magpul Defiant — tells you the test was run, and nothing about the result unless the maker adds it. "Ballistic" on its own, as in the title of a youth pair we cover, is a marketing word until a standard is named next to it. None of these is a lie; they are different strengths of claim, and our rating column repeats the strongest one the maker actually made.

The other thing to read is which lenses the claim covers. Howard Leight states its military V0 pass for the clear and amber Genesis lenses and not for the vermillion; ESS lists the APEL status on one Crossbow SKU and plain Z87+ on another kit of the same frame. The claim belongs to the exact configuration tested.

Which rating you need

• Supervised range, rimfire and centerfire, paper targets: Z87+ is the floor most ranges enforce. A MIL-PRF pair costs little more and closes the gap between "ejected brass" and "fragment from a squib or a ricochet off a hard target".
• Steel targets, indoor ranges, any bay with backsplash: MIL-PRF. Spall off steel is exactly the small, fast, jagged thing the fragmentation test simulates.
• Air guns, BB guns, airsoft, especially for children: MIL-PRF, ideally a sealed goggle with a strap. The American Academy of Ophthalmology says ballistic eyewear is the only protective eyewear designed for use with air guns and cautions that civilian "Z"-rated eyewear is insufficient. The injury data is on the air-gun eye injury guide.
• Clays, upland hunting: Z87+ with the right tint; the hazard is a stray pellet or a chip of clay, both well inside what the ANSI ball simulates. See the sporting clays picks.
• The workshop: Z87+, and a sealed goggle when dust is the hazard. See goggles vs glasses.

Picks at each tier

One pair at each rung, each linking to the maker's statement: a Z87.1-2020+ frameless pair for the shop and the range bag, a MIL-PRF-32432A changeable-lens frame for the range, an APEL-listed kit, and the pair with the most completely documented rating we have found.

The full ranked field, with the rating column on every row, is on the best shooting glasses.