{"id":391628,"date":"2023-03-09T13:00:26","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T19:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/?p=391628"},"modified":"2023-04-17T09:52:12","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T14:52:12","slug":"green-tip-ammo-why-many-ranges-say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/green-tip-ammo-why-many-ranges-say-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Tip Ammo: Why Many Ranges Say \u201cNo\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you shoot at an indoor range, chances are that you can\u2019t shoot Green Tip 5.56 rounds. That may even be the case at an outdoor range. There are reasons for that, and it\u2019s not because Green Tip ammo is \u201carmor piercing,\u201d which it isn\u2019t. Nor are the ranges trying to inconvenience you, though it may seem that way, especially at outdoor facilities. Green Tip ammo has been subjected to plenty of political propaganda, so let\u2019s start by looking at what those rounds are, and what they are not.<\/p>\n

\"M855
Many ranges prohibit Green Tip Ammo. (wideners.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Standard NATO Round<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Green Tips are more formally known as the M855 round, which is the US military\u2019s designation for the SS109 NATO cartridge. They\u2019re called \u201cGreen Tips\u201d because of the distinctive green paint on the bullet\u2019s nose. Duh. The M855 features a 62-grain projectile<\/a> that travels at an average of 3,020 feet per second. M855 was NATO\u2019s standard infantry ball round. It has since been phased out of military service in favor of the M855A1 cartridge, which is not available for civilian purchase.<\/p>\n

The cartridge was developed in the 1970s, as NATO sought to upgrade and standardize the 55-grain M193 cartridge, specifically for use in the FN “Minimi” machine gun (M249 SAW US designation). Unsurprisingly, FN submitted the winning design, optimized for their machine gun, and NATO designated the new cartridge the SS109.<\/p>\n

The extra seven grains of weight come from a steel \u201cpenetrator\u201d at the tip. The green paint on that tip makes the rounds easily discernable from other types, such as tracers or the old M193 rounds, which the military no longer uses. The tip allowed the Minimi to achieve the standard of penetrating 3.5 millimeters of steel at 600 meters. Those tests were conducted on steel helmets, giving rise to the propaganda talking point that the AR-15 was specifically designed to shoot through steel helmets, which is not true at all.<\/p>\n

\"M855
This ammo belt mixes green-tipped M855 rounds with orange-tipped tracer rounds (blog.gritrssports.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Performance Myths<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In fact, Green Tip rounds<\/a> have proven to be less effective in shorter barreled rifles, such as the M4, and were far less effective against enemy personnel than the old M193. The original 5.56 round<\/a> was optimized for the old-school M16\u2019s 20-inch barrel with a slow 1:12 twist rate. But the M855\u2019s higher bullet weight requires a faster twist rate in a longer barrel. The standard Minimi has an 18.3-inch barrel. The M855\u2019s projectile is also slightly longer than the M193, again requiring a faster twist rate for stabilization, which the Minimi has with its 1:7 twist.<\/p>\n

Modern M4 rifles generally have 1:8 or 1:9 twist rates, with a few coming in at 1:7. That\u2019s certainly faster than the old Vietnam-era M16, but the shorter barrel mitigates its impact. The even shorter barrels found on modern SBRs further degrade the M855\u2019s performance. Despite the M855\u2019s terminal performance success in the Minimi, that performance on the target does not translate to infantry rifles. You can engage a target at 500 meters, but it won\u2019t hit as hard as it would from the Minimi or another gun with a longer barrel and faster twist rate.<\/p>\n

\"US
A US Marine fires an M249 machine gun. (PFC Chokechai Vayavananda, USMC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, the M855\u2019s penetration ability detracts from military anti-personnel missions. The extra weight and the steel \u201cpenetrator\u201d cause the M855\u2019s projectile to over-penetrate human targets. Tests indicate that the M855 only begins to tumble at or beyond 4.7 inches of penetration. That means the projectile will cleanly pierce most of the human torso before it starts tumbling, meaning far less damage to the target. Those aspects directly translate to hunting and self-defense uses.<\/p>\n

That over-penetration also impacts hunting and self-defense applications by posing a threat to anything beyond the target. It is not a good choice for home defense unless you plan to shoot through walls, which we do not recommend. You may bring down a home intruder, but you may also hit things behind that intruder that you don\u2019t want to hit. Commercially available M193 rounds are the better choice.<\/p>\n

So, what is green tip ammo good for?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Honestly, Green Tip rounds are great for penetrating thin steel, brick, or block barriers. They also work well against thick clothing. Whether you need to do that is up to you. Green Tips are also relatively inexpensive, so they make for great target rounds, assuming you find a range that allows them. We\u2019re getting to that.<\/p>\n

\"M855
Green Tips are not a good home defense choice. (wideners.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But another thing that Green Tips aren\u2019t great at is accurately penetrating windshield glass. It\u2019s really a crap shoot. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don\u2019t, especially at close range. Only you can decide whether Green Tips fit your real-world needs.<\/p>\n

One thing we should make clear: Green Tips are not \u201carmor piercing,\u201d despite what gun controllers and the ATF might say. ATF tried to ban them in 2015, citing their \u201carmor piercing\u201d capability from AR pistols. That proposal was withdrawn after pro-gun advocates demonstrated that Green Tips don\u2019t meet either of the ATF\u2019s two \u201carmor-piercing\u201d criteria.<\/p>\n

Gun controllers labeled Green Tips \u201ccop killer” bullets because they can penetrate body armor. Most of you probably know this, but it bears repeating: armor-piercing rifle projectiles aren\u2019t necessary to defeat body armor. Any old high-velocity centerfire rifle round will do. Body armor isn\u2019t meant to guard against those rounds, and it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Range Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So, let\u2019s get to it. Why do many ranges prohibit Green Tips? The answer is really pretty simple. Green Tips are harder on their steel targets and backstops. The projectiles damage their equipment, meaning shorter lifespan and greater expenses. It\u2019s not personal. It\u2019s strictly business.<\/p>\n

Outdoor ranges have more leeway. If your outdoor range doesn\u2019t allow Green Tips, it\u2019s probably because they fear that sparks from the projectile\u2019s steel element could start a wildfire. There have been several documented cases of this happening, mainly in the West, and especially in California. One would think that ranges with dirt berms would not have such concerns, but some apparently do. We reserve judgment, since those folks undoubtedly know their situation better than we do.<\/p>\n

\"The
(tenor.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, there you have it. We have a decent supply of Green Tips for the range. Not because we particularly need Green Tips, but because that was the best available deal when we were buying ammo in 2020. You may remember how that was.<\/p>\n

Just know beforehand whether your range allows Green Tips before you buy. If you already have it and the range says no, well, save it for the apocalypse. We\u2019re told that Zombies have hard heads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Green Tip ammo has been subjected to plenty of political propaganda, so let\u2019s look at what those rounds are, and what they are not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":391634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-391628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-insights"],"small_media_thumbnail":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/green-tip-cartridges-300x225.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391628"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395720,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391628\/revisions\/395720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}