Just bought a brand new AR-50, awesome is an understatement.  I'm looking at all the different kinds of ammo available on the net.  Not a military guy, so i'm a little lost.  What are insendiary rounds, spotter tracers, and "AP" rounds?  are thes types safe to shoot down my new barrel? I"m an avid reloader and eventually i'll be loading the amax's, but untill I get set up to do so, i'll just stick with the military stuff.  Thanks

The Mil surp rounds are okay to shoot as long as you buy them from a reputable place.

Incendiary (API) is for starting things on fire.

Spotter/Tracer has been reloaded from the smaller ST cases to the fullsize .50 cases, the original were used with the 106mm recoiless rifle. They would shoot the .50 ST at a target, once they had it on target they would fire the 106mm round.

AP is just that, armor piercing.

Stay away from anything with a yellow tip, better known as Dominican Republic, pure crap.

Quoted: Just bought a brand new AR-50, awesome is an understatement.  I'm looking at all the different kinds of ammo available on the net.  Not a military guy, so i'm a little lost.  What are insendiary rounds, spotter tracers, and "AP" rounds?  are thes types safe to shoot down my new barrel? I"m an avid reloader and eventually i'll be loading the amax's, but untill I get set up to do so, i'll just stick with the military stuff.  Thanks

Good post.  I was trying to find answers on the same thing.

TS

Some examples as posted by Sam Colt over at BiggerHammer...

Ball, Tracer, AP, Incendiary, API, APIT, S/T, MP (raufoss), SLAP, SLAP-T, AMAX, practice/tracer

Perfect!  So is the AMAX the match grade one to shoot distances with?

TS

Yes, I've used AMAX to hit the 1 mile plate that we set up. While it could probably be done with ball or AP, you'll use more trying to get it done. Ball and AP just don't fly that well when it comes to longer ranges. Plus they're only good for about 2 MOA at best, you might get a few that will do better but most will be 2 MOA or 20" at 1000 yards.

There's other match grade projo's out there, Barnes makes a couple as does Lapua, some companies also make their own on CNC screw machines.

are all these types of ammo safe to use in my new barrel.  I'm not really sure how tracer and insendiary rounds work.  Its seem like it would be hard on the gun if you shot a lot of this type of ammo.

Generally speaking, they are all safe for the gun...
In practice, the blue-tip (incendiary) bullets are known to sometimes break up as they exit the barrel.
If that happens within the muzzle brake, it can damage it.   In the instances where I've seen it happen, it was several feet out.
Too, the S/T projo was designed to travel at lower velocities than typical .50bmg ammo.   Loading/shooting them with heavy loads could be detrimental to the health of the gun and you.
(safe loads in a .50bmg case should be in the 170-190gr of 5010 range....)

If you need bore-rider, or semi-bore-rider bullets, check out http://www.aaa-ammo.com/
If you don't have a chamber cut for bore-rider bullets, then the surplus AP is good for cheap and accurate reloading.   If you can't have steel core bullets at your range, then the new Prince-Al M33 brass projos are a good deal.  At the high end (2.00 a bullet!), the Lapua 800gr bullets shoot well.  (in my BFG anyway...)

Prince-Al M33 750gr


Lapua 800gr

Are raufoss rounds restricted?

Quoted: Are raufoss rounds restricted?

Only by your budget and your particular state's laws....
They have less than 1/4oz HE, so they're not regulated by the feds as long as they aren't "stolen" property.

I think the blue-tips, S/T and API put on a better show from an entertainment perspective....

Quoted: Quoted: Are raufoss rounds restricted? Only by your budget and your particular state's laws.... They have less than 1/4oz HE, so they're not regulated by the feds as long as they aren't "stolen" property. I think the blue-tips, S/T and API put on a better show from an entertainment perspective....

source for them online?

You can watch the biggerhammer board, there were some posted for sale there the other day. Saw a couple posted for sale on Auction Arms also, expect to pay a minimum of $40 EACH.

If my state allowed them I would buy just 1 for the collection, can't see paying that much for it otherwise.