Is there any chance of barrel damage from shooting tracer bullets?

I wouldn`t think so. The various militaries around the world rely on tracers for their small arms every day. I am sure that these governments would investigate the potential damage a tracer may cause.

The rear of the projectile is ignited upon discharge. The distance from the muzzle that this ignition occurs can vary from country to country & depend on what application the tracer is being used for.

I have used over fifty tracers in my own .308 win custom Mauser. I was sure to clean the rifle after their use & I`ve noticed no damaging effects.

You didn`t mention how many rounds of tracer you intend to use. If the number is in the thousands then perhaps appreciable wear will be the order of the day.

Good luck

I've shot alot and I mean alot of tracers and I've never been able to detect any damage to any of the MG or rifle barrels. I think most of that fear came from the use of magnesium in the first tracers.

It is my understaning that the trace material doesn't really get "lit" until the bullet is out of the barrel. Widener's had an ad for tracers that said something like "trace from 100 to 900 yds". FWIW, I've shot quite a few thru some non military barrels and could not detect any visible damage. Something might show up with a borescope.

Little if any damage I'd suppose, but I would not trust retail outlets regarding whether it is corrosive or not. You shoot 'em, clean the gun! And be careful about starting fires with them in dry conditions.

Oh, BTW, they don't seem to bother Mini-guns or M-16's and I've shot about a bazillion tracers thru them. And M3's. And Colt 1911's. And M60's.

After all of that, I would NOT shoot a tracer thru a custom high quality barrel unless it belonged to somebody else and they'd pissed me off. Even then it might not hurt anything.

Aren't most current military bores hard chromed, or stellite lined to reduce wear from the heat of extended firing? Wouldn't that reduce the possibility of damage from tracers?

Byron