The base colors used to indicate the primary use of ammunition items are as follows:
Yellow--high explosive.
Brown--low explosive.
Gray--chemical.
Light green--smoke.
Light red--incendiary.
White--illuminating (pyrotechnic).
Black--armor-defeating.
Aluminum (silver)--countermeasure.
Blue--practice.
COLOR CODING FOR SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION
Small arms ammunition uses a separate color coding system. Although the colors are similar, their uses and
purposes are totally different.
There are three major components to small arms ammunition. These are the cartridge case, the bullet, and the
primer (as shown in Figure 1-4). The colors used for coding are applied to the bullet tip.
Figure 1-4. Typical cartridge (sectioned).
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MM0145
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