daveg.inkc said:
DGW,, this is what the employees of Lake City call it. I have seen tungsten tipped,black. 5.56x45 that would shoot through armor plate. I acquired a strip, 3/8" thick. Nothing I had would go thru. Until this black tip was used. It did punch a hole.
I don't know what you mean by "black tip" 5.56 .
Unless it's been cleaned off, US Military M855 has a green-painted jacket tip.
M855A1 is not painted but it's pointed, one-piece (solid) core extends well past it's jacket material...and as a result, the exposed portion will tarnish to a sort of dark brownish color.
You can get a better visual of what I'm trying to say by looking at the appropriate photos supplied in this link:
https://americanreloading.com/en/72-22-caliber-222-227
If you care to study the in's and out's of various US Mil-spec 5.56 bullets and/or the ammo each are used in, and why the different types were developed...there's pages and pages of solid information available via a simple google search.
In the mean time, I'll just suffice it to reiterate that no, common "green tip" M855 ammo is not anywhere close to being "AP" ammo in the traditional sense, nor was it ever intended to be.
In other words, a short steel tip sitting atop of a lead core does not an AP bullet make...and never has. But don't take my word for it, do your own research.
DGW