What Is Blue Tipped Ammo?

What is blue tipped ammo? That question seems straightforward enough, and the answer should be a simple one-liner, but it's not. When it comes to blue-tipped ammo, the answer is not so simple after all. There are actually many definitions when it comes to blue-tipped ammo. The easy answer as to what blue-tipped ammo usually means depends on the bullet and context. For example, if you are using a blue-tipped round in 5.7x28mm, you are using blue-tipped ammo as a high-performance training round. Hornady V-Max is a .40 grain sporting round mainly used for training and target shooting. More commonly known as the FN Sporting round, this type of blue-tipped ammunition has a jacketed lead core projectile with a polymer tip. Although it is ideally used for training applications, FN additionally recommends this blue-tipped ammo for hunting as well. With this blue-tipped ammo, V-Max, the bullet has a polymer tip that improves accuracy, creates rapid expansion, has less recoil, and brings the likelihood of ricochet down to a minimum according to FN.

FNH 5.7x28mm 40gr Blue Tipped Ammunition

There is one blue tip that I am anxious to try out. I haven't shot it yet, but it is on my list of ammo that I want to try in my next range visit. If you are one who believes that over-penetration is a possibility in a home defense situation and you are concerned about that, this could be the ammo that you select for your home defense firearm. I do not believe that over-penetration in a home defense situation is a concern, but I found many other reasons to consider this ammo as my new home defense ammo. Remember in any shooting situation to know your target, what is around it, and what lies behind it. So, the blue-tipped ammo that I am so excited to try out is the Federal Syntech Defense round. In the product overview from Federal, it states that the Syntech Defense round has dynamic terminal performance, with a hollow-point bullet that separates into three segments and a deep-penetrating core on impact. The core penetrates 12 to 18 inches through bare ballistics gel and heavy clothing. The petals create three secondary wound channels, each more than 6 inches deep, adding to the terminal effect. In this example of blue-tipped ammo, the blue polymer jacket surrounding the bullet reduces barrel heat and friction and therefore eliminates metal fouling. If someone is referring to blue-tipped ammunition in a conversation, they could also be referring to a Glaser Safety Slug by Corbon. The Glaser Safety Slug was originally designed as a response to the possibility of Sky Marshalls having to fire a handgun inside of an airplane. This blue-tipped round has been engineered and enhanced for civilian use. It is a great round for close quarters and self-defense situations. The polymer tip will allow for smooth and reliable feeding, the scored jacket is designed for maximum and consistent performance, and the compressed core gives the shooter uniform density and assures target accuracy (Glaser). This design is engineered to break up once it hits anything semi-hard, whether it is a human body or a section of drywall. These rounds contain a very light projectile and a pretty mild recoil. The reason that a lot of you may have never heard of this round or don't use it, is because of the price. This round is pretty expensive, coming in about $3.00 each.

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Although there is a standardized code of colors for color tipped ammunition in the U.S Military, there is not a universal color code for blue-tipped ammunition, or any other color ammunition, for that matter. Blue tipped ammunition may indicate different purposes depending on the manufacturer. They can also indicate a bullet type, bullet-style, jacket type, powder loads, trace indicators, and so on. There is not a standard for blue-tipped ammo, although it is most commonly used by various manufacturers to represent a training or home defense round. Some manufacturers use blue tips on their rifle bullets to denote that the round is for aerodynamics in an expanding hunting bullet. On the other hand, some military rounds with a steel core or tracers, or those rounds that are classified as incendiary by the military, have a blue tip. Shop All Ammunition
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