I always hear people say "tracers work both ways" but I'm wondering if they really do. Can you see them if someone is shooting directly at you? Sure you can see them from a more perpendicular angle, but direct? I guess a better question is, has anyone ever been shot at w/ tracers? What did you see?
Tracers work both ways... true or false?
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dave from mesa
Member
I saw them coming at us. Not sure if they were straight at us or at an angle. Kinda wasn't paying real attention at the time.
scythefwd
Member
Did a live fire exercise in basic where they fired tracers over our heads.
YES, you can see em comming. Look just like blaster fire from star wars when they go over your head.
YES, you can see em comming. Look just like blaster fire from star wars when they go over your head.
phenomenomm
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Elm Creek Smith
Member
Tracers do work both ways. The problem is do you stay up to return fire as they come towards you? If you're under armor, you can do that. OTOH, ATGMs leave a hell of a launch signature which gives you a great place to lay down suppressive fire because they are relatively slow compared to tank rounds and Cal. 50.
ECS
ECS
browningguy
Member
Yes indeed they do.
Ah, tracers....I prefer to be behind them, thank you. In this video you can definitely see how much faster the .50's are than the others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoQTFbPbg_g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoQTFbPbg_g&feature=related
andcam
Member
yes. i hate them.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Tracers don't normally light off until they're some distance from the gun.
It varies with the caliber and a given ammo lot, but it's generally somewhere between 100 and 300 yards. So, you can determine the direction, but not the exact point of origin.
It varies with the caliber and a given ammo lot, but it's generally somewhere between 100 and 300 yards. So, you can determine the direction, but not the exact point of origin.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
.50 BMG doesn't travel at a greater velocity than .223 or .308. It may be comparable in some cases, such as with those calibers using carbines, but otherwise .50 BMG is often slower than the other two.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Which is true at the beginning, but the .50's bullet being of larger mass than the other two, loses a much smaller percentage of its initial velocity as the distance increases. Conservation of momentum.
Study some ballistics tables for .30-caliber bullets of similar BC at .308 velocities. Compare a 150/2800 and a 165/2600. At about 400 yards, the two are pretty even. At 500, the heavier bullet passes the lighter one. And that's with only a 15 grain difference...
Acera
Member
Does anyone know where that video was taken?
I sure hope there were miles and miles of land in that impact area, with all the folks that just shot them into the air, and not at the targets or backstop.
I sure hope there were miles and miles of land in that impact area, with all the folks that just shot them into the air, and not at the targets or backstop.
Boba Fett
Member
Yeah no kidding. I was thinking the same thing.
Apparently it was done in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, but where I didn't see in the video comments.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
So you can tell from the video the caliber of the bullet being fired and when it is going faster than another bullet several hundred yards away and moving away from you?
Flaming beercans
Many years ago and far far away, our beloved Corps used to let me fly Cobras. In an enclosed cockpit, we couldn't hear anything from the ground, except a heavy caliber (.50, .51, 12.7, etc.) fired directly at us. It made the skin of the aircraft resonate with a thump, thump. The tracers, for most of their flight, looked like they were coming straight at us. If they missed, they appeared to move sideways at the last possible moment. When they moved sideways, it exposed more of the tracer flare, so it looked like it flared up, as well. They looked like flaming beer cans as they went by. Our tracers, from the mni gun, fired at either 2,000 or 4,000 rpm, so they showed up really well.
The net effect was to slam shut our sphincter muscles, with the result that we extracted rivets right out of the steel seats with the ensuing slam. Our metal shop stocked plenty of replacement rivets.
Anyway, you could see the tracers coming.
Be Well,
Scarface
Many years ago and far far away, our beloved Corps used to let me fly Cobras. In an enclosed cockpit, we couldn't hear anything from the ground, except a heavy caliber (.50, .51, 12.7, etc.) fired directly at us. It made the skin of the aircraft resonate with a thump, thump. The tracers, for most of their flight, looked like they were coming straight at us. If they missed, they appeared to move sideways at the last possible moment. When they moved sideways, it exposed more of the tracer flare, so it looked like it flared up, as well. They looked like flaming beer cans as they went by. Our tracers, from the mni gun, fired at either 2,000 or 4,000 rpm, so they showed up really well.
The net effect was to slam shut our sphincter muscles, with the result that we extracted rivets right out of the steel seats with the ensuing slam. Our metal shop stocked plenty of replacement rivets.
Anyway, you could see the tracers coming.
Be Well,
Scarface
jcwit
member
The ones they shot over my head in basic training I deffiently could see. Course I knew from the start where they were coming from.
ShadyScott999
Member
Oh yeah.
Sig 226 .40
Member
Oh damn...I just had a thought....I would love to see a tracer round made for the MK-19. (that's a 40mm machine gun for the uninitiated, same round as the M203 grenade launcher, just belt fed) At 6 rounds per second...a big ass glowing golf ball coming at ya!!!!! HE HE HEEEE!!!!! Back to my lab!!!
dave from mesa
Member
Scarface
Thanks for you're service.
They do show up real well and are a welcome site but it sure ain't fun being below a mini gun at 4,000 rpm.
1911Tuner is correct. Some tracers light right off (in fact, ignited in the barrel) and some won't fire for some distance. AFAIK, only the standard trace is issued in 5.56mm and 7.62 NATO.
U.S. .30 rifle and .30 carbine ammunition have a red tip for standard tracer, orange for a dim or delay tracer. AFAIK, only the standard tracer is issued for 5.56mm and 7.62 NATO.
Here is the description of the Cal. 30 M25: "The tracer bullet M25 differs principally from the tracer buller M1 in containing a dim trace as well as a standard tracer composition. Dim trace begins at 35 to 50 yards from the muzzle and continues to 150+/- 75 yards where the bright trace begins and continues to 1,000 yards."
Cal .50 ammunition has several tracers, including a very bright (headlight) trace used in aerial combat; that is the trace that stands out in aerial combat photos.
Jim
U.S. .30 rifle and .30 carbine ammunition have a red tip for standard tracer, orange for a dim or delay tracer. AFAIK, only the standard tracer is issued for 5.56mm and 7.62 NATO.
Here is the description of the Cal. 30 M25: "The tracer bullet M25 differs principally from the tracer buller M1 in containing a dim trace as well as a standard tracer composition. Dim trace begins at 35 to 50 yards from the muzzle and continues to 150+/- 75 yards where the bright trace begins and continues to 1,000 yards."
Cal .50 ammunition has several tracers, including a very bright (headlight) trace used in aerial combat; that is the trace that stands out in aerial combat photos.
Jim
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