Another stoopid 5.56 question

i dont know why they do it but all of the m855 i have used had green tips, its normal. Thats what all the 556 ball ammo that has ever been issued to me has looked like.
 
:D

Well, the label reads "NOT FOR DUTY USE" and "5.56x45mm 62 grain FMJ ball", and the cardboard separators read "5.56MM BALL M855 10 ROUND CLIPS" and the headstamps are, unless my eyes deceive me, Lake City 11

so...not bad at 170 bucks for 420 ?:) It's nice that they are all on stripper clips and the can had a mag charger
 
Green tip M855 = SS109

These are SS109 bullets, a common NATO cart. They have a steel cone in the tip (find a magnet). AKA "Penetrator", they are nasty on steel reinforced concrete:D. Some ranges disallow bullets with steel.

I do not know why they would be labeled "not for duty use", because this is a duty load, not a practice M193 (55 gr lead core) round.

There is a new version in military use the M855A1, so maybe there is a sell off of the old spec:

"Cartridge, Caliber 5.56 mm, Ball, M855 (United States): 5.56x45mm 62-grain FN SS109 ball cartridge, green tip w/steel penetrator and a lead core.
Cartridge, Caliber 5.56 mm, Ball, M855 Lead Free (United States):62-grain green tip w/tungsten penetrator and a steel core. Primarily used during training in countries with strict lead disposal laws.
Cartridge, Caliber 5.56 mm, Ball, M855A1 (United States):62-grain green tip w/19-grain steel penetrator tip and a solid copper core.

M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round and its environmentally friendly projectile.
220px-5.56_M855A1_Enhanced_Performance_Round.jpg

June 2010, the United States Army announced it began shipping its new 5.56mm cartridge, the M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round, to active combat zones. During testing, the M855A1 performed better than current 7.62x51mm NATO ball ammunition against certain types of targets (particularly hardened steel), blurring the performance differences that previously separated the two cartridges. The US Army Picatinny Arsenal stated that the new M855A1 offers improved hard target capability, more consistent performance at all distances, enhanced dependability, improved accuracy, reduced muzzle flash, and higher velocity compared to the M855 round. Further the Army stated the new M855A1 ammunition is tailored for use in M4 carbines but should also give enhanced performance in M16 rifles and M249 light machine guns. The new 62-grain (4 g) projectile or bullet used in the M855A1 round has a copper core with a 19-grain (1.2 g) steel “stacked-cone” penetrating tip. The M855A1 cartridge is sometimes referred to as "green ammo" because it fires a lead free projectile.[32][33][34][35][36][37]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.56×45mm_NATO
 
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Bullet tips are green. Howcumzit?
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When M855 was adopted, there were both M16A1 and M16A2 rifles in service (and I suspect there are still M16A1s out there somewhere). The M16A1 has a 1:12 twist and cannot shoot the longer 62gr ammo without tumbling. M855 is emergency-use only for M16A1s. Accordingly, they marked M855 with green tips so it could be distinguished from M193 FMJ. Apparently, they still do this some 25 years after the introduction of M855.

The XM855 ammo is loaded by Federal in the same plant and using similar components to what M855 is loaded with, so it apparently has the same green tips.

They have a steel cone in the tip (find a magnet). AKA "Penetrator", they are nasty on steel reinforced concrete.
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The M855 has a 4.7gr steel cone in the tip so it can penetrate 10ga mild rolled steel (old M1 helmet) at 600m - this was a requirement for M855. At closer ranges, it is about equal with M193 55gr ball (which has more velocity). At longer ranges the better BC, penetrator and mass give it an edge over M193.
 
If by "nasty" you mean "results in a small crater and a puff of dust, completely failing to penetrate", then yes, they are "nasty."
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Allow me to clarify what I mean by nasty on reinforced concrete: 36th of 36 rounds at close range, fired at the same point of impact, completely penetrated 12" thick concrete and the piece of rebar in the middle.:p:p

I do not believe you can fit a quarter through the hole. Don't try this at home; what the heck, go ahead and try it. Did it here:
9337019.jpg
 
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Marco, Back in my day(the anchient time of 1981 lol) the M193 wasnt a practice round...we made it through somehow. (I would still rather fight with a M16A1 20in barrel/ M193 than a M4 14.5 inch barrel and /M885 against targets not wearing body armor) Somalia showed why.( we all suspected it before Somalia) SS109/M885 was made to fight warsaw pact troops wearing the titainum body armor they had at the time....on skinny unarmored folk they are like icepick stabs...they stay stable and point forward, and intact.
where a M193 could destabilize on a bicept hit and bust into peices.
M193 wasnt very good on laminated car windshields and some building materials however..so by no means perfect. But on flesh it could be rather nasty.
 
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Federal XM855 Green Tip Steel Penetrator

Federal XM855 Green Tip Steel Penetrator .223/5.56mm 62 Grain Full Metal Jacket. This is designed after the famous and hard to find mil-spec M855 Steel core. Green Tip. It is loaded to NATO specs and is NOT intended for use in commercial or bolt-action rifles chambered in 223 Remington ammo, but is perfect for your AR15 in 5.56 cal. ;)
 
mostlikey a cheap European knock off.

XM558 are the ones you want.
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Anything with "X" at the beginning is a reject in some way or other, and did not meet mil spec. Could be missing waterproofing of the primer or tar at mouth, things like that.

Also, any 5.56 packed loose in a bulk box is a reject in one way or another.

Learned this from the www.ar15.com site ;)
 
All the green tipped 5.56 rounds i've ever shot were AP (armor piercing).
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Armor-piercing 5.56 ammo (M995) is marked with a black tip. Green-tip ammo designates M855, which is not armor-piercing. It just has the tiny steel penetrator to meet the requirement mentioned above. In terms of "armor-piercing" it is pretty much the same as FMJ ammo.
 
Anything with "X" at the beginning is a reject in some way or other, and did not meet mil spec
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I have to disagree somewhat. For the bulk of the past century, the "X" at the start of a military designation has indicated prototype/test equipment, meaning something made before (or made to those specs) before regular adoption by the services. Guns, ammo, planes, tanks, and likely typewriters and all kinds of other stuff is always designated "X"something before adoption.

Somtimes it doesn't get adopted and keeps the X designation forever. Your ammo could be leftovers from a test batch or something like that.
 
Anything with "X" at the beginning is a reject in some way or other, and did not meet mil spec

I have to disagree somewhat. For the bulk of the past century, the "X" at the start of a military designation has indicated prototype/test equipment, meaning something made before (or made to those specs) before regular adoption by the services. Guns, ammo, planes, tanks, and likely typewriters and all kinds of other stuff is always designated "X"something before adoption.

Somtimes it doesn't get adopted and keeps the X designation forever. Your ammo could be leftovers from a test batch or something like that.
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I'm by no means an expert, but the experts over at arf hold this to be gospel when it comes to 5.56 ammo... :)
 
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