this probably has a better place that here but i figured i would get more hits here.
my dad wanted me to send this question put and see what you guys had to say.

he just picked up some armor piercing .223 and he wanted to know if anyone out there has used it before or knew of
anyone who has, and how it worked and what you tested on.
the ammo he has is 62 grain, if that means anything

thanks guys any in put would be great.

If it's M855/SS109 it's not really "armor piercing" but it does penetrate well against mild steel plate.

if it is 62 gr with a green tip it is probably M855 ammo and it is not armor piercing in the true sense of the term.  I have used it in the military, and recreationally.  It is good blasting ammo, not terribly accurate, but not horrible either.

It was designed with a steel penetrator core, that was designed during the cold war after the Soviets started fielding more body armor, so that there would be enhanced penetration of soft body armor and helmets.

True armor piercing ammo was designed to defeat hard armor plates.  5.56mm is not the best platform for this type of round.  7.62 x51 and .30-06  rounds are made that were truely designed to defeat thin armor plates.

What your father bought was probably not "Armor piercing", but rather an enhanced penetration round.

Sounds like he actually bought something similar to M856 or SS109. Both of those are 62 grains. However, those are not Armor Piercing rounds. They will only penetrate light skin armor, in other words, your average vehicles metal body. The M995 5.56 AP round will penetrate up to 12 or 13 mm of armor. I believe this round is also only a 52 grains. And it is illegal for civilian use. I have used both in Iraq. The M995 ammo is hard to come by, even in the military, we used it for taking out engine blocks when larger weapons were unavailable.

thanks for the help. he say thats it does not have a tip and looks like a full metal jacket.
but thanks for the info

i shot some chinese 7.62 armor piercing once at a 1/2" steel plate. mild steel actually, went right thru and left a dime size hole. i thought the .223 hollowpoints i shot at the same plate were impressive due to the fact they were hollow points and not armor piercing, they made craters in the steel id have to estimate as 90% of the way thru. id have to agree though that the .223 is probubly not suited for true armor piercing capability. though in my experiances it will penetrate mild steels that are 3/8" thick at 50 yards pretty much all day long.  which is one main reason I  dont use mine for home defense. i really should take a pic and post it of my steel target, poor thing has been swiss cheesed over the years shooting it with the sks and ar15`s  lol.

If it's 62gr, it's almost certain that it's SS109, which isn't armor piercing, regardless of whether it has the green tip.  SS109 from other countries sometimes doesn't have it, since it's only on there to distinguish the ammo from the 55gr M193 round.  Since that was never the standard round in other countries, there was no need for distinguishing paint on their 62gr ammo.  True 5.56 AP is  rarer than hen's teeth, even in the military, and it's black tipped.

ETA:  And the 62gr is a FMJ round.

IF it is true Armor Piercing it should have a black tip on the bullet.....

It's not AP.  It might have a steel penetrator in it.  Does it stick to a magnet?