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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73not60

§7688 Armor-piercing Ammunition and Components: Condition on Disposal

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle B— Army › Part IV— SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROCUREMENT › Chapter 773— DISPOSAL OF OBSOLETE OR SURPLUS MATERIAL › § 7688

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

When the Army gets rid of armor‑piercing ammunition or its parts, the buyer must agree in writing not to sell or transfer them to any U.S. buyer except law enforcement or other government agencies. That does not apply if a part is sent only to be destroyed for metal recovery (melting, crushing, shredding). Parts that are not armor‑piercing and are not destroyed may not be used to make new armor‑piercing rounds, unless sold to law enforcement or governments or exported under the Arms Export Control Act. Armor‑piercing ammo means center‑fire cartridges the military calls "armor penetrator" or "armor‑piercing" (API, API‑T).

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §7688

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as provided in subsection (b), whenever the Secretary of the Army carries out a disposal (by sale or otherwise) of armor-piercing ammunition, or a component of armor-piercing ammunition, the Secretary shall require as a condition of the disposal that the recipient agree in writing not to sell or otherwise transfer any of the ammunition (reconditioned or otherwise), or any armor-piercing component of that ammunition, to any purchaser in the United States other than a law enforcement or other governmental agency.
(b)Subsection (a) does not apply to a transfer of a component of armor-piercing ammunition solely for the purpose of metal reclamation by means of a destructive process such as melting, crushing, or shredding.
(c)A component of the armor-piercing ammunition that is not itself armor-piercing and is not subjected to metal reclamation as described in subsection (b) may not be used as a component in the production of new or remanufactured armor-piercing ammunition other than for sale to a law enforcement or other governmental agency or for a government-to-government sale or commercial export to a foreign government under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751).
(d)In this section, the term “armor-piercing ammunition” means a center-fire cartridge the military designation of which includes the term “armor penetrator” or “armor-piercing”, including a center-fire cartridge designated as armor-piercing incendiary (API) or armor-piercing incendiary-tracer (API–T).

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Arms Export Control Act, referred to in subsec. (c), is Pub. L. 90–629, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1320, as amended, which is classified principally to chapter 39 (§ 2751 et seq.) of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 2751 of Title 22 and Tables.

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 4688 of this title as this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of

Amendments

and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Effective Date

Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title III, § 382(b)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–85, provided that: “section 4688 [now 7688] of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to any disposal of ammunition or components referred to in that section after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 2000].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 7688

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60