going through stuff and found a bunch of 30 cal tracers that don't have the end cap all seem to run 144.5 here's a pic, toss them or not ?

I'm not sure I would want the tracer burning down my barrels.... or somehow altering the burn characteristics of the powder if it fell loose into the powder.

Was going to try a couple as I've got several years worth of them , just plunking with the blackout

Dryflash would the tracer still start burning after leaving the barrel , even with the end cap / foil cover missing ?

I really don't know how a "Tracers chain of events" works.

Looks like the tracer compound has absorbed moisture and popped off their end caps.



This will not significantly change the ignition delay, as delay is built into the tracer compound, the cap is mainly there to protect the pellet from the powder and moisture.



At the worst these will have absorbed enough moisture to make them dim or inert, otherwise they should light as normal.



I'd load and shoot them, but I'd not leave them loaded for more than a few months due to the lack of the protective cap.

Here's what I recall about tracers from my active duty days long ago.  Basic load for a rifleman with the M1 Garand was two bandoleers of M2 ball (96 rounds) plus 10 loose rounds of red tracer and 4 grenade launching cartridges.  The tracers were used for marking targets.  They were definitely less accurate than ball ammo and they routinely started brush fires at Fort Ord's night fighting range.  

Later, in my permanent unit in Germany, I carried an M60 machine gun (7.62 NATO) for a while that used 200 round belts of "five and one", i.e., one tracer round for every five of ball.  Somehow the tracer rounds were loaded so they followed the same trajectory as the ball.  We were trained to aim our fire like a hose using the tracers to adjust.  Our training was strictly for direct fires, no beaten fields in defilade, even though we had fully capable tripods, but nonetheless very effective within line of sight, say 500 meters or so. - CW

Thanks for all the info !

Some older tracers dont have the copper looking foil endcap. They are also known for not lighting reliably.

L
Thanks, that's what I was wondering as I didn't think these had had kneecaps but wasn't sure if it was from being bless or not. Not lighting is just fine, at .50¢ a pound will make cheap plinking

Damn!

If you have a chance to buy more pick me up a large flat rate worth!

I use them for my .300 too!

Are you friends with or local to a company that pulls down military ammo?

I've reloaded with tracers in the past.  If I recall correctly they did not light up before hitting the 100 yard berm at the range.  They would ignite, though, because I'd see smoke coming from under the dirt.  If they were fired into bundles of phone books or newspapers, I imagine they'd catch fire.

I wouldn't..............

My thoughts are the end cap is the delay to let the bullet get out of the barrel before a full burn.  And yes it keeps the trace compound in the bullet too.

But even if the "delay is built into the tracer compound" as one poster thought, it is still burning inside your barrel.

That's what makes me nervous........ any of this burning in my barrel (and its MY barrel, not a free one from Uncle Sam).    

How many don't have the cap?  A lot?