Which 223/5.56 round safe for steel target life span?

[Otero51]

So I finally got into the ar15 band-wagon and went to the local store to get some ammo for the weekend outing. I ended up buying American Eagle 5.56 62Gn FMJ XM855 LPC120 green tip (they didn't have much variety). Sadly I wasn't aware of the possible effect these were causing to my steel targets (3/8" AR500 plates purchased from Big Dog; great company by the way) and ended up making a couple of tiny dimples on some of them and one fairly visible crater (about 3/8" wide and 1/16" deep) on one. This was while shooting at 150yds. I've shot these targets quite a bit with FGMM 175 .308 ammo with no visible effect to them (other than blowing off the paint). My question is, what brands/types of 5.56/223 ammo are safe to shoot at AR500 steel with minimal damage?

 

[bschneiderheinze]

How close were you

 

[vh20]

Well, as you had the misfortune to discover, X/M855 have green tips to indicate that they have steel penetrators, which will damage even hardened steel targets. Also, I believe most target manufacturers recommend a minimum of 200 yds with 5.56/.223 due to the increased velocity compared to .30 cal ammo.

So, I think any 5.56/.223 with anything BUT a steel penetrator tip (i.e. FMJ, JHP, Ballistic Tip, etc.) at a minimum of 200 yds will be the standard recommendation. With .30 cal ammo (same bullet types with no penetrators), you can probably go in as close as 100 yds.