M196 tracer bullets have arrived.

[flynlr]

now what do I do with them?.
I am not even sure why I purchased these from Wideners but the worst thing I have is a lot of 1200 plinker rounds.
anyone have any load data for the pulled mil bullets?
I scrounged around online and saw WC844 as a powder that seems like a good fit. will these light off with say aa2230 or ramshot tac?
also should I bother cleaning off the black tar like sealant before loading these up? I never have used pulled bullets before.
thanks!

 

[Dumpster Baby]

If that lot of tracer bullets were given to me, I would dump them into a bucket a kerosene for about a year or so in an attempt to deactivate the tracer compound. I would then clean the oily bullets in a bucket of solvent of some kind and then dry them off.

I would load up 20-50 rounds and test fire them at some place with a good dirt backstop. If any of the tracers lit off during the test firing I would then pull the rest of the loaded rounds and dump the bullets back into the bucket with the others.

Tracers are not allowed at most ranges, and are a fire hazard just about anywhere else. They're not the best choice at all for reloading any kind of typical-usage ammo. Some folks load them up for SHTF and TEOTWAWKI scenarios, where they envision blowing up the gas tanks of marauding outlaw bikers and Mad Max Assault Vehicles, but otherwise they're pretty useless and a major PITA.

 

[trickyasafox]

I use them on a private range. if you got the same batch i did many will not light. The 20% I was quoted was a bit optimistic.

they shoot well at plinking distances, but they are not gonna give you that .5 in group at a hundred yards.

I use 846T with good results. I never tried to deactivate them.

as for the black tar- doesn't hurt anything. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Shoney]

A lot of the tracers are designed to "lite up" after 100 yards, usually require hotter temp powders to ignite, and are sometimes difficult to see in bright sunlight. In addition, if they do ignite they are loosing weight at a variable rate, which does nothing but subtract from accuracy.

 

[spur0701]

I use surplus M25 tracers for 30-06 reloads all the time, they were only about .03 each and are great for plinking, I can bang a 24" gong at 200 yards with no problems........really makes my Greek CMP ammo last a lot longer.

 

[RustyFN]

I'm in the same boat as you. I bought 7,800 because they were a good deal. I shoot at a range where they won't be a problem, weather permitting. Haven't loaded any yet, looking forward to seeing your results.
Rusty

 

[mikeyonthemadone]

Shoot'em in wet weather otherwise you WILL START A FIRE. Ask me how I know this little fact.
24.0 of wc844 any brass any primer.... just 50 yd plinking ammo for me in the winter.


Mikey

 

[dirtman]

I think u could use these if in distress out at sea... kinda like the 12 gauge flare but smaller...

 

[flynlr]

thanks for the info ..

 

[leadcounsel]

why not just sell or trade them. some people may want small lots of tracers (for instance in the bottom few shots in their magazine).