Tracer Stories
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HighVelocity
Member
I fired a 9mm tracer round at an indoor range once and you'd have thought by the Range Officers reaction that I had just launched a sidewinder missile. 
Of course it didn't hurt a thing but I was instructed not to fire another one.
Of course it didn't hurt a thing but I was instructed not to fire another one.
Mikee Loxxer
Member
Tracers are great teaching tool
They can demonstrate what happens to bullets that bounce off of the ground to new shooters.
They can demonstrate what happens to bullets that bounce off of the ground to new shooters.
The NVA used green, US used red. Put together a late night scenario when they were using one of our M60s and we had a South Vietnamese unit with two RPDs firing back at them. Throw in star clusters, fog, rain, RPDs, Cobras, 105mm, and 81mm illumination rounds falling on your head. Very colorful evening.
rk
rk
That sounds like an amazing fireworks show few people have seen up close.
As far as back here at home, I've seen two acres of cornfield burned down by someone firing tracers from a Springfield M1A. They were target shooting on private land but someone decided to fire at an upward angle to "show everyone" the tracer better. (word to the wise, don't try this one at home)
Only when smoke began to billow up from beyond a tree line in the distance did someone say "Houston we have a problem..."
I never realized how much land a single misaimed tracer could burn.
As far as back here at home, I've seen two acres of cornfield burned down by someone firing tracers from a Springfield M1A. They were target shooting on private land but someone decided to fire at an upward angle to "show everyone" the tracer better. (word to the wise, don't try this one at home)
Only when smoke began to billow up from beyond a tree line in the distance did someone say "Houston we have a problem..."
I never realized how much land a single misaimed tracer could burn.
loose cannon
Member
double post
neoncowboy
Member
I've been at rifle ranges where old cars were set out at 400 yards and then blasted with the big guns (.50 cal, .30 cal machine guns)...it's FUN lighting up a car with a machine gun!! Anyway, during one of these sessions one of the cars erupted into flames. We figured it was a tracer igniting transmission or brake fluid that had leaked from a ruptured reservoir.
If you are planning to shoot tracers, a fire extinguisher might come in very handy.
If you are planning to shoot tracers, a fire extinguisher might come in very handy.
loose cannon
Member
we figured itd be ok to fire a couple 30.06 tracers from a garand we were shooting heck it'd rained that morning.wrong!a split second after the 1st round went downrange the grass on my berm started burning.i ran down and beat it out with my tshirt.
i think the hornady vector hgun tracers are safer than milspecs.i wonder why they quit making them??
i think the hornady vector hgun tracers are safer than milspecs.i wonder why they quit making them??
Smokey Joe
Member
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- Jan 2, 2003
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Blackpowder equivalent
Not exactly tracers, but...
Was shooting @ the public range near my house one day, at the 50yd range. A few firing points down from me was a person shooting a BP rifle, using those (at the time) very new BP substitute pellets. He had at least 2 of the pellets in his load, and fired off a round. The gun went off with kind of an odd sound that made us all turn and look, to see:
The round speeding downrange, consisting of his bullet plus the forward pellet, which hadn't fired in the gun but HAD caught fire, so it left a smoke trail like an F-14 with engine trouble. The bullet went through his paper target. The smouldering pellet stuck in the thick layer of paper targets stapled to his target holder, smoked some more for a few seconds, then set the paper targets on fire!
Everybody on that range at the time had to stop what they were doing due to laughter. We all put our guns down and sat there guffawing. The RO called a cease-fire-and-cease-laughing (which didn't stop the laughter! ) and we went downrange to put the target out. (Target was isolated; no dry grass near; no danger of spreading. We just let it go out.)
Couldn't concentrate or aim decently for another 10-15 minutes. Without doubt, the biggest haw-haw I ever had @ a shooting range.
Not exactly tracers, but...
Was shooting @ the public range near my house one day, at the 50yd range. A few firing points down from me was a person shooting a BP rifle, using those (at the time) very new BP substitute pellets. He had at least 2 of the pellets in his load, and fired off a round. The gun went off with kind of an odd sound that made us all turn and look, to see:
The round speeding downrange, consisting of his bullet plus the forward pellet, which hadn't fired in the gun but HAD caught fire, so it left a smoke trail like an F-14 with engine trouble. The bullet went through his paper target. The smouldering pellet stuck in the thick layer of paper targets stapled to his target holder, smoked some more for a few seconds, then set the paper targets on fire!
