Found a guy selling military issue ballistic plates.  So...

1)  Is it possible for civilians to legally own them?  I don't want to buy stolen shit.  He says he is ex .mil
2)  Do these plates go bad with age, like kevlar?
3)  What is the going rate for a set of front and back plates?

Legal as long as they are not stolen from .mil
They don't go bad as far as I know.
Price depends if they are SAPI or ESAPI. The Boron Carbide ESAPI plates can be bought 1500-2000 from stores, some limit them to .mil and LEO. The old plates are more like half that from what I have seen.

I would be very careful If they say US and have a NSN on them. It's possible that he lost his, bought new ones, and found his original issue ones, and is selling his extra ones perfectly legally. It is also possible they are stolen.

Personally, I wouldn't touch 'em.

First, they are most likely inappropriately acquired from the military; do you think they just give plates away or you keep 'em when you get out?  While I've seen some loose accounting for plates when we went from IIIs to IVs, they are still accountable items.

So while it may be a good deal, would you knowingly buy stolen property?  Just sayin'...

Second, there are non-stolen plates available from commercial retailers, of which you can be certain of the quality, rating and condition.

They do have a rather big "US" printed on them.  So I guess the bottom line question is it possible to legally obtain (buy) military issue plates brand new?  I'm just trying to gauge the likelihood that this guy bought them new as a civilian and now is selling them, or if he stole them.

If you have to ask...kind of along the lines of if it seems to good of a deal to be true...

Odds they are legal is probably 1 in 10. Ceradyne only puts US on them if they get sold to DOD, There is a very small possibility he bought them from DOD. A much more likely explanation is that they are SAPI plates, and when his unit upgraded to ESAPI they didn't take back the old plates, some lost paperwork, and CIF doesn't know he has to turn them in. Paperwork wise he doesn't have to turn them in, but they are still .mil property.

It just doesn't pass the smell test, I would walk.

This...what I meant by IIIs (SAPIs) to IVs (E-SAPIs).

May be a really good deal but you know you shouldn't.