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View Full Version : 62 grain 5.56 Green Tip= "Light Armor Piercing"?



Aggressive Perfector
08-31-2013, 01:50 AM
I was out testing (to see with my own eyes, I know this shit is probably all over Youtube) which would have better steel penetration, 5.56 or 7.62x39. What ammo I picked up:
Instead of trying to "match" the ammo quality between the rifles as I see Military Arms Channel doing in every vid he does on AR's and AK's I decided to load each weapon with the round it would most likely be loaded with in most situations. So for my AK (WASR) I picked up 60 rounds of the Wolf 124 grain FMJ steel cased ammo. For my AR15 (DPMS) I picked up 60 rounds of PMC X-Tac 62 grain green tipped FMJ brass cased ammo. I know 55 grain regular FMJ is more common, but there was only 1 box of 20 rounds left in stock. What I found is surprising:
While the 7.62 put much larger dents in the 1/4" plates that I was shooting at than what I think a regular 55 grain 5.56 would have the 5.56 green tip punched right through it! Kinda blew my mind that the round that almost every AK enthusiast discredits as having "no balls" punched clean through a 1/4 steel plate when the mighty 7.62x39 only dented the steel. In most cases, I'd estimate that the 7.62x39 probably does have more penetrating power; but sticking strictly to what us piss on civilians can get our hands on and not going into trying to pair 5.56 steel core Vs. 7.62 steel core ammo, I think as far as penetration of cover or armor in a SHTF situation is concerned, this is the ammo I would want to have handy. What I don't know is what makes the 62 grain grain green tip so special that it penetrates more than a typical 124 grain FMJ 7.62 despite being such a light round in comparison. Is the copper jacket hardened or something?

Schuetzenman
08-31-2013, 06:59 AM
The jacket on 62 gr. M855 type ball loadings is not hardened, there is a short hard steel penetrator insert inside the jacket at the tip. The back 2/3rds of the round are lead core. The green paint is a visual indicator that the bullet is the 62 gr. steel tipped round to help prevent confusion with the 55 gr. M193 ball round.

TEN-32
08-31-2013, 08:14 AM
I'm not sure the current crop of Wolf is loaded up to full pressure. I've punched through 1/4" steel with Golden Tiger.

Russbirch
08-31-2013, 11:44 AM
Norinco steel core 7.62 blasts a hole clean through and goes 6 inches into the tree. At least in my experience. The 7.62 round was designed for knock down power out to 100m. The smaller, faster steel rod 855 is designed as a penetrator round. Apples to oranges.

silentkilla
08-31-2013, 11:54 AM
The jacket on 62 gr. M855 type ball loadings is not hardened, there is a short hard steel penetrator insert inside the jacket at the tip. The back 2/3rds of the round are lead core. The green paint is a visual indicator that the bullet is the 62 gr. steel tipped round to help prevent confusion with the 55 gr. M193 ball round.

hence the name 62gr. steel tip penetrator

Aggressive Perfector
09-06-2013, 07:06 PM
The jacket on 62 gr. M855 type ball loadings is not hardened, there is a short hard steel penetrator insert inside the jacket at the tip. The back 2/3rds of the round are lead core. The green paint is a visual indicator that the bullet is the 62 gr. steel tipped round to help prevent confusion with the 55 gr. M193 ball round.
Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me!

I'm not sure the current crop of Wolf is loaded up to full pressure. I've punched through 1/4" steel with Golden Tiger.
Wouldn't surprise me to find out it wasn't. I know Tulammo sure as hell isn't. I've never shot Golden Tiger. Never even seen it on a store shelf. Outside of Wolf and Tulammo the only steel case 7.62x39 I've ever seen and shot was some Norinco stuff that seemed to have a lot of duds in the bunch. No hangfires thankfully, but I've never bought it since, even during the shortage.

abpt1
09-06-2013, 09:34 PM
Ah, thanks for clearing that up for me!

Wouldn't surprise me to find out it wasn't. I know Tulammo sure as hell isn't. I've never shot Golden Tiger. Never even seen it on a store shelf. Outside of Wolf and Tulammo the only steel case 7.62x39 I've ever seen and shot was some Norinco stuff that seemed to have a lot of duds in the bunch. No hangfires thankfully, but I've never bought it since, even during the shortage.

5.56 info (http://www.ar15.com/ammo/)