Tracers?

[Roche]

Sorry for being such a ,.. but I have to ask.

I have heard all the time about tracer fire, since I first saw them in 1991 during Desert Storm Footage, I have thought all my life that tracers are just bullets called "tracers" but are in fact the bullets travelling at high speeds and high temperatures and that the visual impression of them fired in bursts is that is like a laser traveling in space, so they "trace",? I am gettin gconfused by this forum, someone was talking about "tracers"are every 5 rounds and different colors ?(which I have noticed), what does that mean? that there is like a special round in every magazine that fires difrently or something? to show the direction of the bullets? I am confused

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=28144

 

Don't be afraid to trow some physcs, and scinece into the topic I really want to have this clear,

Edited June 8, 2009 by Roche
edit1

[GGTharos]

A tracer round has a small charge in the rear which continues to burn during the round's flight time so that you can see it. Every nth round (depending on how you're meant to load your weapon up) will be a tracer round.

[joey45]

A tracer round has a small charge in the rear which continues to burn during the round's flight time so that you can see it. Every nth round (depending on how you're meant to load your weapon up) will be a tracer round.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracer_ammunition

[Roche]

Thanks just finished reading that article.

 

I assume that every round that gets fired at night or day has a tracer, well most of the time, and at night rounds fired that don't have tracers for some reason will still be visible, no the naked eye, right? I guess is a common thing for every round to have tracers, both NATO, and WARSAW

[GGTharos]

As the article says, no, not every round. Every one in so many will have a tracer, and thus only one in so many will be visible. Typically.

[joey45]

when I had tracers it was

 

Rnd No - type

1 - Tracer

2,3,4, - normal

5 - tracer

6,7,8,9 -normal

10,11 - tracer < 2 tracers have a mag of 28

12-19 - normal

20 - Tracer

21-25 - normal

26-28 - tracer < 3 tracers was a visual clue that i was out of ammo

 

why 28? in the desert you always has 2 rnds less due to heat.

 

for MGs its every 5th round

Edited June 13, 2009 by joey45

[DarkWanderer]

I assume that every round that gets fired at night or day has a tracer, well most of the time, and at night rounds fired that don't have tracers for some reason will still be visible, no the naked eye, right? I guess is a common thing for every round to have tracers, both NATO, and WARSAW

1.No, bullets are not (should not be) visible. Bullet should travel at hypersonic (>2 km/s) speed, which is barely reached even in artillery systems, to produce visible glow.

2.No. Generally, bullets are not visible even at night (as opposed to muzzle flashes). This is not quite convenient when shooting at large distances, as shells may be deflected by wind or the sights may be damaged. That's why every N-th (e.g. 5-th) round in the chain is a tracer. For Su-27 this is like: 1 tracer, 4 incendiaries, 1 tracer, 4 armor-piercing, 1 tracer...

Personal weapons (except machineguns) are usually not fitted with tracers - because when shooting single rounds, there's no sense in 1/5th of it being tracers.

Edited June 10, 2009 by DarkWanderer

[joey45]

tracers can be used to ID targets...

[DarkWanderer]

tracers can be used to ID targets...

Well, all I can say here is asking to tell more :)

[Brit_Radar_Dude]

Well, all I can say here is asking to tell more :)

 

The enemy are where I am firing at.

 

If I have tracers mixed in with my regular ball ammo, then you can see the target that i am firing at. Feel free to join in!!

[159th_Viper]

Indispensable with Night-Ops......especially with a LMG or the like (personally used the FN MAG). You literally 'walk' the rounds onto the target by having regard to the Phosphour 'trail' of the rounds as opposed to sighting as you would do a conventional Assault Rifle where Tracer rounds are useful for your Ammo count - the last sound you want to hear in a contact is the firing pin falling on an empty chamber..........

Edited June 13, 2009 by 159th_Viper

[EtherealN]

Regarding ammo count, I have a vague memory saying that in WW2 it was typical to have a higher density of tracers in the last ~50ish rounds in an aircraft's machineguns to help the pilot spot when he is about to run out of ammunition. (Since having an instrument that shows your ammunition stores wasn't exactly a given.)

 

Anyone know if there's truth to that?

[AlphaOneSix]

Murphy's Law of Combat #39: Tracers work both ways.

[joey45]

Indispensable with Night-Ops......especially with a LMG or the like (personally used the FN MAG). You literally 'walk' the rounds onto the target by having regard to the Phosphour 'trail' of the rounds as opposed to sighting as you would do a conventional Assault Rifle where Tracer rounds are useful for your Ammo count - the last sound you want to hear in a contact is the firing pin falling on an empty chamber..........

 

there is no click as the bolt is lock open on most weapons...

 

it only goes click when-

a) there is a fault with the round itself:cry:

b) the round did not load in to the chamber:cry:

c) the bolt did not lock open:cry:

 

but you are right you don't want to hear a click.:music_whistling: