Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

Hi guys,

I saw this magazine at my friends house and it advertised .223 Armor piercing. It this a bunch of bull$hit or is it legit. They looked like standard FMJs.

It is possible to add more powder to a .223 or use a hard tipped bullet to do what they advertise?

Tom

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

More than likely, it was military surplus. The slug has a much harder core than lead. Steel perhaps? If I'm not mistaken, surplus ammo from the US has to have the original powder removed. Then the company will insert new powder and reassemble. I beleive that is what they have to do, in order to sell it.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

.223 A.P. ammo most likely has a military designation of SS109 or M855 - and should have a green tip. The bullet will be a 62 grain boat-tail with a two piece core - back half is lead and front half is steel. Check it with a magnet to be sure.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

I don't want to buy them just figured it was bull-honky. There are no green tips on the bullets. They look like standard military surplus FMJ rounds.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

do you remember what magazine you saw these in, cause i think ive seen these before too

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

Most likely BS. True 5.56mm NATO AP ammo are black-tipped M955 rounds. Even green-tipped M855 isn't true AP ammo, it has a "steel penetrator core" that was designed to improve the round's ability to penetrate a steel helmet at 600 meters better than the original 5.56mm (M193) and 7.62 NATO ball.

if the magazine was Delta Force, they were M855 selling for about 10x the price you can get them anywhere else. What a joke.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

Either bogus or illegal.

AP rifle ammo is generaly legal as long as its in its original loadings. AP Pistol ammo is verboten. AP .223 ammo was legal until soem jackknobs started producing them AR-15 pistols, which placed all .223 into the pistol ammo category making it illegal to manufacture or import.[:@]

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

Not all SS109 bullets have a green tip .
IMI imported bullets don't have the green.
I get them at Widners .
They are $ 70. per thousand + shiping.

I have also seen pulled down SS109 bullets that were tumbled to remove the tar like sealant ,these had little or no Green tip left.

Johnch

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

As for armor piercing capabilities both the M855 and SS109 has no better armor peircing capabilty then say a soft point 30-30 or 308.
also i have never heard anything about military surplus ammo having the powder removed then reassembled with new powder to be legal to sell. You can buy surplus lake city SS109 which is the same exact ammo our armed forces use. the only ammo ive heard of the old powder being removed then new powder added was WWII era 50 BMG. most likely because it was machine gun ammo and would be to hot to fire in a barret or other forms of shoulder mounted rifles.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

those ar 15 pistols are dumbest things ever, id liek to smack the moron who came up with that idea. They are soooo pointless!!! serve absolutley no purpose, unless you added a stock and forearm to it but then it would be illegal. [:@][:@]

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

[img=http://img107.echo.cx/img107/3792/ar15computerpictures0059tr.th.jpg]


This one is my wifes. I love watching her out shoot most men with it!:D

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

This isn't exactly about A.P. rounds,But I bought some ammo the other day that had a polymer case.:eek: The first part from the rim to about 1/2 " up was brass then the rest of the way to the crimp ( If you want to call it that. can bend bullet out with finger) was gray plastic looking junk.Don't buy any for semi autos They are jam-o-matics. They may be alright for a bolt.I didn't even bring the rest of the 100 home to give them a chance.LOL Just thought ya'll might be interested.BTW I was shooting them in my A.R. and rarely if ever have a problem with feeding or jams it was trying to feed two at a time,bending the bullet and sending another one up under it.Not to good.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

I found a few of these at the range a couple weeks back. Wondered if they would be worth trying. Thanks for the warning. Roskoe.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

The M855/SS109 green tip ball ammo is not a true hard armor penetrator at all. It's purpose was to provide better penetration through light cover and non-hardened structures like truck/car doors and typical light building materials. They also are designed to improve penetration through any soft body armor and gear worn by enemy troops. It will not penetrate any practical thickness of genuine hardened armor plate. On impact with any truly hard material the jacket would separate, and the mass of the steel insert is very small and is not itself hardened steel, which would provide little additional penetration.

Mike

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

any rifle round will go threw bullet proof vest and kevlar, so really any round other than the fast expanding pistol rounds are "armour peiceing". But what real use do any normal people have for bullets dubd armour peirceing?

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

The military definition of "armor penetrating" differs significantly from Diane Feinstein and the press' definition, with the bulk of people falling somewhere in between in their understanding of what that term means. Most FMJ CF rifle bullets will defeat the soft body armor a police officer wears, but that doesn't make them AP rounds because the intent of their design was not to defeat soft body armor, it just happens that the armor is simply inadequate to defeat the projectile. Actual AP rounds are designed with the purpose of defeating a certain level of armoring, utilizing special materials, construction and treatments to increase the effectiveness of the projectile on said armor allowing it to penetrate that which it could not penetrate otherwise.

Mike

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

Hunter 74 - I wasn't aware they even made the M955 AP round. I remember back when the SS109/M855 first came out - they were billed as a multi purpose round that would fill both the niche of regular FMJ battle ammo and the AP rounds. Thanks for the update. Roskoe

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

The magazine was delta force.

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

its junk, supposedly the plastic is supposed to make the ammunition lighter in weight for lower freight charges. but when it comes down to it the plastic cases dont allow enough neck tension on the bullet which in my opinion from experience with the stuff accuracy suffers greatly, also its non reloadable and not any cheaper then brass cased ammo.[:'(]

RE: Armor Piercing Bullet Question
 

Get ahold of one, remove the bullet and cut it in half. You'll know what's inside.