Green bullet, green ammunition or green ammo are nicknames for a United States Department of Defense program to eliminate the use of hazardous materials from small arms ammunition and from small arms ammunition manufacturing. Initial objectives were elimination of ozone-depleting substances, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals from primers and projectiles. These materials were perceived as causing difficulties through the entire life cycle of ammunition. The materials generated hazardous wastes and emissions at manufacturing facilities and use of ammunition caused contamination at shooting ranges. Potential health hazards made demilitarization and disposal of unused ammunition difficult and expensive.
M855A1 projectiles for 5.56×45mm NATO rifles replace traditional lead alloy cores with an environmentally friendly copper core with a 19-grain (1.2 g) steel "stacked-cone" penetrating tip.
Jim Newill explains the effectiveness of the Army's 5.56mm M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (2011)
Ammunition is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target.
A belt of 0.50 caliber ammunition loaded into an M2 Browning. Every fifth round (red tip) is an M20 (armor piercing incendiary tracer).
Cannonballs from the American Civil War
Preparing 105 mm M119 howitzer ammunition: powder propellant, cartridge, and shell with fuze
Ordnance workers inspecting cartridge cases in Los Angeles, 1943
