Was trying to figure out if it is legal to buy or posible to reload my own trace ammo. Wanted to do some long range shooting with my AR-15. Any advice or helpful hints I would appreciate it. Thanks
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Was trying to figure out if it is legal to buy or posible to reload my own trace ammo. Wanted to do some long range shooting with my AR-15. Any advice or helpful hints I would appreciate it. Thanks
It's certainly legal to buy. As for making it yourself. I have no idea.
Federal sells 64gr tracers under the American Eagle name that are actually manufactured by Lake City. Which is basically XM856 Nato. (Tracer)
Yep you can. Tracers are legal but not so easy to buy as a component piece. Awhile back Wideners had a sale in Lake City 2010 tracer rounds. I bought 1k of them for $100. These were the 63 grain variety. I still see them in Gunbroker. You do want new production ammo and not pulled rounds. I'm not a fan of pulled ammo cause some damage/misform of the bullet can occur if not pulled carefully. Tracers also are a bit longer than standard ammo of the same weight so be sure of you're recipe. Stay away from compressed loads. A 55grain tracer is similar in size to a 63grain round so I stick with the recipe for 63 or 65 grain ammo when I loaded mine.
PS. You do have to pay Hazmat shipping on tracers so try to buy with primers or powder.
Thanks, that's helpfull. I always apppreciate good advice from fellow gun owners.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Gritz
Try SMASHING and smearing one of these on the bullet tip just prior to loading the mag....>>>:p
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/firefly.jpg
Some powders aren't as good at lighting the tracer, if you're rolling your own you'll want to do some research and experimenting before you load a pile of them.
I've seen a lot of pulled tracer bullets at gun shows, if you want to go that route, but as mentioned earlier, pulled aren't always as reliable as new. It depends on how they were pulled and how they were handled/treated between then and the time you get them.
Generally, 5.56 tracers don't burn all that far. And, they are not known for having precisely the same ballistics as their ball counterparts. And they are not known for being extremely accurate. They are generally helpful for shooting machineguns, shooting at night in some situations, or (formerly) signaling when you are running out of ammo. For daylight long-range shooting I can't think of any advantage, especially in less than full auto.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Gritz
Maybe you have something else in mind. But you asked for any advice or helpful hints, and that's all I got. :)