i've got some old military ammo with black tips. What does this signify? The bullets are for a 30-06. thanks
ps. i was told red signify's tracer rounds, and green is armor piercing. Is this correct?

black tipped military '06's are AP

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black tipped military '06's are AP

Correct! If you cut one open, you'll find a tungsten carbide, boattailed penetrator inside a lead envelope surrounded by the jacket. If I remember correctly, they were 165 grs.

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Originally posted by bkmastr:
i've got some old military ammo with black tips. What does this signify? The bullets are for a 30-06. thanks
ps. i was told red signify's tracer rounds, and green is armor piercing. Is this correct?

US WWII M2 ball.30/'06 AP ammo has BLACK tips. It has a tungsten penetrator with a lead core around it. The bullet weight is 165 grains. This ammo seems to actually IMPROVE the accuracy of the rifles it is fired in, for at least the first three or four thousand rounds...... Those tungsten cores are very sharp, and make excellent center punches for gunsmithing work!

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Originally posted by Masterifleman:

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black tipped military '06's are AP

Correct! If you cut one open, you'll find a tungsten carbide, boattailed penetrator inside a lead envelope surrounded by the jacket. If I remember correctly, they were 165 grs.

I believe the penetrators are actually hardened steel. Tungsten carbide is expensive and difficult enough to come by now, let alone having it's own problems to work with. I just can't imagine the government making a jillion carbide penetrators in the '40s.

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I believe the penetrators are actually hardened steel. Tungsten carbide is expensive and difficult enough to come by now, let alone having it's own problems to work with. I just can't imagine the government making a jillion carbide penetrators in the '40s.

Agreed, we do a lot of work with 30-06 AP rounds and it is Hardened Steel. (NIJ level IV) They are about as hard as a file. A second way to tell AP rounds is that you can pick them up with a magnet.

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Originally posted by Collins:

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I believe the penetrators are actually hardened steel. Tungsten carbide is expensive and difficult enough to come by now, let alone having it's own problems to work with. I just can't imagine the government making a jillion carbide penetrators in the '40s.

Agreed, we do a lot of work with 30-06 AP rounds and it is Hardened Steel. (NIJ level IV) They are about as hard as a file. A second way to tell AP rounds is that you can pick them up with a magnet.

Anyway, those cores DO make great center-punches!

Slight deviation but years ago I got a supply of 30-06 AP (black tips) and thought I had something special. I set up some railroad iron we used for weights and tried to see how well they penetrated (30 yards max). I don't think a single 30-06 AP round made it through the web; most ricocheted and some stuck in the web. And of the stuck ones, only one or two stuck deep enough for the tip to poke through the other side of the web.

Then I pulled out my good ole 220 Swift and banged away at the same rail iron and each and every 45 gr bullet blew a hole all the way through the web. Shows the power of kinetic energy, I guess. Sorry to hijack; just thought that was an interesting comparison of capabilities.

yeah them smaller high power calibers will penitrate thicker metal. I have some 1/2" plate we shoot at, and a .223 and 243 will go through it, but a .270 and 30-06 will only go about half.

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I believe the penetrators are actually hardened steel. Tungsten carbide is expensive and difficult enough to come by now, let alone having it's own problems to work with. I just can't imagine the government making a jillion carbide penetrators in the '40s.

I don't know about a jillion but the only things we ever fired from our M-1 Rifles in 1961 at Camp Matthews for qualification were the black-tipped armored piercing rounds. They must have had quite a few because the USMC does not like to waste precious commodities.

Namibiahunter

I have some for .30-06. Dont know why I bought them or what I will use them for.

Maybe when PETA starts putting kevlar on elk and deer we will have an opportunity to use them.