Everybody on that range at the time had to stop what they were doing due to laughter. We all put our guns down and sat there guffawing. The RO called a cease-fire-and-cease-laughing (which didn't stop the laughter!
) and we went downrange to put the target out. (Target was isolated; no dry grass near; no danger of spreading. We just let it go out.)Couldn't concentrate or aim decently for another 10-15 minutes. Without doubt, the biggest haw-haw I ever had @ a shooting range.
HankB
Member
One of the major ammunition companies (IIRC, Winchester) used to put out tracer shot shells which were supposed to be "coaching tools" for skeet and trap students. I believe they were discontinued because 1) the tracer portion wouldn't reliably stay in the center of the pattern; 2) the tracer's ballistics didn't match the shot ballistics, and 3) fire concerns . . . though every time I saw them used, the tracer appeared to burn out well before it came down.
I have it on good authority that a 223 tracer fired from an AK looks a lot like a laser beam when it hits a gopher.
NineseveN
member
Dr.Rob said:
I believe the reason Hornady quit making "Vector" ammo was because the supplier of magnesium rods went out of buisness or stopped making them.
I still have one box of 50 in 9mm, one box of 20 in 45ACP, part of a box of 40S&W. I use them sparingly!
I still have one box of 50 in 9mm, one box of 20 in 45ACP, part of a box of 40S&W. I use them sparingly!
Mikee Loxxer
Member
I had a box of Vector tracers in 9mm that I fired out of my Hi-Point 995 Carbine. It may not have been the ammo but the barrel rusted after that. I blamed the ammo and have not shot any of it since then.
History Nut
Member
Old Tracer Story
Late 1960s, Southern California (a lot nicer place then):
My older brother had just returned from his tour bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail in B-26K/A-26A. He gave me about 40 rounds of G.I. .38 Special that he said had been around his waist in belt loops for most of his missions. I think he mentioned that some might be tracers but the bullet paint had worn off.
Some time later, a good friend and I went up north of Los Angeles in the Los Padres National Forest to do some shooting. I decided to fire off some of the G.I. ammo out of an Italian copy of the 1866 "Yellow Boy" lever action. By the way, this was right in the middle of "fire season" in the forest! I am happily shooting away when my friend and I notice a 'funny red ball' going downrange!
In my youthfull brilliance, I commented that it must be one of 'those tracers'. I checked the headstamp and seperated out all the cartridges with the same headstamp. Then, in one of my far-from-smart decisions, I elected to fire another one to confirm that headstamp was a tracer round. Sure enough, it was another 'red ball'. My friend and I began to congratulate ourselves on our fine deductive reasoning when the 'funny smell' reached our noses. There was a four foot circle of fire already burned in the dry grass (Thankfully NO wind that day!)! We covered the distance like sprinters and did the "fire dance" and managed to get it extinguished before it spread much more. Then we humbly waited for Smokey the Bear to descend on us. Well no one showed up so we put the suspect ammo away. Months later, out in a very sandy area of the desert, I expended the rest of the suspect tracers. About a quarter of them did not make it all the way out of the 18" lever gun barrel. They would sit about an inch from the muzzle and just sizzle. The bullet was easily removed with a G.I. cleaning rod and there was no apparent harm to the little "Yellow Boy" Winchester copy. When I asked my brother about it, he said they were issued the tracers as a signaling device only. Apparently it was a very weak load as I had noticed a very curved trajectory especially since I was shooting at about 50 feet.
OK, that is my tracer story. Of course, in the PDRK we can't have tracers for anything now
. It is a felony to possess tracer ammunition so all that I used to have was expended before the law took effect.
Late 1960s, Southern California (a lot nicer place then):
My older brother had just returned from his tour bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail in B-26K/A-26A. He gave me about 40 rounds of G.I. .38 Special that he said had been around his waist in belt loops for most of his missions. I think he mentioned that some might be tracers but the bullet paint had worn off.
