Military Bullet Markings
- Thread starter MikeyT
- Start date
Black is armour piercing
red is tracer, and
green denotes the newer 62 grain bullet (so it won't get confused with the old 55 grain)
there's also yellow for spotter rounds and a few others I forget.
There's a couple of ammo techs on the board who will know them all.
red is tracer, and
green denotes the newer 62 grain bullet (so it won't get confused with the old 55 grain)
there's also yellow for spotter rounds and a few others I forget.
There's a couple of ammo techs on the board who will know them all.
As some others have mentioned it depends on the country and when it was manufactured
British and US used somewhat different codes in WWII and then they and others changed to the NATO standard later which is much like the old US system but not identical so you will find those 3 systems quite common in North America as well as others
There are a number of books on the subject and Internet references like the one I found below that describe headstamp marking, bullet types and markings as well as even the packing and markings of various types of munitions.
For example
Below is color codes for Russian type ammo up to 14.5mm
No color Ball
White bullet tip
Reference Ball
White bullet tip Practice, round nose (only Czech designation)
3/4 white bullet High Pressure Test (only Chinese design. on 14,5x114)
Silver bullet tip Light ball with steel core
Yellow bullet tip Heavy ball, or ball with torpedo base (on 7,62x54R)
Yellow bullet tip Incendiary (only Czech designation)
Yellow bullet tip AP-T with tungsten carbide core (on Chinese 12,7mm)
Blue tip white band beneath Short range ball 14,5x114 (only Hungarian and Czech designation)
Green tip white band beneath Short range, tracer, (only Czech designation, only found on 7,62x39 with round nose)
Green bullet tip Tracer
Green tip and headstamp or
entire cartridge green Subsonic ammunition for silencer-weapons
Red bullet tip Spotting charge, incendiary
Red tip white band beneath Short range tracer ball 14,5x114 (only Hungarian designation)
Entire bullet red High explosive bullet (7,62x54R after 1945)
Entire bullet red Spec. armor piercing incendiary (7,62x54R in WWII)
Entire bullet red High explosive bullet (on 12,7 and 14,5mm)
Magenta tip red band beneath Armor piercing incendiary tracer
Black tip red band beneath Armor piercing incendiary
Black tip red shell beneath Armor piercing incendiary with tungsten carbide core
Black tip yellow band beneath Armor piercing incendiary Phosphorus (Russian WWII designation on 12,7x108 and 12,7x108R)
Black tip Armor piercing
British and US used somewhat different codes in WWII and then they and others changed to the NATO standard later which is much like the old US system but not identical so you will find those 3 systems quite common in North America as well as others
There are a number of books on the subject and Internet references like the one I found below that describe headstamp marking, bullet types and markings as well as even the packing and markings of various types of munitions.
For example
Below is color codes for Russian type ammo up to 14.5mm
No color Ball
White bullet tip
Reference Ball
White bullet tip Practice, round nose (only Czech designation)
3/4 white bullet High Pressure Test (only Chinese design. on 14,5x114)
Silver bullet tip Light ball with steel core
Yellow bullet tip Heavy ball, or ball with torpedo base (on 7,62x54R)
Yellow bullet tip Incendiary (only Czech designation)
Yellow bullet tip AP-T with tungsten carbide core (on Chinese 12,7mm)
Blue tip white band beneath Short range ball 14,5x114 (only Hungarian and Czech designation)
Green tip white band beneath Short range, tracer, (only Czech designation, only found on 7,62x39 with round nose)
Green bullet tip Tracer
Green tip and headstamp or
entire cartridge green Subsonic ammunition for silencer-weapons
Red bullet tip Spotting charge, incendiary
Red tip white band beneath Short range tracer ball 14,5x114 (only Hungarian designation)
Entire bullet red High explosive bullet (7,62x54R after 1945)
Entire bullet red Spec. armor piercing incendiary (7,62x54R in WWII)
Entire bullet red High explosive bullet (on 12,7 and 14,5mm)
Magenta tip red band beneath Armor piercing incendiary tracer
Black tip red band beneath Armor piercing incendiary
Black tip red shell beneath Armor piercing incendiary with tungsten carbide core
Black tip yellow band beneath Armor piercing incendiary Phosphorus (Russian WWII designation on 12,7x108 and 12,7x108R)
Black tip Armor piercing
