Red Dot with tracers?

[30CAL-TEXAN]

Has anyone every tried Red Dot with surplus pulled tracer tips?

I was thinking of trying something like "The Load" (13gr of red dot under pretty much any projectile). If anyone has ever experimented with this I would like to know what your experiences were. Light rate (or if they light at all), accuracy (do they stabilize since they are kind of a weird bullet anyway.

Thanks,

30CAL-TEXAN

[redneckdan]

I know tracers need quite a bit of heat to ignite. There are two versions of 846, the one labled 846-T has less additives that would cause a cooler burn. This powder burns hot enough to ignite the tracer but also burns hotter than is desired for optimium barrel life. red dot burns so quickly that I don't know if it would reliably ignite a tracer.

[madsenshooter]

Try using a WLRM magnum primer with the Red Dot. In my experience with Blue Dot, it appears the magnum primer blows the flakes to the front of the case before they really start to burn. The necks of the case look a little like they've been annealed after firing, they have a bit of blue and yellow color to them. And these shotgun powders are hot, high nitroglycerin content=erosive. It wasn't but a few hundred shots ago one of my bullets would touch the rifling at a certain OAL in my Krag, they don't anymore! I can't say whether or not this will work, but it ought to put some heat at the base of the bullet where it's needed.

[Larry Gibson]

There also has to be enough pressure to upset the GC at the base of the bullet holding the trace element in and then sufficient heat to ignite it. Hard to say whether a Red Dot load will work unless you try it. Keep in mind also that most US .30/7.62 tracers burn long enough for the bullets to go 600 to 1100 meters. At the lower velocities of your mentioned loads the bullets are going to hit ground well before burn out. Beware of the fire hazard with such.

Larry Gibson

[30CAL-TEXAN]

You know I haven't really decided what I am going to do with these things yet. I only bought them because they were really cheap and they will do in a SHTF situation. These particular ones have been cleaned and polished (vibratory tumbler I am guessing) so they might not be good candidates for lighting anyway.

It might be worth the effort to work up a load that doesn't light as a plinker. Does anyone Know if using a filler above the powder has any effect on keeping them from lighting?

[madsenshooter]

Dont think you'd need a filler if you use the WLRM, the pressure wave from it will fill the case just fine. I imagine a filler would reduce the temp of the flame front, especially so if it wasn't combustible.

[wmitty]

The most fun you will have with the tracers is catching a buzzard overhead and sending one in his direction. The tracer burns out in a second or two, so no danger of starting a fire. The buzzard will never look at life the same way, either. They must be making a noise as they pass by, 'cause the buzzards flap like crazy to get away. Spent tracer jacket might be a bit dangerous in a crowded location, but I was thinking of all that open space around San Angelo.

[MtGun44]

A falling bullet is at very low velocity, relatively harmless - assuming that the launch was close
to vertical. All bets are off at launch angles above the horizon of less than maybe 50-60
degrees.

[30CAL-TEXAN]

OK, I know it's been a while but better late than never right?

I finally had an opportunity to test some of those tracer tips that I got. I only loaded up 20 rounds so this was far form a definitive scientific test but it will have to do for now.

First group was loaded with 48 grains of 4895 as a control. This should be similar to the original load before they were pulled. Out of the 10 rounds fired I got 3 to light. They were bright red but I really don't think they lit up until at least 300+ yards and they really didn't seem to burn very long. I shot them all at a very long arc against a mountain side so that they would have plenty of opportunity to show me their stuff.

The second group was "The Load" 13 grains of Red Dot. Ironically, out of 10 shots I had exactly 3 light up. Same story on distance, they didn't light until they were out pretty far. I can't say much for the accuracy of either load as my target was rather hard to miss but I can say for the Red Dot rounds that lit up they made some very interesting twists and curls toward the end of their flight. I'm guessing that "The Load" doesn't stabilize those strange projectiles quite as well in my 2 groove 03A3.

I was not surprised at all by the light rate for the 4895 loads as these tips were handled and stored poorly through the years and had recently been cleaned in a tumbler but I was really surprised that the Red Dot load was able to light any of them at all.

An interesting test to say the least.

[bigdog454]

What color are the tips, Red = long range tracer; orange = short range tracer; meaning what I don't know.

[30CAL-TEXAN]

What color are the tips, Red = long range tracer; orange = short range tracer; meaning what I don't know.

:confused:These tips don't have any paint on them, it was removed when they were polished. They have a double canalure if that helps you out.

[buyobuyo]

I would guess that these are the long range tracers since they don't light until a ways out. A short range tracer would be lit be light not too long after it left the gun if not before it left the gun.

[mike in co]

how does one make cast boolit tracers ???



this is the cast boolit forum..for mil rifles...

[Artful]

Well first you either have to have a hollowbase mold or drill out the base,
then you mix up a mixture of ....

[NickSS]

Years ago I bought a few thousand tracer bullets from pulled 30-06 machine gun ammo. I used them up having fun with them. They must have been short range tracer bullets as they ignited fine a few yards in front of the muzzle. They shot fairly good in a 03A3 that I shot most of them in but then I used a lot of them in a 7.65X53 Argentine mauser I had at the time. A buddy and me were doing a lot of practicing for running deer shoots every night after work in the summer and finished off by shooting at a pop can full of water setup at 200 yards (the one that hit it enjoyed a beer at the expense of the other guy). We quickly learned that except for rare occations the first guy to shoot hit the can with our varmint rifles. So I brought my Argentine mauser loaded with tracers for the beer shoot. It usually took at least half a dozen shots each before one of us connected. Those tracers were not the most accurate some would zoom off in a curve others flew more or less true but the 300 meater minimum sight setting made for some interesting Kentucky windage. Some of those tracers made nice six foot diameter circles going down range. We were always in suspense as to who would buy the beer.

[Shooter]

The must become unstabil as they burn, I have noticed this happening on WW2 gun camera footage.

[mtnman31]

I bought some .30 carbine tracers and loaded them up for my revolver. Seeing these fly really drives home the idea that the .30 Carbine was indeed a short range round. Granted, the revolver is going to have a lower velocity than the rifle, but, still interesting to see bullet trajectories with tracers. I bought some loaded .45 ACP tracers (expensive) but haven't shot them yet. I expect their trajectories to resemble a rainbow.

As for loads, I have always tried to stick fairly close to mil specs in order to get the most reliability out the tracers, i.e. I usually use 4895 for the .223, .308 and '06. For the .30 Carb I used Win 296 because it is what I had on hand.

[trooperdan]

The older .30 cal tracers with red tips light at the muzzle, the orange tips light at least 100 yards down range. Burn time is about equal on both.

[82nd airborne]

A falling bullet is at very low velocity, relatively harmless - assuming that the launch was close
to vertical. All bets are off at launch angles above the horizon of less than maybe 50-60
degrees.

Iraqis shoot high volume of celebratory fire when winning a soccer game, up into the air. A friend of mine was struck with one coming down in the right clavical, it penetrated almost 6" into his chest cavity. Im guessing a lower angle. You could hear the bullets rain down in Saddar city after a soccer win.