Air Force Equipment
Air Force Ordnance
Army Equipment
Army Ordnance
Infantry Ordnance
Marine Corps Equipment
Marine Corps Ordnance
Navy Equipment
Navy Ordnance
Ordnance
The 5.56mm M855 has a green bullet tip and is used by the U.S. military as its standard small arms round.
Adopted by NATO in 1980, the new load has a spitzer boat-tail bullet. It also has much-improved penetration characteristics over the old M193 55-grain projectile at all ranges, resulting in higher retained velocity and greater accuracy at long range. The 5.56mm M855 is ideal for use in the M16A2 and M4 rifles, and the M249 machine gun.
![U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro](http://images01.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_large/public/2024-10/mil-carlos-del-toro-uss-atlanta-1800.jpg?itok=28vQST14 "U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announces the branch's newest Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine will be named the "USS Atlanta" during a ceremony at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum on Oct. 23, 2024. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Riley Bunch/TNS)")
