your own tracers

From what I understand it's a difficult process, requiring specialty tools and chemicals. Best off just buying some. Be prepared to pay $1 a round though. I could be wrong though. Somebody with more knowledge will jump in soon here probably.

**Edit** There was a thread on this before, try searching for it. **Edit**
 
Get a drill press, a bench press, some phosphorus, powdered aluminum, manganese and magensium, then chuck all that and PM Ganderite to buy some of the ones he just offered.
 
IBTL-Motivational_poster.jpg
 
gewehr76 said:
Well I do have reloading equipment.

What is the deal with locks and prohibited topics?

Last time I checked tracer rounds were not prohibited in police state.

Or you guys think its impossible to make these things with regular bolits?
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If you had actually read the rules when you signed up here you would have seen the following:

The following topics will not be tolerated. Violation will result in immediate and permanent suspension. Some quasi legal/ grey/downright illegal examples that are specifically not tolerated are:

1. Shipping and driving items to Canada from the US that require US export permit.

2. Discharging firearms in places where firearms are not allowed to be discharged.

3. Manufacture or use of flammable and explosive substances or “tracer” projectiles.
 
A few years back (OK, like 20-25) there was an article in one magazine that showed them using oil impregnated bearing stock to make lathe turned bullets.

They left a pretty good smoke trail, and are about as close to a tracer as I would be willing to make.

Too many bad things can happen when you start playing with pyrotechnic mixtures, and the pressures involved inside the cartridge case on firing.

A buck each is cheap!

Cheers
Trev
 
You might be able to find some pulled tracer bullets at a gun show. My cousin gave me a big bag of them several years ago that he had picked up at a show, and we loaded them up and sent them down range.

As far as making them from scratch, you would be dealing with prohibited chemicals like phosphorous, which are incredibly dangerous, expensive, and impossible to process in a home shop. As far as I know, the only possible way to get tracer bullets, aside from buying surplus ones, would be to do as I suggested and try to find the component bullets.

Erik.
 
"...oil impregnated bearing stock..." Copper or bronze, as I recall. Slick, spiraling, smoke trail out to 300 or 600 yards. No fire danger either.
"...think its impossible..." Nothing is impossible. Just not a good idea. You'd be playing with chemicals/materials that start to burn when exposed to air and don't go out without extreme measures.
Most ranges won't let you shoot trace anyway.
 
ErikT said:
As far as making them from scratch, you would be dealing with prohibited chemicals like phosphorous, which are incredibly dangerous, expensiveErik.
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Prohibited no. Dangerous yes. Phosphorus is not hard to find nor is it illegal to purchase or possess. Plus this would be red phosporus which is much safer than white phosporus. Still a bad idea to try and make your own tracers though...
 
CyaN1de said:
If you had actually read the rules when you signed up here you would have seen the following:

The following topics will not be tolerated. Violation will result in immediate and permanent suspension. Some quasi legal/ grey/downright illegal examples that are specifically not tolerated are:

1. Shipping and driving items to Canada from the US that require US export permit.

2. Discharging firearms in places where firearms are not allowed to be discharged.

3. Manufacture or use of flammable and explosive substances or “tracer” projectiles.
Click to expand...

So talking about tracer projectiles, that I bought legally on the EE, which are not illegal IAW the criminal code, which I have shot at a legal competition, would get me banned?
 
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