Tracers -- what are they for?

[smithers599]

Assume it's legal to own tracers, and you are a responsible person who doesn't go out into the woods and start forest fires.

What, exactly, is the purpose of tracers, for the individual rifleman?

[QuietM4]

For a normal civilian? None. Novelty at best.

In the military? So you can see where your machine gun fire is going and correct fire.

Is this a serious question?

[smithers599]

For a normal civilian? None. Novelty at best.

In the military? So you can see where your machine gun fire is going and correct fire.

Is this a serious question?

Yes. Serious question.
I get tracers for machine guns.

Mel Tappan wrote that a tracer near the bottom of a magazine would let you know when you were running low, but I found that I could not see the tracers when I was shooting; only bystanders could.

So, I see these Streak "cold" tracers on the market, and I am wondering if I am missing something that everybody else knows but me.

Jeff Cooper was asked once, "What's it for?" and he replied, "Why, it's for sale, of course."

Unless I am missing something.

[omegaman]

For shooting planes down at big sandy.

[Boriqua]

When I was in the service we would use them when training at night and using gas masks. They would be placed in the mag every few rounds. It was a b**** shooting with the gas mask on and when shooting with a gas mask at night the only way to adjust fire on targets was with the tracers. I was guessing at best. In my day we only had iron sights. Dont know if that has changed.

[smithers599]

For shooting planes down at big sandy.

WINNER!

[Suck My Glock]

The curiosity is valid, as are the answers. But ultimately, the question itself is dangerously close to "who needs a military weapon?"

I realize the question posed here does not have the same hostile attitude attached to it. Just pointing out how close to the edge it is.

[1bardan+]

Fun on night camping

[Dat_Ginga]

Scottsdale Gun Club uses the streak ammo for a cosmic shooting night. Beyond that it's fun to shoot those at night for fun. A neat thing for new shooters or kids to be involved. I don't think most people are going to use it in any tactical capacity as a civilian.

[Lucafu1]

We would stagger them in the mag to see at night. Also would load 3 or 4 at the bottom so you would know you need a mag change.

[1bardan+]

The curiosity is valid, as are the answers. But ultimately, the question itself is dangerously close to "who needs a military weapon?"

I realize the question posed here does not have the same hostile attitude attached to it. Just pointing out how close to the edge it is.

Totally agree. Years ago I was in a gun store in Kingman that catered to hunters. The two other customers inside were yammering about how nobody needs a machine gun. I told them that machine gun owners need to contribute more money to keeping gun rights than hunters and that’s why they can freely buy a gun, not ask permission to check one out from a monitored club. They didn’t understand.
Divide and conquer, the democrat montra.

[BigNate]

As others have said... in the military, in the case of machine guns, to walk your stream of fire onto the target at distance (although we always thought "the machine-gunner's life expectancy is short enough without providing even clearer visual evidence of where we are sitting).

In the civilian world - there really is not tactical necessity of them - but they are fun - especially for folks who have never seen them - or have never been to a night shoot.

Part of "gun culture" that folks tend to understate is that it can and should be fun at times. You can both be both "safe and serious" - and have a great time. It can be a rush to shoot something bigger, or faster (auto), or louder, or brighter - and that is a good thing. Tracers, when used in an appropriate environment, fall into that space...

[Old Jeff H]

I bought a bunch of pulled tracers a few years ago with the intent of loading up cheap 300 BO plinking ammo. Too dry to shoot them around here, but probably be fun if/when I move somewhere green.

[338lapua]

Who remembers these fun rounds? Shooting them through my MP-5 and my RO635 is fun. When they came out Hornady said they may not be on the market forever so I got a pallets of them. Only tracer I can say never caught anything on fire during use. I shoot a box every year or so and they all still light up.

[smithers599]

Who remembers these fun rounds? Shooting them through my MP-5 and my RO635 is fun. When they came out Hornady said they may not be on the market forever so I got a pallets of them. Only tracer I can say never caught anything on fire during use. I shoot a box every year or so and they all still light up.

1-2.jpg

Bought a few boxes. I have one box left. Great fun -- for observers. When I am shooting them, I can't see the trace.