tracers and Incendiary ammunition

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

I researched tracers and Incendiary ammunition.
They all just immediately go to the use of tracers and Incendiary ammunition.
I could not find out how they were ignited.
I logicly thought the power charge would ignite the tracer and Incendiary ammunition
then I thought that would leave a lot of fowling in the barrel.

 

[Wolfhound]

Tracers are ignited by the powder charge. However, most do not actually light up until many yards out. This is by design to help conceal the actual location of the individual firing.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Wolfhound has it right regarding tracer projectiles. Here are a couple of diagrams to help out, one basic and one more detailed.

Standard incendiary and armor piercing incendiary (API) projectiles have the incendiary composition inside the jacket of the projectile and are ignited by impact with a hard surface. Different designs will have the incendiary composition in different locations.

Typical British (.303, on left) and US (.30-06, center) incendiary, US 9mm SMAW tracer on far right.

Russian 7.62x54R API, a standard layout. Notice the fairly small amount of comp. in the nose compared to the amount in the straight incendiary rounds above.

7.62x39 API. Composition inside jacket, but placed behind the core - a unique design. The sudden change in momentum at impact causes ignition as the comp is crushed between the back of the AP core and the jacket. The idea is that the ignited comp will follow the AP core through the hole in the target that the core is creating. Note the two-piece jacket design required for assembly of the projectile.

I'm not going to get into the combination smoke tracer/incendiary projos as that is pretty exotic, old tech, and far beyond anything most shooters would ever encounter - very collectible rounds though.

 

[Mgderf]

I think it was last year I read about a new tracer round that could only be seen from behind the round.
This tracer didn't "ignite" as most do, rather it glowed brightly inside the back of the hollow-back projectile skirt.

Verry interresting, in my best Artie Johnson voice.

 

[russc2542]

I think it was last year I read about a new tracer round that could only be seen from behind the round.
This tracer didn't "ignite" as most do, rather it glowed brightly inside the back of the hollow-back projectile skirt.

Verry interresting, in my best Artie Johnson voice.

I saw something about that too... basically glow-in-the-dark material (shine a light on it to charge) energized by the powder ignition so it was safe at indoor ranges or around brush because the light wasn't from heat/burning.

here it is: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...-indoor-safe-tracers.html?447613=#post7368200

 

[Sniper 79]

Wolfhound has it right regarding tracer projectiles. Here are a couple of diagrams to help out, one basic and one more detailed.

Standard incendiary and armor piercing incendiary (API) projectiles have the incendiary composition inside the jacket of the projectile and are ignited by impact with a hard surface. Different designs will have the incendiary composition in different locations.

Typical British (.303, on left) and US (.30-06, center) incendiary, US 9mm SMAW tracer on far right.

Russian 7.62x54R API, a standard layout. Notice the fairly small amount of comp. in the nose compared to the amount in the straight incendiary rounds above.

7.62x39 API. Composition inside jacket, but placed behind the core - a unique design. The sudden change in momentum at impact causes ignition as the comp is crushed between the back of the AP core and the jacket. The idea is that the ignited comp will follow the AP core through the hole in the target that the core is creating. Note the two-piece jacket design required for assembly of the projectile.

I'm not going to get into the combination smoke tracer/incendiary projos as that is pretty exotic, old tech, and far beyond anything most shooters would ever encounter - very collectible rounds though.

Boy I love learning about things like this! Thanks for taking the time to post this. Really interesting!

 

[JeepHammer]

Ammo Man has EXPERTLY covered tracer design!

History goes back to cannon balls!

The Royal British Navy figured out the cloth bags used for powder charges would stick to, and smoke all the way to the target when grease was used to snuff burning embers/powder in the cannon barrel.
This allowed the gunners to actually see the ballistic arc to the target and make corrections, and made the gunners MUCH more accurate.

When big bore cartridge guns came along (pre WWI) they were often 'Hotchkiss' guns with bores up to 4".
The rounds were 'Hollow Point', and oil soaked rags were stuffed into the hollow point to produce a smoke trail to the point of impact.
This was particular popular with the US Navy using rotary (Gattling style) deck guns.

When soft lead, fragmenting, mushrooming, explosive, etc bullets were banned by international treaty (Geneva Convention, Haque Accords, etc.) the chemical tracer base bullet had already been invented...
Mostly by accident.
While trying g to develope an incendiary/explosive bullet, the chemicals often visibly burned on the way to impact...

An interesting bit of history,
When people talk about 'Throat Erosion' in Viet Nam, it was usually the bore being burned out right in front of the throat/chamber.
The tracers of the day dropped the burning metal cap at the back of the bullet, and that burning metal would torch away bore material right in front f the hard chromed chamber.

Early tracers ignited immedately, pinpointing the shooter just as well as the impact...
These tracers were hard on bores!

A delay was built into tracers, igniting the tracer chemical about 75 yards out of the muzzle so the shooting position wasn't as directly pinpointed.
These tracers weren't developed until Viet Nam, so WWII / Korean War surplus lights immedately.
I've fired a crap ton of WWII & Korean War surplus, I can vouch for this first hand. We were still shooting Browning machine guns & ammo dating back to WWII in the 70s when I enlisted...
(Anyone old enough to remember 'Mad Minutes' burning up outdated ammo instead of sending it to destruction/surplus market?)

What I'm having fun with is the non-visible light tracers... (Military calls them 'Spotting Rounds')
I've found a few in the surplus I buy, they can't be seen without light amplification night vision, the light they emit isn't in the natural vision spectrum.
I wonder if that's what the guy talking about when he wrote you can only see the tracer from behind because they will make a faint visible glow when they first ignite. With the naked eye they make a faint glow about 75 yards out for about 50 yards, and you have to be directly behind them to see it...
But they leave a nice, bright trace with night vision!
(Normal civilian shooters will rarely shoot that far at night, so I'm not surprised they aren't commonly known, and most of my surplus bullets/ammo comes from a special forces support & development facility)

 

[Mgderf]

I saw something about that too... basically glow-in-the-dark material (shine a light on it to charge) energized by the powder ignition so it was safe at indoor ranges or around brush because the light wasn't from heat/burning.

here it is: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...-indoor-safe-tracers.html?447613=#post7368200

By George I think you've got it!
Pretty interesting stuff, and not nearly as expensive as I would have thought.