M586 bullets without orange tip

[whitemtncruiser]

Hi,

I recently purchased a 250 count loose packed bag of 5.56 tracers from Midsouth. They are labelled M856 and are certainly tracers, but they don't have an orange tip like I am accustomed to finding with this bullet. There is no indication at all that they are tracers besides the bullet construction itself.

Has anyone run into unmarked M856 bullets? I assume they were pulled...perhaps the marking came off during this process?

Thanks for your help.

 

[FROGO207]

If I wanted to get more money from some pulled bullets I would run them through the tumbler and polish them up to look like new. I am betting they did just that and the paint was rubbed off. They will work without the orange or red paint on the tips. Don't forget to start the load development a bit lower than normal because the bullet is pushed into the case farther and that will raise the pressure when shot. I would not go to max either. Some say to use the data from the next heavier bullet listed to be safe. And be careful not to start a fire with them.

 

[sellersm]

I could be very wrong (highly likely), but don't the various colored tips (orange, red, green, etc.) get added AFTER the rounds are assembled by the manufacturers? Or, as Frogo207 mentioned, they may have been tumbled off or something...

 

[kingmt]

They were likely tumbled & the paint came off.