Quoted: It is not the same as the true military incendiary rounds that are meant to go through steel plates. I bought a few rounds of them from ammo to go and it could not punch through the steel 1/2 plate. They acted more like at tracer bullets. A tracer have a column of pyrotechnic composition in the base that is ignited by the flame of the propellant; this provides a visible pyrotechnic display during the bullet’s flight. Incendiary bullets, intended to ignite flammable materials such as gasoline, contain a charge of chemical incendiary agent
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That's mostly correct, but to clarify . . .
1) No military has manufactured true 'incendiary' 5.56mm rounds. The round is too small to contain any significant amount of incendiary pyrotechnic composition to make it of any practical use. Tracers can ignite easily flammable material anyway.
And before someone posts about a 'thermite' filling, thermite is not and has never been used in bullets. Thermite actually burns very slowly compared to tracer or incendiary mixtures. Thermite exerts its corrosive action on a substrate by producing super hot molten iron that melts through steel or other metals.
2) 'Armor-piercing' and 'incendiary' are two completely different properties.
Armor-piercing rounds contain a hardened core that punches through a target. The core is usually heat-treated steel or tungsten. The 'steel-core' ammo on the market in the form of Chinese 7.62X39 and 7.62X54R manufactured in many countries contains
mild steel cores. They are only marginally better at penetrating targets than lead-core. The only reason Communist countries used mild steel cores was to save money as it's a lot cheaper than lead.
Incendiary rounds have contained a pyrotechnic composition (very similar to tracers), white phosphorous or, in larger calibers, the bullet itself is made from a special pyrophoric alloy that ignites upon striking a hard surface. Zirconium-lead alloys are an example.
Incendiary rounds are meant to ignite
easily ignitable material like petroleum-based liquids. If they ricocet and end up in dry grass or a dry rotted tree stump, they'll ignite that too. Tracers will do the same which is why some states have banned their use.
As you've probably guessed, incendiary ammo is
not armor-piercing, and they are no better at penetrating a steel target than lead-core or tracer ammo.
Some ammunition contains all three properties ie.
.50 cal M20 APIT, Armor-Piercing Incendiary Tracer.