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50 Caliber Tracer rounds probability of fire
11/8/2011 10:34:06 PM
I just bought a M82A1 and love it to death. But I have mostly tracer AP rounds and am really paranoid about starting a fire with these. I shot them this weekend and then waited around for about an hour to see if there was any smoke and all was good. Do tracer rounds really start fires that easy? Sorry kind of a noob question.
11/8/2011 10:56:17 PM
Absolutely. The Incendiary, Armor Piercing Incendiary, and Spotter Tracers as well. Very easily.
11/8/2011 11:04:53 PM
the term..............your playing with fire............is not joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
11/8/2011 11:06:03 PM
100% chance of fire, a LONG way away.
11/8/2011 11:11:32 PM
I would be afraid to shoot tracers in anything.
11/8/2011 11:13:04 PM
Tracers are especially dangerous for fires. The tracer burns for a while after a richochet could be on something that it will ignite. API's or Incindery ammo will start a fire, but at the point of impact. Unless you want a fire, it is easy to target non flamible items, but you never know when you will have a round bounce off somewhere.
11/9/2011 12:43:51 AM
I have experience. Definitely. Without a doubt. Dont fire any of that shit unless its wet and green outside. Lots of snow is good, too. Ball ammo will do the same in dry conditions, too. Thats a big chuck of hot metal thats bouncing around out there and the odds of it lighting something off are much greater than with your 5.56.
11/9/2011 9:07:29 AM
Thanks for the info. I will continue to only shoot in our contained pit at 600 yards max. Of course today it is snowing like a bitch so I might touch off a couple rounds.
11/9/2011 12:02:38 PM
Is this generally the reason that APIT is the least expensive round for .50BMG?
11/9/2011 2:38:51 PM
Tracers are illegal here in Florida. There was a shooter at a local range that was shooting 50BMG and he did not realize there was a tracer round in his box. Needless to say it started a brush fire that he and the others present could not put out. Called the fire department and they handled it. He paid for a big BBQ for the entire department, so he kept his range membership.
11/9/2011 9:28:13 PM
It's API that's usually the cheapest. Projectiles, for example are available in bulk less than $.10 each. It's because of the sheer volume produced. That means, statistically, it'll be the design with the most lot rejections, so the most demilled.
Ball is produced in huge quantity as well, but it's shot up so quickly after produced (for training), that not as much is found bad or goes bad, so there's less available to be demilled. Also, most people want ball, rather than API due to civilian range restrictions, so Ball's one of the most expensive projectiles. Cheapest is around $.40, but .50, .60, even .90 is common pricing as well.
Ball is produced in huge quantity as well, but it's shot up so quickly after produced (for training), that not as much is found bad or goes bad, so there's less available to be demilled. Also, most people want ball, rather than API due to civilian range restrictions, so Ball's one of the most expensive projectiles. Cheapest is around $.40, but .50, .60, even .90 is common pricing as well.
11/10/2011 11:08:26 AM
Where are you guys getting your ball ammo for reloading? Any good places. I looked at Natchez and a couple other but nothing great
11/10/2011 12:08:14 PM
We've had 2 fires at our range in the past 3-4 years
Yep, both from tracers
Yep, both from tracers
11/11/2011 7:13:11 PM
Standard ball will start a range fire, if you hit a rock. Trust me
11/11/2011 10:28:32 PM
I loaded some .30-06 pulldown tracers up for my Mini 30 (7.62x39) and shot them one day and had to do a 500m sprint, jump through/over barbed wire, and spend 5 minutes stomping around in knee-high fire. My leg hair below the knee was gone, and bits of charred twigs/leaves etc.. got stuffed down in my shoes and I had some pretty awesome blisters/burns. I'm lucky it didn't get out of control, it was only a couple feet from starting a bunch of pines on fire.
My first and only tracer fire... so far. I sold off all of my tracers after that, and have only recently (gotten dumb and) started buying them again.
Lesson learned; Shoot tracers at flat boulders and steel plates and don't miss, OR shoot them at ranges that well exceed their burn-out range.
