Reloading Tracers...

They reload like any other bullet of that weight but tend to be slightly longer. It is most important to work your loads up. The ones I have purchased only had a 40 % light rate. Most vendors that sell surplus propellant will pull down tracer ammo and offer the projectiles now and again.You just need to watch for them.

You cannot make your own tracer bullets without the machinery needed to pack the compound in the jacket under very high pressure.
Tracers made in the kitchen will just have the compound fracture and fall out upon firing. The compound must be able to withstand normal chamber pressures in order to remain intact.
I have about 1.2K M25 tracers in an ammo can. I need to sell them, probably at a gun show as shipping can be a problem.

I bought a bunch of Orange tip (tracer) 30-06 pulled bullets way back when. I loaded several of them using standard reloading techniques and they had above a 90% ignition rate.

I ONLY shoot them when there is snow on the ground! They burn hot and are very likely to start fires on a hot dry summer day. Here in Oregon that is a very big deal!

I should have bought the black tips the guy had that gun show 25+ years ago instead.

MikeInOr said:

I bought a bunch of Orange tip (tracer) 30-06 pulled bullets way back when. I loaded several of them using standard reloading techniques and they had above a 90% ignition rate.

I ONLY shoot them when there is snow on the ground! They burn hot and are very likely to start fires on a hot dry summer day. Here in Oregon that is a very big deal!

I should have bought the black tips the guy had that gun show 25+ years ago instead.

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Ha!
I've got some of both types and I agree with you. Black tip is way more fun. Tracers are a concern for wildfire reasons.

I got some a while back from a guy on one of the forums I'm on they were some of his pull downs. I only shoot them, as said above, when the fire danger is extremely low. They are fun to shoot. I really surprised a couple of guys that were there. I wouldn't know how to make them, sorry.

I use them from time to time. A friend has a 800 yard range in plowed fields, safe in dirt season and after greenup as well as winter. There's also a big rock poking out of the ice on a frozen lake I visit sometimes in the winter at about 1200 yards. I'm loading 30-06 M25s per M2 Ball data safe for M1 Garand with IMR 4064. Trajectory mirrors M2 ball pretty closely. You do want to use a single base extruded powder with these. IMR 4895 and 4064 are known to work well with tracers. In a bolt gun, I'd assume IMR 4320 or 4350 would work well also.

MikeInOr said:

I ONLY shoot them when there is snow on the ground! They burn hot and are very likely to start fires on a hot dry summer day. Here in Oregon that is a very big deal!

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When I lived in South Carolina many moons ago, I belonged to a private range that banned tracer ammunition. The owner of the range had set the range on fire shooting tracers.

Before warned of the hazards of tracer ammunition.

taliv said:

why would you want 9mm or 45acp tracers?

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I would love to have some for grins. 1000 yard shot with a 9mm at a junk car sounds like a fun challenge. Tracers would help to walk it in for a hit.

I still have a box of Green Mountain .22 LR tracers left. They work well for first time shooters to see how the bullet travels. Plus when a kid back in the late 60’s my friend and I each had a 10-22 and would pretend we were in the show Combat and let them rip at night.

MikeInOr said:

I bought a bunch of Orange tip (tracer) 30-06 pulled bullets way back when. I loaded several of them using standard reloading techniques and they had above a 90% ignition rate.

I ONLY shoot them when there is snow on the ground! They burn hot and are very likely to start fires on a hot dry summer day. Here in Oregon that is a very big deal!

I should have bought the black tips the guy had that gun show 25+ years ago instead.

Click to expand...

I bought both and topped some .300 Win. Mags with them. A lot of fun. I second the being careful with tracers, they can indeed start fires. I was shooting mine into a burn pit, partially as an ignition source. It worked.

taliv said:

why would you want 9mm or 45acp tracers?

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There is an old Army film showing the then techniques of pistol shooting with tracers.

Shoot them straight up in the air, and you can see them come back down! It's pretty cool to see.

(This is a joke, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't burn that long anyways.)

Sounds like a Darwin Award contestant entry to me.

Arrows shot straight up were easier to dodge.

I guess people will drink bleach, so they might shoot in the air too.

Speaking as a fireman, why? I get it fireworks are fun...but... When you light up a mountainside, you’ll wish you hadn’t...period. Tracers are great for combat in waning hours of daylight or the jungle, or Iraq...at night. Otherwise, you’re looking at a liability issue. If it we’re me I’d say no.

Keep me bored rather than busy...