5 Things You Didn’t Know About Tracer Rounds

Military movies often depict nighttime firefights illuminated by streaks of colorful light–tracer rounds. But these glowing projectiles have a more complex purpose than just visual spectacle.

In this article, we’ll dig beyond the Hollywood portrayal and explore five surprising facts about tracer rounds and their use in the US military.

1) A Tracer Glows When Shot

As Britannica explains, tracer rounds contain a pyrotechnic compound that ignites during flight, creating the signature glowing trail. But the purpose of these rounds goes beyond a light show.

There are two main reasons for using tracers:

Target Correction: Tracers help soldiers adjust their aim by making bullet trajectories visible. This is especially crucial in low-light conditions or for suppressing fire, where the goal is to keep enemy heads down rather than achieve pinpoint accuracy.

Psychological Warfare: In rare instances, tracers may be used to create the illusion of overwhelming firepower, potentially discouraging the enemy from continuing the fight.

However, tracer rounds come with a significant drawback: they reveal the shooter’s position.

This is particularly dangerous for individual soldiers whose camouflage and concealment are vital. A bright tracer streak can easily guide enemy fire back to its source, potentially putting the soldier at risk. This trade-off between target correction/suppression and position disclosure is why tracer rounds are typically used sparingly, often mixed with regular ammunition.

2) They Are Used Sparingly

While civilians might imagine soldiers relying solely on tracer rounds at night to see their target, reality dictates a more measured approach.

As previously mentioned, the very feature that makes them visible – the glowing trail – also betrays the shooter’s position. As a consequence, tracer rounds are typically used sparingly, often constituting only one out of every four or five rounds in a magazine.

Another factor influencing their use is the environment. Firing tracers in a dry, barren landscape like a desert pose minimal risk of fire. However, in environments with dense vegetation like California’s hills and woodlands, the risk of sparking a wildfire is significant.

Troops must carefully consider the potential consequences before using tracers, as accidentally setting the surrounding area ablaze could create a new battlefield hazard and limit escape routes.

While these concerns may seem like unlikely scenarios, they highlight the critical reasons why tracer rounds are a tactical tool used strategically, not a default choice for nighttime engagements.

3) It’s Not All That Accurate

While the bright trails of tracer rounds make them visually appealing, they come with a hidden cost – reduced accuracy.

Unlike standard bullets, tracers contain a pyrotechnic element that ignites during flight. This burning pyrotechnic material adds weight to the bullet initially, but as it burns out, the bullet’s weight changes significantly mid-flight. This fluctuation throws off the bullet’s trajectory, making it less precise than a standard round.

Imagine firing three regular bullets that hit a specific spot, then firing a tracer round that impacts a different area – that’s the effect of the weight change. The impact on accuracy becomes more pronounced as the firing distance increases.

4) There Isn’t Only One Type of Tracer Round

One of the least-known facts about tracer rounds is that their design isn’t one-size-fits-all. While they all serve a similar purpose, specific tracers are designed for different uses.

Consider the analogy of hammers. A sledgehammer, regular hammer, and ball-peen hammer all have similar functions (driving one material into another). You would be unwise, however, to use a sledgehammer to hammer in a 10-penny nail. You’d be using the right type of tool (hammer) but the wrong variant for the job. It is much the same way with tracer rounds.

According to The Ammo Club, traditional tracer rounds come in three types: bright, subdued, and dim. Gotta love the military and its ability to dumb things down for people.

Bright Tracers: These ignite immediately upon firing, offering maximum target illumination but also revealing the shooter’s position most readily. Think of them as powerful floodlights that illuminate the area but also make you a beacon.

Subdued Tracers: Designed to delay ignition until after a certain distance (typically 100 yards or more), these tracers offer a compromise. They provide some target visibility while minimizing the initial muzzle flash that could give away the shooter’s location.

Dim Tracers: As the name suggests, these tracers burn with a faint glow, only visible through night vision equipment. They offer minimal target illumination to the naked eye but allow soldiers using night vision to track bullet trajectory and adjust fire accordingly.

Choosing the right tracer type depends on the tactical situation. Bright tracers might be suitable for suppressing fire in open terrain, while subdued or dim tracers become more valuable for maintaining concealment during close-quarters combat or nighttime operations.

5) Tracer Round Legality

Because tracer rounds are combustible, the federal government isn’t thrilled about making them widely available to the general public as a shooting aid (shocker). In fact, the Feds have put tracer rounds firmly in the category of “explosive materials,” and therefore, the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) restricts every aspect of owning them, including their purchase, sale, storage, and transportation (again, a shocker).

I do see where the Feds are coming from, though, because the single thing that has never failed to shock me while being a Marine or a cop is the absolute incompetence and general stupidity of many. Many would, no doubt, buy a case of tracer rounds and carry them in the front seat of a pickup truck while smoking a cigarette. So, while I hate federal government overreach on anything, some people are just plain dumb, and they ruin it for the rest of us.

Short of Uncle Hank getting an explosives license through the ATF, we don’t have to worry about a highway fireworks show because of the significant regulation of these rounds… and I guess that’s good.

There is also the chance that your particular state has passed laws regulating the rounds. As we’ve seen some of the uber-liberal states illegally (in my opinion) restrict certain types of ammunition or certain magazine capacities, some states also feel it necessary to regulate tracer rounds beyond the way the federal government already restricts them.

I’m not going to go into this, because states vary so dramatically in gun and ammunition laws, but it is safe to say that if you have any desire to use tracer rounds as a civilian you might want to look into both Federal and state (and even local) laws to ensure you are fully compliant with each. You don’t want to miss one line of the legal code and have an overzealous young agent want to make a name for himself off of your arrest. Let’s stay away from that.

Depending on who you ask, tracers are either an invaluable tool for soldiers or a dangerous burden. Until the technology has been fully updated, the problems highlighted above will always exist. But hey, they sure do look cool in photos!

This article has been reviewed and updated by the SOFREP News Team.