That fire happened in Virginia, with a lot of dead leaves/undergrowth. I have since moved, and where I shoot now is in the middle of the desert in Nevada. Literally nothing but rocks, gravel, and sparse vegitation. Sparse enough I don't think a fire could spread from one plant to the next. None the less, I shoot .30 cals at 1000yd (they usually burn out 600-800yd), and only shoot APIT (self destructing) out of the .50 and only at big boulders and cliff faces.
What you want to avoid is the tracer bouncing. Especially those slow bounces, where it impacts, then seems to hang in the air about 30 ft directly over the target, then fall just behind it and keeps burning.. Bad joo joo.
The only thing I've seen an incendiary catch on fire was a propane tank and saw dust/rotted dry trees. API's are my favorites out of the .50bmg, shot hundreds now with no issues (again, mostly at rocks/cliff faces, though). I will say, though, tracers are great for showing you how many rounds really ricochet. Every tracer that bounces, it's FMJ counterpart would've done the same thing, you just wouldn't have known it.
My first and only tracer fire... so far. I sold off all of my tracers after that, and have only recently (gotten dumb and) started buying them again.
Lesson learned; Shoot tracers at flat boulders and steel plates and don't miss, OR shoot them at ranges that well exceed their burn-out range.
That fire happened in Virginia, with a lot of dead leaves/undergrowth. I have since moved, and where I shoot now is in the middle of the desert in Nevada. Literally nothing but rocks, gravel, and sparse vegitation. Sparse enough I don't think a fire could spread from one plant to the next. None the less, I shoot .30 cals at 1000yd (they usually burn out 600-800yd), and only shoot APIT (self destructing) out of the .50 and only at big boulders and cliff faces.
What you want to avoid is the tracer bouncing. Especially those slow bounces, where it impacts, then seems to hang in the air about 30 ft directly over the target, then fall just behind it and keeps burning.. Bad joo joo.
The only thing I've seen an incendiary catch on fire was a propane tank and saw dust/rotted dry trees. API's are my favorites out of the .50bmg, shot hundreds now with no issues (again, mostly at rocks/cliff faces, though). I will say, though, tracers are great for showing you how many rounds really ricochet. Every tracer that bounces, it's FMJ counterpart would've done the same thing, you just wouldn't have known it.
11/11/2011 10:42:50 PM
Is it going to rain when you shoot it? . . .
11/12/2011 12:17:53 AM
I cut a 50 caliber tracer bullet open and discovered that the outside cover was steel. It was magnetic and made me start worrying about shooting it in my barrel. I shoot a lot of API because it's cheap and it only has a little incendary dust around the steel core which is covered by a copper jacket. I pay about .26 cents each when I purchase them
11/12/2011 12:48:50 AM
I shot quite a few in Alaska but since I moved to the desert I havent many of them. The couple I did were in the middle of winter with snow on the ground.
11/12/2011 6:06:39 AM
Originally Posted By LedZeppelin:
I loaded some .30-06 pulldown tracers up for my Mini 30 (7.62x39) and shot them one day and had to do a 500m sprint, jump through/over barbed wire, and spend 5 minutes stomping around in knee-high fire. My leg hair below the knee was gone, and bits of charred twigs/leaves etc.. got stuffed down in my shoes and I had some pretty awesome blisters/burns. I'm lucky it didn't get out of control, it was only a couple feet from starting a bunch of pines on fire.
My first and only tracer fire... so far. I sold off all of my tracers after that, and have only recently (gotten dumb and) started buying them again.
Lesson learned; Shoot tracers at flat boulders and steel plates and don't miss, OR shoot them at ranges that well exceed their burn-out range.
That fire happened in Virginia, with a lot of dead leaves/undergrowth. I have since moved, and where I shoot now is in the middle of the desert in Nevada. Literally nothing but rocks, gravel, and sparse vegitation. Sparse enough I don't think a fire could spread from one plant to the next. None the less, I shoot .30 cals at 1000yd (they usually burn out 600-800yd), and only shoot APIT (self destructing) out of the .50 and only at big boulders and cliff faces.
What you want to avoid is the tracer bouncing. Especially those slow bounces, where it impacts, then seems to hang in the air about 30 ft directly over the target, then fall just behind it and keeps burning.. Bad joo joo.
