Thread: Are these .223 tracers?

Bought a handful of these random .224 projs off trademe for a dollar, 53 grains.
Looking at the red tip and unusual base I was wondering if they could be tracers?
They also seem physically long for "only" 53 gr compared to my other 55gr fmjs, so would make sense there's a cavity with a charge inside. Anyone know?

id be highly suspicious of them unless the vendor can provide you with further info as to origin etc .tracer rounds usually contain pho sphorous and IIRCmost if not all rifle ranges etc frown upon/prohibit its use. Ive used em in the military PIA- have seen a few instances of shooting practise suddenly become fire call outs!! military was primarily target indication (at night). my advice seal em in a rtin ,and seal that tin in a tin .dont use.

red tip is normally tracer

in a word: Yes, they are ex mil tracer. The fly higher than conventional 55 gn fmj for most of their trajectory, as the burning tracer at the rear gives a bit of a base bleed effect.

BUT, they shouldn't be doing any flying now a days, as they have been made oh sooo nasty by legislation

They are fine kept as separate components. But as XR500 mentions, you can't load them up, as loaded ammo is prohibited. To 'make us safer', which to be fair could be seen as a valid point for tracers. No idiots setting fire to summer hillsides with GC tracer ammo.

They cant possibly be tracer - all that stuff was banned remember, so cant possibly be.

Originally Posted by dogmatix

They are fine kept as separate components. But as XR500 mentions, you can't load them up, as loaded ammo is prohibited. To 'make us safer', which to be fair could be seen as a valid point for tracers. No idiots setting fire to summer hillsides with GC tracer ammo.

Have to disagree with "To 'make us safer', which to be fair could be seen as a valid point for tracers". It goes with the whole apparent dumming down of licencing which started to happen about 8 years ago. If you don't know when not to use tracers you shouldn't have a license in the first place.

Those are definitely tracers so if loaded into ammo would become illegal.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

red tip is normally tracer

Am I correct in say a lot of modern sporter barrels do not react well to this stuff bhurtling down the barrel @gundoc can you confirm -correct me. iremeber bloody c106mmrecoilless anti tank rifles had .50cal spotter barrels on top -crew would fire .50cal tracer round -if it hit targwet then main charge was let loose -target inevitably a bloody panelbeaters nightmare -VWkombi van chassis enlarged faster than our inflation rate inevtiably covering two grid squares with assorted panels.

Originally Posted by kotuku

Am I correct in say a lot of modern sporter barrels do not react well to this stuff bhurtling down the barrel @gundoc can you confirm -correct me. iremeber bloody c106mmrecoilless anti tank rifles had .50cal spotter barrels on top -crew would fire .50cal tracer round -if it hit targwet then main charge was let loose -target inevitably a bloody panelbeaters nightmare -VWkombi van chassis enlarged faster than our inflation rate inevtiably covering two grid squares with assorted panels.

Tracer projectiles will not damage a barrel any more than conventional bullets, subject to a proper cleaning regime. The residual tracer compounds can enhance corrosion if they are left uncleaned. Whilst I generally do not support the government's very wide definition of 'prohibited ammunition', I do not not support the use of tracer ammunition as it is well known for starting fires, several of which I have witnessed and helped extinguish.

Originally Posted by gundoc

Tracer projectiles will not damage a barrel any more than conventional bullets, subject to a proper cleaning regime. The residual tracer compounds can enhance corrosion if they are left uncleaned. Whilst I generally do not support the government's very wide definition of 'prohibited ammunition', I do not not support the use of tracer ammunition as it is well known for starting fires, several of which I have witnessed and helped extinguish.

thanks again for your succinct reply .much valued.

Originally Posted by gundoc

Tracer projectiles will not damage a barrel any more than conventional bullets, subject to a proper cleaning regime. The residual tracer compounds can enhance corrosion if they are left uncleaned. Whilst I generally do not support the government's very wide definition of 'prohibited ammunition', I do not not support the use of tracer ammunition as it is well known for starting fires, several of which I have witnessed and helped extinguish.

Yep. If tracer damaged barrels the military would absolutely chew through them. But they don't. I can't remember machine guns I was responsible for for a two year period having replacement barrels and they would do possibly 4 courses a year. Each gun may have been allocated 2500-3500 rounds.
And for every 4 ball (fmj) rounds there would be one tracer shot through them.

One of my friends was in the territorials on exercise and was on the machine gun. He noticed the belt was all tracer, not every fourth. Was told to just use it. It said it was very impressive to see.

During the summer period there is usually a tracer ban in all military training areas, cause they start LOTS of fires. Just look to the East when you drive the Desert road!

The ammo technicians have to run all the belts of ammo through a delinker, then relink with no tracer.

This results in a shit ton of tracer being accumulated.

It is then relinked into 100% tracer belts, and gets fired off in winter when there's no fire risk. Its not ideal as it doesn't teach you where to aim (4 ball 1 T belts, the ball rounds are landing about 2m lower than the tracer does @1000m (7.62).

But the stuff is great fun at night, and gets hauled out at final field exercises for its wow! factor

Ranges with shredded tyre as the bullet trap material live in fear of tracer ammo as well. There was a group of people a while back yapping about removing the paint ID mark of the bullet tips and calling them good to use - really dumb move.

Originally Posted by XR500

During the summer period there is usually a tracer ban in all military training areas, cause they start LOTS of fires. Just look to the East when you drive the Desert road!

The ammo technicians have to run all the belts of ammo through a delinker, then relink with no tracer.

This results in a shit ton of tracer being accumulated.

It is then relinked into 100% tracer belts, and gets fired off in winter when there's no fire risk. Its not ideal as it doesn't teach you where to aim (4 ball 1 T belts, the ball rounds are landing about 2m lower than the tracer does @1000m (7.62).

But the stuff is great fun at night, and gets hauled out at final field exercises for its wow! factor

Haha we got made to do that by hand, the NCO's got impatient and told us to go ahead and start firing anyway. Started a good scrub fire. The NCO who went to try and put it out (despite being told not to) almost won a Darwin award when a UX 40mm exploded about 20m away, fortunately above him on the bank.

If you cant understand that anything flammable (wood, grass or rubber) + tracer can equal fire you probably shouldn't own matches or a lighter either. They are just a fast travelling firework, nothing more. Yes I know some of you want to ban fireworks also.