Tracer Ammo

[creed763]

I just purchased some tracer ammo. After we got done firing it, and ran some patches through to clean it, it came out greenish blueish kinda color. Could someone tell me weather or not not it is safe for the barrel and if it is corrosive?

[BUFF]

It depends on who made it and what it is.

Tracer is not generally corrosive just because it is tracer. It is corrosive if the primers used to assemble the ammo are corrosive. If it is U.S. made 7.62 or 5.56 mil spec, it is not corrosive as we converted to non-corrosive primers before the introduction of either cartridge. There is some corrosive U.S. .30-06 tracer, as well as ball, A.P., etc.

Is it harmful to your barrel? Probably not. Steel core bullets with insufficiently-thick gilding metal on the outside may wear your bore faster than a bullet that has a 'softer' coating or jacket.

If your barrel is chrome lined, you will probably never get a perfectly clean patch. That's okay!

BUFF

[creed763]

How can you tell if the bore is chrome lined? besides looking down the bore to see if it's all nice and shiny like???

[BUFF]

Rifles with chrome plated bores usually have chrome plated chambers. Look there with a good light.

Compare what you see to a rifle you have access to that you know is not chrome bored. Extremely few commercial bolt, lever, pump or semiauto action hunting rifles have plated bores.

HTH.

BUFF

Clean both well first. Use a bore light.