I just found these in the cabelas catalog and thought it would be cool to use for prarie dogs seeing them streak out and slam into the PD. Can you actually see them in the daytime or is it a night time bullet.

I've used pulled milsurp 223's and 308's. Never tested them for accuracy. And yes, you can see the trace in the daytime, going, and coming, trust me.

quote:

Originally posted by SuperMagnum:
I just found these in the cabelas catalog and thought it would be cool to use for prarie dogs seeing them streak out and slam into the PD. Can you actually see them in the daytime or is it a night time bullet.

Yes, but not recommended. Guarenteed you'll start a fire if the environment is dry that day. My point(other than the top of my head) is this -take a shovel with you, you'll need it.

Aside from the fire danger, the flammable material in many tracers is not one of the best things to run through a rifle bore.

When I was serving my time as a U.S. "doggie", the tracers then in use would noticeably roughen a Garand barrel without firing very many rounds.

I have fired a few of them and the ones you bought probably wont start to trace untill about 200 yards anywise.

cant see any damage in that.
but i dont shoot them in my best rifles either!


By the way dont try to shoot for accuracy with the pulled (old) ones they will do wierder things than the new ones.
They like to curve !!!!!!!!!

Darn, they would have been cool to use though. But it wouldn't be worth the risk of starting a fire and ruining my varmint barrel. I had no idea the trace was actually a flame.

actually there are 2 types of tracers, if you have the red tip, they are made to trace right out of the barrel, if you have the orange tip they are made to trace about 25 yds out of the barrel. In either case they should not ignite in the barrel. Accuracy is normally poor. they are usually made to disperse for machine gun fire. also they are considerably lighter. (usually 15-20%). yes they do start fires, not by tracing, but if the bullet lays on the ground and burns, it definately will start fires. The great redeeming quality is to be able to see exterior ballistics at work. Also it is quite an education in ricochets and what they do.

Something else to consider... Tracers are much longer than "standard" bullets, so you'll need a fast twist barrel to stabilize them.

As the tracer compound burns off, the bullet is constantly changing weight. If they burned identical each time, you could learn to compensate for it. But they don't, so at long range, precision (varminting) work gets kinda tricky.

All in all, they're cool to shoot for fun, through somebody else's (government) weapon, but I'd never run them through my own barrels.

The first time I ever shot one (WW2 orange tip 30-06) was at 100yd target. The buring core squirted out when it hit and kind of arced into the adjacent neighborhood. Of course being a curious(not so smart)youngster I tried it again and this time it came back towards me. That's when I stopped. I think the orange WW2 indicates incindary - white phosphourous...very poisonous and ignites on contact with air. Do not ever take one apart.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
Aside from the fire danger, the flammable material in many tracers is not one of the best things to run through a rifle bore.

When I was serving my time as a U.S. "doggie", the tracers then in use would noticeably roughen a Garand barrel without firing very many rounds.

I had a brand spanking new un fired 4 groove barrel on a MINT 03A3, I mean never fired . A really nice piece untill I put 100 rounds of tracers through it. Shine it on ; I mean disasterville. The BEST that rifle shot after that was 3" repeatability. That stuff is no bargin at any price .Those who say otherwise have rectumitice. If you want to pull the bullets and have a spectacular 4th of July bond fire; well that can be done but not advisable. roger

quote:

Originally posted by SuperMagnum:
I just found these in the cabelas catalog and thought it would be cool to use for prarie dogs seeing them streak out and slam into the PD. Can you actually see them in the daytime or is it a night time bullet.

As buckshot said, these things start fires! I've spent many an hour on the ranges at Ft. Hood TX putting out brush fires started by ricochets of tracer bullets!

In addition, the use of tracers is illegal in many jurisdictions!

The range where I shoot prohibits tracers, even in the gravel "plinking" pit. A couple of years ago one guy started a small fire in some trash about 70 yards out by shooting tracers.

The rest of us had fun shooting at the fire, kicking up enough dirt to put it out. But the range officer wasn't at all pleased.

Tracers can use phosphorus as the active chemical. Hot phosphorus quickly wrecks steel. It would be cool but I would use a junker rifle.

Another ol doggie here to tell you yes they start fires. Also be careful where you shoot them there are many places there use is illegal, and Federal lands are one. I am not sure if covers all Federal lands but in California it is a definate no no, so you should check before using them.

And yes they are hell on barrels, I would only use them on a rifle that already had a gone barrel or a switch barrel like a Savage. Another secret the military alternates these rounds, don't fire any quick strings of these cause two quick 5 round groups will be all it takes to turn your barrel into a tomatoe stake.

I personally see no need for these on a rifle, they are used as spotter rounds on machine guns, so gunners get a visual where they are on targets and can walk fire into target zones. Not much chance of getting much use out of these unless your using a semi auto like a Garand or a FAL and I would trash the barrel on either one of these just to play.

Just my $.02