[Afy]

Can you mix up a tracer compound that can be used in your reloaded ammo easily?

Theoretical question really...

Tracer Ammo is illegal for civillians in France but a Supperssor on any caliber is legal... :)

[R33P3R]

i don't think so. I thought Tracer rounds had a coating on the bullet itself that glows when fired. unless you were coating them and reloading your own brass i don't see it as possible.

but i may be wrong, i am new at this.

[PotatoJudge]

I was at a gunshow this weeken where a lady was selling tracers with the tracing compound removed. She was selling them like "you just have to add your own tracing compound and load them up."

Tracer rounds are not coated (though they have painted tips that designate them as tracers). Their bases are filled with a (Magnesium?) compound that ignites after firing.

I'd trade tracers for silencers any day.

[SDC]

Define "easily"; military tracers are made on a production line that uses presses to compact the compound into the base cavity of the bullet, so unless you've got some sort of high-pressure apparatus to do the same, it's doubtful that anything you put in the base of a bullet is going to stay there for long.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p22/StaceyC123/762mm_tracer.gif

[Jim K]

The compound gets hard, so it would stand up to some rough handling. The cup is made of a low-melting material that reduces the amount of burn in the barrel. The pre-igniter is a slow burning compound that keeps the main trace from igniting until the bullet is down range. That keeps the trace from pointing right back to the gun, an important issue in combat.

I have looked at a couple of trace formulas and I think I will refrain from posting them. Suffice it to say that they are highly flammable and very dangerous to use. Like priming mixtures, they are almost always loaded wet, but even then tracer bullets were usually made in a building separated from other parts of the ammunition manufacturing process since fires and explosions were common.

Further, tracer compounds that burn inside the barrel are hell on barrels, causing severe corrosion.

That, combined with the fire danger when tracer bullets are fired, leads me to strongly recommend against trying to manufacture tracer bullets or to use them except under strictly controlled conditions.

Jim

[Afy]

Ah well... back to silencers then... :)

[Jim K]

It is interesting that tracers are illegal in France, as the first commercial tracers I ever saw were .22 caliber, made by Gevelot. Like most things of that nature they seemed more for the novelty than for any useful purpose as the tiny trace (when it actually worked) made a firefly look like a blinding searchlight.

Jim