TRACER QUESTION

[bogey1]

heres the deal, i bought 50 9mm tracers from gunbroker last month, i finally got a chance to shoot them this weekend, well they didnt light. i emailed the guy and told him what happened, his response was, were you shooting them out of a rifle or handgun.... for what its worth, does it matter? once the primer ignites the powder and the powder lights the compound,, there ya go, a tracer, correct? i have loaded and shot thousands of tracers, and not once did i ever hear of a question like that. am i missing something?

[Flash]

heres the deal, i bought 50 9mm tracers from gunbroker last month, i finally got a chance to shoot them this weekend, well they didnt light. i emailed the guy and told him what happened, his response was, were you shooting them out of a rifle or handgun.... for what its worth, does it matter? once the primer ignites the powder and the powder lights the compound,, there ya go, a tracer, correct? i have loaded and shot thousands of tracers, and not once did i ever hear of a question like that. am i missing something?

Since you have experience in loading tracers, I am quite sure that you are already aware that some of them light right up for the slightest reasons and some require a bit more to set them afire. With that much experience, you will have probably found already that there are some which take a specially HOT powder to reliably ignite them - HOT not only in temperature, but in pressure also. Time could also be a factor. What powder are you using, and what weight are these projectiles? At what velocity are you shooting them, and his question is indeed valid : "were you shooting them out of a rifle or handgun?", for barrel length equates quite well to time of the tracer compound being exposed to the heat and flame of the propellant, leading to reliable ignition. Your experience with tracers would recall that tracers are most often used for full-auto mode indicating, in 9mm anyway, a longer length barrel length. So his question is apropos.

Examining the base of the slug, you probably have seen numerous differing bases, like metal foil, plastic, and other stuff that looks like dried paint, each having a different response to the burning powder. What kind of bases do these have?

Do you have any idea of their manufacture and original purpose and loading? Are you equalling that? And, just for the record, what barrel length and firearm ARE you using? What powder and charge-weight are you using? These all have a bearing, here.

Flash

[bogey1]

ok, maybe i should of been more precise. in my experiance with tracers, its the powder that ignites the compound, some powders burn to cool, some dont. im familiar with the .50bmg tracers, they will light out of anything as long as the powder is a hot burning powder (IMR5010) and no, i never considered barrel length,they were shot out of an ar/15 (9mm) and a browning high power. i did pull a bullet, (a lot of bogus projos out there) seems to be ligit, it has no cap over the compound so it should ignite easier, for reassurance, i poke holes in the caps when i load my own. seller says they are for a uzi, not to be shot out of a pistol, they are too powerful....they were far from too powerful, i dont know the grain and powder, but the dates are 73-76 and supposedly Israeli.

[Flash]

ok, maybe i should of been more precise. in my experiance with tracers, its the powder that ignites the compound, some powders burn to cool, some dont. im familiar with the .50bmg tracers, they will light out of anything as long as the powder is a hot burning powder (IMR5010) and no, i never considered barrel length,they were shot out of an ar/15 (9mm) and a browning high power. i did pull a bullet, (a lot of bogus projos out there) seems to be ligit, it has no cap over the compound so it should ignite easier, for reassurance, i poke holes in the caps when i load my own. seller says they are for a uzi, not to be shot out of a pistol, they are too powerful....they were far from too powerful, i dont know the grain and powder, but the dates are 73-76 and supposedly Israeli.

AH, you bought LOADED ROUNDS ! Your originsal post said " i have loaded and shot thousands of tracers", leading me to think you bought projectiles and loaded them yourself --- therefore, the questions about powder and such.

Sorry.

But if you bought loaded rounds, the seller should be willing to stand behind them. It is not uncommon for tracers to fizzle after a few years. That is why they show up on the market, sometimes being "questionable".

Flash

[bogey1]

i was wondering why you were so harsh no, these are loaded rounds, and they look very original, still have the tar sealant in the case mouth. i have bought plenty of talon (3006) crap over the years and only get about 2 for every 10 or so that light, but for the money i paid for them, it was worth it, if you get a few that trace, its a bonus. after looking at his auction, he did state, ask questions before bidding, but i didnt, i always thought a tracer was a tracer, no matter what it was shot out of. i know some wont light out till 100 yards or so. i dont know, i guess im just dissatisfied.

[ungawa]

I know the old M196 5.56 tracers from the 70s have a rep for going bad over time and not lighting. My first guess would be that old might be suspect.

Were you shooting them at night? I bought those red, green, and white 9mm tracers off the interent and can't see the red ones during the day. Then again, the 9mm tracers I fired in the military in the early 90s were quite visible in the daytime.

[daschnoz]

ok, maybe i should of been more precise. in my experiance with tracers, its the powder that ignites the compound, some powders burn to cool, some dont. im familiar with the .50bmg tracers, they will light out of anything as long as the powder is a hot burning powder (IMR5010) and no, i never considered barrel length,they were shot out of an ar/15 (9mm) and a browning high power. i did pull a bullet, (a lot of bogus projos out there) seems to be ligit, it has no cap over the compound so it should ignite easier, for reassurance, i poke holes in the caps when i load my own. seller says they are for a uzi, not to be shot out of a pistol, they are too powerful....they were far from too powerful, i dont know the grain and powder, but the dates are 73-76 and supposedly Israeli.

You can take that pulled pro-jo, clamp it in a pair of vise grips, and take a propane torch to it. If it lights, it's really a tracer. If not, you got duped.

(Don't ask me how I know that a propane torch will light a tracer. Lets just say that it is a good thing my wife was not home that afternoon .)

[bogey1]

You can take that pulled pro-jo, clamp it in a pair of vise grips, and take a propane torch to it. If it lights, it's really a tracer. If not, you got duped.

(Don't ask me how I know that a propane torch will light a tracer. Lets just say that it is a good thing my wife was not home that afternoon .)

thats funny i did the same thing with a 50 cal tracer (in my office) i almost crapped myself. im going out back to try the 9mm, i'll report back.

[bogey1]

ok, that was fast... it must have lit for about a half a nanosecond, the way it looked, it probably had about a half a grain of compound in it, it probably would burn out before it came out of the barrel. oh well, the guy told me he would give me 25.00 back and i get to keep the ammo, he cant take them back. im pretty hesitant buying loaded tracers, usually i like to load my own, this way i know what type of powder is going in and i also poke holes in the cap or scratch the compound for better ignition.