Some time later, a good friend and I went up north of Los Angeles in the Los Padres National Forest to do some shooting. I decided to fire off some of the G.I. ammo out of an Italian copy of the 1866 "Yellow Boy" lever action. By the way, this was right in the middle of "fire season" in the forest!
I am happily shooting away when my friend and I notice a 'funny red ball' going downrange! In my youthfull brilliance, I commented that it must be one of 'those tracers'. I checked the headstamp and seperated out all the cartridges with the same headstamp. Then, in one of my far-from-smart decisions, I elected to fire another one to confirm that headstamp was a tracer round. Sure enough, it was another 'red ball'. My friend and I began to congratulate ourselves on our fine deductive reasoning when the 'funny smell' reached our noses. There was a four foot circle of fire already burned in the dry grass (Thankfully NO wind that day!)! We covered the distance like sprinters and did the "fire dance" and managed to get it extinguished before it spread much more. Then we humbly waited for Smokey the Bear to descend on us. Well no one showed up so we put the suspect ammo away. Months later, out in a very sandy area of the desert, I expended the rest of the suspect tracers. About a quarter of them did not make it all the way out of the 18" lever gun barrel. They would sit about an inch from the muzzle and just sizzle. The bullet was easily removed with a G.I. cleaning rod and there was no apparent harm to the little "Yellow Boy" Winchester copy. When I asked my brother about it, he said they were issued the tracers as a signaling device only. Apparently it was a very weak load as I had noticed a very curved trajectory especially since I was shooting at about 50 feet.OK, that is my tracer story. Of course, in the PDRK we can't have tracers for anything now
. It is a felony to possess tracer ammunition so all that I used to have was expended before the law took effect.Jayb
Member
I took these pics just south of the DMZ in South Viet Nam in January 1968. Puff the Magic Dragon.........
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
No story to tell but Sportsmans Guide has some 30-06 Tracer in stock.
I just HAD to place an order.....
I just HAD to place an order.....
rangermonroe
Member
My daughter and I were handloading for my dad's 300 Savage when we noticed that we had 2 more cases than bullets.
Being a resourceful young man, I pulled two rounds from some military .308 that I had and reseated them into the Savage shells.
I figure dad will get his buddies attention when he lights one of those off!
Being a resourceful young man, I pulled two rounds from some military .308 that I had and reseated them into the Savage shells.
I figure dad will get his buddies attention when he lights one of those off!
1 old 0311
member
Hi Jayb,
Ain't Puff the best? Used to love to hear that old pig coming is slow and loud. Once the NVA knew what that sound meant I bet it caused more than a few to crap their pants.
Kevin
0311, Quang Tri 69-70
Ain't Puff the best? Used to love to hear that old pig coming is slow and loud. Once the NVA knew what that sound meant I bet it caused more than a few to crap their pants.
Kevin
0311, Quang Tri 69-70
sometimes they come back......
I remember shooting with my Dad at an old sand pit when I was about 12. He had scrounged up some M60 belts from some where and we were shooting it up for the brass in a Remington 788. Every time we shot the tracers, we kept hearing something buzzing over our heads and later we found several spent projectiles on the ground BEHIND us. The tracers were hitting the sand bank and penetrating about 8 inches, then doing a "U" turn and coming back uprange!
I remember shooting with my Dad at an old sand pit when I was about 12. He had scrounged up some M60 belts from some where and we were shooting it up for the brass in a Remington 788. Every time we shot the tracers, we kept hearing something buzzing over our heads and later we found several spent projectiles on the ground BEHIND us. The tracers were hitting the sand bank and penetrating about 8 inches, then doing a "U" turn and coming back uprange!
Puff !
Jayb, outstanding Puff the Magic Dragon pics! The red tracers look like a river. PS- your S&W Model 617 ss on your web site is pretty sweet too. Rock on!
* Did any of you vets ever get to see what was left of the NVA after one of these "Puff" missions??
Jayb, outstanding Puff the Magic Dragon pics! The red tracers look like a river. PS- your S&W Model 617 ss on your web site is pretty sweet too. Rock on!
* Did any of you vets ever get to see what was left of the NVA after one of these "Puff" missions??
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