Despite some people thinking that the green tip 5.56 ballistic tip is an armor-piercing round, we know that it isn’t. True armor-piercing rounds are black tips and, at present, are not legal to buy in the US. However, we’re too inquisitive for our own good, and we were keen to find out what the green tip could do against mild steel over 50 yards.
For those of you who don’t know, body armor (the kind used by the cops and the military) uses hardened steel. What we used during our test is lower-grade, mild steel, with degrees of thickness ranging from ¼ inch to an inch. We used an 18-inch barrel rifle and a 24-inch barrel, along with a full metal jacket (FMJ) round for comparison.
Let’s see how we got on.
The ¼-inch-thick Steel Plate
We fired the 5.56 ballistic tip at the ¼-inch mild steel plate to begin with, and as you’d expect, it went clean through with not much trouble at all. Thanks to the steel insert that gives the round its extra penetration, this one was not a problem.
We also fired the 55-grain FMJ round at the same plate, and, just like the green tip, it also went through with not much bother. This FMJ flies faster than the green tip, so were interested to see what it could do.
The ⅜-inch-thick Steel Plate
Next, we upped the stakes and fired at the ⅜-inch plate, and, just like the first time, the green tip whistled through with not much trouble.
Surprisingly, however, the FMJ round barely made a dent. Turning the plate around, you could see a little protrusion from the impact, but not too much to write home about. Of course, we didn’t want to end the test there, so we kept going with the 5.56 ballistic tip.
The ½-inch-thick Steel Plate
We had high hopes that the green tip would make it through the ½-inch steel plate, but we weren’t entirely sure if that would be the case. After firing at the steel, we walked up thinking we had success, and we did! Well, almost!
You could see through the steel (in that there was a hole all the way through), but the hole at the other end was so small that the round couldn’t have gone through.
Not to be deterred, however, we tried the green tip again in the 24-inch barrel, and it left a nice clean hole on both sides. That extra bit of velocity made all the difference!
Yes, the Green Tip CAN Make It Through Mild Steel
So, all in all, not a bad result for the 5.56 ballistic tip round. It outperformed the heavier, faster FMJ for penetration, and it did that with a shorter barrel.
You don’t have to be a ballistics expert to know that that’s pretty impressive, and it certainly satisfied our curiosity. What the results show is that it makes rather a good hunting option but not a good choice in areas where you want to keep the penetration to a minimum.
We also found that the green tip left much less in the way of residue in the rifles – another good buying reason if you’re the type of person who hates weapon cleaning.
Would we buy the round again? Absolutely. Whether you do, is up to your decision.