The only thing I've seen an incendiary catch on fire was a propane tank and saw dust/rotted dry trees. API's are my favorites out of the .50bmg, shot hundreds now with no issues (again, mostly at rocks/cliff faces, though). I will say, though, tracers are great for showing you how many rounds really ricochet. Every tracer that bounces, it's FMJ counterpart would've done the same thing, you just wouldn't have known it.
I loaded some .30-06 pulldown tracers up for my Mini 30 (7.62x39) and shot them one day and had to do a 500m sprint, jump through/over barbed wire, and spend 5 minutes stomping around in knee-high fire. My leg hair below the knee was gone, and bits of charred twigs/leaves etc.. got stuffed down in my shoes and I had some pretty awesome blisters/burns. I'm lucky it didn't get out of control, it was only a couple feet from starting a bunch of pines on fire.
My first and only tracer fire... so far. I sold off all of my tracers after that, and have only recently (gotten dumb and) started buying them again.
Lesson learned; Shoot tracers at flat boulders and steel plates and don't miss, OR shoot them at ranges that well exceed their burn-out range.
That fire happened in Virginia, with a lot of dead leaves/undergrowth. I have since moved, and where I shoot now is in the middle of the desert in Nevada. Literally nothing but rocks, gravel, and sparse vegitation. Sparse enough I don't think a fire could spread from one plant to the next. None the less, I shoot .30 cals at 1000yd (they usually burn out 600-800yd), and only shoot APIT (self destructing) out of the .50 and only at big boulders and cliff faces.
What you want to avoid is the tracer bouncing. Especially those slow bounces, where it impacts, then seems to hang in the air about 30 ft directly over the target, then fall just behind it and keeps burning.. Bad joo joo.
The only thing I've seen an incendiary catch on fire was a propane tank and saw dust/rotted dry trees. API's are my favorites out of the .50bmg, shot hundreds now with no issues (again, mostly at rocks/cliff faces, though). I will say, though, tracers are great for showing you how many rounds really ricochet. Every tracer that bounces, it's FMJ counterpart would've done the same thing, you just wouldn't have known it.
I have shot hundreds of spotter tracers, APIT and API in the deserts outside of Las Vegas and have never even been close to causing a fire. There is pretty much nothing to burn and if you did hit the one shrub and managed to catch it on fire then that would be the only thing that burned.
So congrats on your location! I now live in Texas with much less shooting range available and it is very possible to start a fire with any tracer/API ask me how I know.
11/12/2011 7:42:09 AM
Your location dictates, that and the weather. We burned ALOT of ranges last year a pre-MOB with tracers. The .50 range caught on fire (you can google Grayling fire 09) and burned ALOT of acres. It happens.
11/16/2011 1:25:33 AM
Despite knowing better, like an idiot, I did it anyway and started a helluva brush fire with a single 5.56 tracer round many years ago. It was in a remote area of the SW desert and took me 3 hours by myself to put that fire out. Never again...
11/16/2011 2:25:13 AM
There are 2 kinds of people that shoot tracer rounds, those that have put out brush fires in the past and those that will put out brush fires in the future. I have seen 50 cal tracers start fires over 3/4"s of a mile away.
I was lucky and only had to make a MAD DASH about 150 yards away to put out the fire we started. Then when we were done and all proud of our selfs for running that far and getting the fire put out, my buddy pointed to another area on fire about another 75 yards up the hill. It was a windy day and we just barely got the 2nd fire out in time. After that day I only shoot tracers after a snow or a good long rain.
Ed
I was lucky and only had to make a MAD DASH about 150 yards away to put out the fire we started. Then when we were done and all proud of our selfs for running that far and getting the fire put out, my buddy pointed to another area on fire about another 75 yards up the hill. It was a windy day and we just barely got the 2nd fire out in time. After that day I only shoot tracers after a snow or a good long rain.
Ed
11/16/2011 3:25:49 AM
The tracer induced range fires on Camp Pendleton are prevalent.
Tracers from a 240 will light up a tire stack pretty quick as well.
Tracers from a 240 will light up a tire stack pretty quick as well.
11/16/2011 4:35:24 AM
I've set dripping wet grass on fire with tracers. I no longer have tracers.
