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Posted: 5/8/2005 12:44:43 AM EDT
| Apart from marking targets, do tracers have an additional function? |
Try this, it applies to 5.56: www.armystudyguide.com/m16/ammunition-types.htm |
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FWIW... There are also IR (InfraRed) tracers, Violet painted tip.  This is the newest tracer type in the US arsenal. Instead of emitting light, it emits heat, so there is no way enemy forces lacking sophisticated night vision equipment can possibly detect the tracers while, for our forces, the trace is quite evident. |
| The IR Tracer certainly leaves me awed, definetly the best of both worlds.hug.gif |
| A tracer in a gas tank will cause the fuel to ignite. Tracer rounds will contiune to burn after the round hits something until its fuel has been expended. So, if you have a bullet that will trace out to 700 yards and you hit a gas tank at 100 yards, it will still burn for a few seconds. Do you think a road flare would ignite a gas tank? I have shot at many a car *legally and safely* and tracer rounds will ignite anything that is combustible...interior,plastic, head liner, grass etc....Your biggest obsticle to overcome with a 5.56 tracer igniting a gas tank is the 5.56 round itself. You will have to get the round to pass through a body panel and then the gas tank to get into the fuel supply. I don't know too much about the lethality or fragmentation qualities of the tracer bullets, but I imagine its similar to the standard ball rounds. They will penetrate the gas tank easily, as its thin metal...But I have not had to shoot through a body panel and then into the gas tank. Id say succes would depend upon velocity and range. Be very, very, very careful with tracer rounds, they will ignite just about anything that will burn. Also, its hard on your weapon to shoot a lot of tracers. Use them responsibly and safely....and most of all Legally! |
Yes, most do, and actually they can cause problems if you use them excessively. The 'trace' compounds can leave traces of ammonia, though not necessarily enough to be a problem. Consider this from FM 23-9: "Soldiers should avoid long-term use of 100-percent tracer rounds. This could cause deposits of incendiary material/chemical compounds that could cause damage to the barrel. Therefore, when tracer rounds are fired, they are mixed with ball ammunition in a ratio no greater than one-to-one with a preferred ratio of three or four ball rounds to one tracer round." Given this, it's probably a bad idea to have tracers in the last slots of your magazine also. "Tracer goo" could sit there awhile if you shoot your last mag and take your weapon home before cleaning. |
Tracers ignite immediately but the first layer is a "dark" igniter that burns with very little light output. It is usually composed of an organic fuel such as dextrin and strontium peroxide as an oxidizer. Once the tracer reaches a safe distance 50-100 yards away from the shooter the bright red or green tracer compound ignites. |
osprey21, Tracer compounds after they burn contain a chloride salt, the exact same chemical left in the barrel when shooting corrosive ammunition. You can arrive there two ways: 1) Older tracer compounds contained potassium perchlorate such as in the following formula: Magnesium 28% Strontium Nitrate 40% Potassium Perchlorate 20% Strontium Oxalate 8% The magnesium and strontium oxalate are fuels. After the potassium perchlorate donates all its oxygen it become potassium chloride, the same chemical found after corrosive primers are fired since they contain potassium chlorate which also becomes potassium chloride after it donates all its oxygen. An example of a corrosive primer composition: Lead Azide 5% Potassium Chlorate 53% Antimony Sulfide 17% Lead Thiocyanate 25% 2) More modern tracers contain a chlorinated hydrocarbon such as polyvinylchloride. During combustion, the chlorine combines with strontium to intensify the red color. Unfortunately the residue contains strontium chloride which is almost as corrosive to steel as potassium chloride. An example of a formula: Magnesium 28% Strontium Nitrate 55% Polyvinylchloride 17% As you point out, by firing non-tracer ball ammo you 'wash' much of the corrosive potassium or strontium chloride residue. Even though it is old, a great book on the subject:  search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=2E7MCgPBui&isbn=0820603643&itm=1 You can also find a lot of info with patent searches here-->www.uspto.gov |
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