I ordered some tracer ammo for my AR/M4gery. Then a buddy told me that it can burn up the rifling in my rifle. i've never heard of that.

Any truth to his claim?

We use them all the time, and have been for many many years. No problems.

No it can't, it doesn't start burning until it leaves the barrel, anywhere from 10 to 70 yards away, depending on how old it is...

ETA:  I looked it up, there are a few different types of tracer rounds.  The ones I use are dimm tracer rounds.  They don't show there full brightness until around 100 yards.  Bright tracers however burn to full brightness as it's leaving your barrel, and do leave trace amounts of the residue in your barrel, and can eventually damage it, although I would have to see it to believe it.  As long as your loading a tracer every 4th round or so, you should be fine.  Or you can make the 3rd to the last bullet in every mag a tracer to tell you to start pulling out another mag cause your almost empty...

I have shot about a hundred rounds of the tracer ammo.  The stuff I used was dirty as hell.  Plus the material on the tip would flake off and it took about an hour to clean everything up.  I haven't heard of burning up a barrel.

Yes they can burn up a barrel. It takes about 10,000 rounds or so.

thanks fellas!!

Well buring up your AR by shooting tracers through it will be much less of a problem than the holes the bullets will leave in it.

Quoted: Well buring up your AR by shooting tracers through it will be much less of a problem than the holes the bullets will leave in it.

HA!  I had to read that a few times to get it.  It's been one of those nights.  And you shouldn't have any problems shooting tracers.  

The only bad thing about tracers is the shit they light on fire when they hit the ground.



WIZZO

From FM 3-22.9 Rifle Marskmanship,

Cartridge, 5.56-mm, Tracer, M196. (Used in the M16A1 rifle) The M196 cartridge
has a red or orange painted tip (2, Figure 2-42, page 2-28). Its main uses are for observation
of fire, incendiary effect, and signaling. Soldiers should avoid long-term use of 100 percent
tracer rounds, which could cause deposits of incendiary material, or chemical compounds
that could damage the barrel. Therefore, when tracer rounds are fired, they are mixed with
ball ammunition in a ratio of no greater than one-to-one with a preferred ratio of three or four
ball rounds to one tracer round.

So it's not that you risk burning the barrel, it's that some of the tracer compound could be left in the barrel and cause some sort of damage.

I like them. F- it and light 'em up.

Quoted: The only bad thing about tracers is the shit they light on fire when they hit the ground. WIZZO

This is so true.