When firing a gun, what is tracer fire?

Answer 1

Wow, all good answers, let me add mine. The tracer round is painted orange on the tip. It has White Phosporus in it that burns when fired and emits an orange light. The reason to show you where you are firing, especially at night. Every 5th round loaded for an M16 magazine is tracer, 4 ball 1 tracer. I dont think using tracer rounds for hunting is legal. You would burn a hole through the animal. But when you goto the qualification range and do night fire it is fun, tracers flying downrange, you really get to see how fast and how far the weapon shoots.

Answer 2

"Tracer Fire" is simply the use of a firearm which utilizes ammuntion loaded with tracer bullets.

Since that is probably not what you are looking for, let me elaborate. A "tracer" is a cartridge which is constructed by loading a special bullet, having a hollow base, and containing a compound which ignites when exposed to the burning powder present in a cartridge case and consequently in the barrel as the round is fired, and which continues to burn as the bullet exits the barrel and passes through the air to the target. It is not the bullet that burns, and it is not the tip but the base where the tracer compound is retained, although the tips of tracer bullets are color coded, typically red or orange, to identify them as tracers. Tracers are used to aid in directing fire, or as the military calls it, "observation of fire", onto a target. The tracers can be constructed with compounds which ignite in any color, with the most often used being red in the United States. Tracers are of greatest benefit when firing full-auto since the movement of the firing weapon between individual shots is minimized.

Answer 3

Military uses tracers to see where the path of the bullets are going during a time that the sights cannot be seen.

Every 3rd round or so are loaded with tracer rounds.

The bullets themself are a kind of inceniary round. They actually burn emmiting a bright glow.

If you plan on shooting these check your local regulations. Some areas don't allow tracer rounds due to their nature of starting fires.

Answer 4

Tracer fire is produced when the projectile (bullet) has a substance in the base which burns with a bright and visible ignition, so you can see where the bullet is going. Usually used in full automatic machine guns in aircraft or on shipboard to assist in acquiring hits on the target(s)

Answer 5

tracer fire are rounds that are usually red and you can see when they project out. there may be one tracer ever 3 or 4 rounds so you can see where you are shooting

Answer 6

These rounds have a tip that emits a spark and due to the speed of the bullet, it leaves a trail showing where your round is going. These are incredibly bad for your barrel! Like incendiary rounds that will actually explode on contact with the target, they foul a barrel very quickly and will actually damage it in rather short time. You can find all sorts of that ammo at Cabela's, Cheaper Than Dirt, etc. They are legal to shoot but not legal to hunt game with (in every state I've checked). Have fun.

Answer 7

When every few shots there is one that emits a bright light signal, so you can see the "trace" of where shots are going. I think only rapid-firing automatic weapons use these.

Answer 8

a tracer i a bullet that burns hotter than normal witch givs it it red glow. tracers are used for night. (you see where your bullets are hitting).