11/16/2011 7:41:44 AM
Originally Posted By RyJones:
I've set dripping wet grass on fire with tracers. I no longer have tracers.
I've set dripping wet grass on fire with tracers. I no longer have tracers.
Dang! that was some mighty good tracers!
11/16/2011 8:53:40 PM
What do tracers and magnetism slivers from a fire starting stick have in common? Both burn hotter than hell and will dry out anything that they touch and cause that item to catch on fire. So, those of you who think that a good rain will prevent a fire are wrong. Might help reduce the chances of a fire, but not a sure thing..
11/16/2011 9:22:14 PM
Not trying to hyjack but what could one shoot into to elimate the chance of starting a fire. I am thinking of some kind of bullet trap kind of like the tv is on our minds.
11/16/2011 11:15:31 PM
Originally Posted By Faret:
Not trying to hyjack but what could one shoot into to elimate the chance of starting a fire. I am thinking of some kind of bullet trap kind of like the tv is on our minds.
Not trying to hyjack but what could one shoot into to elimate the chance of starting a fire. I am thinking of some kind of bullet trap kind of like the tv is on our minds.
water
11/17/2011 12:54:59 AM
Originally Posted By GunsmokeNC:
Dang! that was some mighty good tracers!
Originally Posted By RyJones:
I've set dripping wet grass on fire with tracers. I no longer have tracers.
I've set dripping wet grass on fire with tracers. I no longer have tracers.
Dang! that was some mighty good tracers!
The grass was very tall and had some dead undergrowth. The length of the grass on top, and the fact we'd had steady rain for a while, lulled me into thinking I was GTG. A couple tracers set the dead stuff underneath on fire, which was enough to get things going.
While it was easy enough to put out, I picked up a 'clue' from this event.
11/17/2011 2:22:55 AM
A group of us from Barksdale AFB went down to Fort Polk, LA back in the 70's to get some training on APC-mounted .50's. I remember having to stop after the first 100 round session because the brush at the back of the range was burning from the tracers - it was probably at least 2000 yards away.
11/17/2011 11:12:13 AM
Originally Posted By Faret:
Not trying to hyjack but what could one shoot into to elimate the chance of starting a fire. I am thinking of some kind of bullet trap kind of like the tv is on our minds.
Not trying to hyjack but what could one shoot into to elimate the chance of starting a fire. I am thinking of some kind of bullet trap kind of like the tv is on our minds.
How about a sand or dirt backstop?
11/17/2011 11:28:36 AM
Nothing makes you pucker more than seeing flames out at 800 yards on a live range.
11/18/2011 10:30:24 AM
Originally Posted By snowman823:
I just bought a M82A1 and love it to death. But I have mostly tracer AP rounds and am really paranoid about starting a fire with these. I shot them this weekend and then waited around for about an hour to see if there was any smoke and all was good. Do tracer rounds really start fires that easy? Sorry kind of a noob question.
I just bought a M82A1 and love it to death. But I have mostly tracer AP rounds and am really paranoid about starting a fire with these. I shot them this weekend and then waited around for about an hour to see if there was any smoke and all was good. Do tracer rounds really start fires that easy? Sorry kind of a noob question.
In my experience, API won't start fires very easily unless you have flammables like grass or whatever right around your target (say a 20 foot radius). But tracers...now that's a different story!
Tracers are AMAZING at starting fires, and doing so well away from your shooting area. I burned off about 10 acres of West Texas a number of years ago with a tracer that ricocheted. Thing landed on the ground 1/2 mile away, caught the grass on fire, and it was on! By the Grace of God, my buddy and I and the local Volunteer FD were able to hold the fire to a road, and then put it out.
I figure tracers are pretty much usable only in the Pacific NW, the east and southeast when it's wet, or in areas where snow is covering the ground. Otherwise, don't shoot them, or have the FD on hand.
-David
Edgewood, NM
11/27/2011 9:48:00 AM
Originally Posted By LedZeppelin:
I loaded some .30-06 pulldown tracers up for my Mini 30 (7.62x39) and shot them one day and had to do a 500m sprint, jump through/over barbed wire, and spend 5 minutes stomping around in knee-high fire. My leg hair below the knee was gone, and bits of charred twigs/leaves etc.. got stuffed down in my shoes and I had some pretty awesome blisters/burns. I'm lucky it didn't get out of control, it was only a couple feet from starting a bunch of pines on fire.
