Tech Talk

Bullet Tip Codes

With all of the military surplus ammunition on the the market today it is important to know what type of bullet you may have. Many bullet types are prohibited on certain ranges. For instance, tracer ammunition is banned on most outdoor ranges, where armor piercing types are not allowed with indoor traps. The NATO standard codes apply to much of the surplus ammo available today, but U.S World War II ammunition can still be found. The circle-cross NATO acceptance stamp is intended to indicate manufacture in a NATO country, but this is often counterfeited. Buyer beware!

NATO Codes

Black	Armor Piercing
Silver	Armor Piercing Incendiary
Light Blue	Incendiary
Red	Tracer
Orange	Tracer (Dark Ignition)
Yellow	Observation
Yellow tip over Red Band	Observation / T

United States Codes
(before 1957)

Black	Armor Piercing
Silver	Armor Piercing Incendiary
Red tip over Silver Ring	API / T
Green	Duplex Ball
Green tip over With Ring	Frangible Ball
Dark Blue tip over Light Blue Ring (.50cal)	Incendiary
Blue	Incendiary
Yellow tip over Red Ring (.50cal)	Spotter / T
Brown, Maroon, Red, Orange	Tracer

Warsaw Pact Codes

Black	Armor Piercing
Black tip, Red Ring on Bullet	Armor Piercing Incendiary
Silver or White	Light Ball
Yellow	Heavy Ball
Black over Green Ring	Reduced Velocity Ball
Red	Incendiary / T
Green	Tracer

Much of the information for this segment was taken from the
NRA Fact Book