Red tip on a 20mm M55A2

[Maverick1112003]

Here, a picture of two cartridges 20mmx102 M55A2 TP made by FNB in 1979/80.



What does mean the red tip on the lower one ?
It does not mean tracer (it would be a M220) or incendiary.
Thanks
Michel

 

[EOD]

Looks much like a later applied marking.

 

[kahu1]

Sometimes when target shooting on flying banners the projectiles are painted different colours to see which aircraft hit the target,could be that?.
Usually a rough spray or brushed wax paint.

cheers
Bob

 

[BOMBSaway1980]

It could denote a tracer element.

 

[BOMBSaway1980]

I don't think it's to denote another plane firing it because most of the paint is removed after the projectile impacts, and I don't see US airman walking the well used impact looking for fired 20mm rounds.

 

[Yodamaster]

It could denote a tracer element.

I Bombsaway,

If it would denote a tracer, the denomination should be TP-T and not TP alone.

Yoda

 

[HAZORD]

Chuck,

They don't look in the dirt for the colored projectiles. The color leaves marks on the target when the paint rubs off the projectile as it passes through the paper or wooden target, or cloth if it is being towed by another plane. They did it a lot with 50 cal ammo in WWII.

 

[raymeketa]

Cal .30 cartridges with the painted bullet tips for target practice are fairly common. Even though the paint was supposed to be removed from unused cartridges, GIs didn't always do what they were supposed to do. Quite a few different colors were used when more than one gunner was firing at the same taget. The photo below shows three of the more common colors.

I can't say if the 20mm is a target marker. If the paint is soft and liberally applied, it could be. The "paint" is actually an ink which eventually dries but never gets really hard.

When shooting Duplex experimental loads, the front bullet was often painted. It was easy to determine the pattern of hits comparing the front bullet from the rear bullet. The two bullets were supposed to diverge, increasing the hit probability, something that didn't always work the way it was supposed to.

Modern shooters use a similar technique when shooting long distances. They color their bullet tips with different colored Magic Markers and make note of the sequence they are fired. When examining the taget it easy to tell which shot hit which place on the taget.

Ray