My first and only tracer fire... so far. I sold off all of my tracers after that, and have only recently (gotten dumb and) started buying them again.
Lesson learned; Shoot tracers at flat boulders and steel plates and don't miss, OR shoot them at ranges that well exceed their burn-out range.
That fire happened in Virginia, with a lot of dead leaves/undergrowth. I have since moved, and where I shoot now is in the middle of the desert in Nevada. Literally nothing but rocks, gravel, and sparse vegitation. Sparse enough I don't think a fire could spread from one plant to the next. None the less, I shoot .30 cals at 1000yd (they usually burn out 600-800yd), and only shoot APIT (self destructing) out of the .50 and only at big boulders and cliff faces.
What you want to avoid is the tracer bouncing. Especially those slow bounces, where it impacts, then seems to hang in the air about 30 ft directly over the target, then fall just behind it and keeps burning.. Bad joo joo.
The only thing I've seen an incendiary catch on fire was a propane tank and saw dust/rotted dry trees. API's are my favorites out of the .50bmg, shot hundreds now with no issues (again, mostly at rocks/cliff faces, though). I will say, though, tracers are great for showing you how many rounds really ricochet. Every tracer that bounces, it's FMJ counterpart would've done the same thing, you just wouldn't have known it.
I loaded some .30-06 pulldown tracers up for my Mini 30 (7.62x39) and shot them one day and had to do a 500m sprint, jump through/over barbed wire, and spend 5 minutes stomping around in knee-high fire. My leg hair below the knee was gone, and bits of charred twigs/leaves etc.. got stuffed down in my shoes and I had some pretty awesome blisters/burns. I'm lucky it didn't get out of control, it was only a couple feet from starting a bunch of pines on fire.
My first and only tracer fire... so far. I sold off all of my tracers after that, and have only recently (gotten dumb and) started buying them again.
Lesson learned; Shoot tracers at flat boulders and steel plates and don't miss, OR shoot them at ranges that well exceed their burn-out range.
That fire happened in Virginia, with a lot of dead leaves/undergrowth. I have since moved, and where I shoot now is in the middle of the desert in Nevada. Literally nothing but rocks, gravel, and sparse vegitation. Sparse enough I don't think a fire could spread from one plant to the next. None the less, I shoot .30 cals at 1000yd (they usually burn out 600-800yd), and only shoot APIT (self destructing) out of the .50 and only at big boulders and cliff faces.
What you want to avoid is the tracer bouncing. Especially those slow bounces, where it impacts, then seems to hang in the air about 30 ft directly over the target, then fall just behind it and keeps burning.. Bad joo joo.
The only thing I've seen an incendiary catch on fire was a propane tank and saw dust/rotted dry trees. API's are my favorites out of the .50bmg, shot hundreds now with no issues (again, mostly at rocks/cliff faces, though). I will say, though, tracers are great for showing you how many rounds really ricochet. Every tracer that bounces, it's FMJ counterpart would've done the same thing, you just wouldn't have known it.
I've always had to use a flare to get the propane tanks to work, even using API
11/27/2011 9:50:06 AM
Helps I'm on the FD
Of course, as of this point in time, I also only have a 100 yard range, with a HUGE sandpile as backstop
Of course, as of this point in time, I also only have a 100 yard range, with a HUGE sandpile as backstop
11/27/2011 9:51:02 AM
Originally Posted By Max-Paul:
What do tracers and magnetism slivers from a fire starting stick have in common? Both burn hotter than hell and will dry out anything that they touch and cause that item to catch on fire. So, those of you who think that a good rain will prevent a fire are wrong. Might help reduce the chances of a fire, but not a sure thing..
What do tracers and magnetism slivers from a fire starting stick have in common? Both burn hotter than hell and will dry out anything that they touch and cause that item to catch on fire. So, those of you who think that a good rain will prevent a fire are wrong. Might help reduce the chances of a fire, but not a sure thing..
It will prevent or slow down fire spread, however.
