[runarb]

Thus are military training rounds. The bullet are plastic, but the cartridge is brass. They are generally not deadly, and are sometimes used to fire at people with (as a form of paintball, but that is ill advised).

They are meant for training with outdoors. They are cheaper then normal bullets, less pollution then lead and don't goes so fare (a normal 7.62mm bullets can be deadly for upwards to 3.5 kilometers, making random shouting in a simulated setting outside unsafe).

More info about this bullets are available at http://gunlore.awardspace.info/rifledarms/ammunition/dag762b...

However caseless ammunition also exist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caseless_ammunition . Thus could probably be made without any metal.

[rdl]

The IDF uses rubber bullets extensively as a non-lethal form of ammunition. I think during the Nth intifada there was a story about plastic bullets being used, with them being actually worse than metal since they wouldn't show up on x-ray, although they would shed energy and momentum really fast compared to metal.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/29/world/us-protesting-israel...

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/29/world/israeli-army-lawyer-...