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tracer bullets

Dave45-70
Can you deactivate tracer bullets safely by soaking them in water, oil or tumbling? I was given some pulled bullets but don't wish to load active tracer rounds.Any help is appreciated on dealing with this.
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8 comments

Date Votes
  • Dave45-70
    hello

    I got a deal on some pulled tracer bullets
    But now I am nervous about shooting them Will they hurt the bore of my gun?
    Thanks


    T Mueller[:)]
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  • 11b6r
    Removing tracer element- bullet gets lighter. Soaking in oil or penerant- gets a LOT heavier. Digging out by hand- good way of becoming the Human Torch.
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  • Horse Plains Drifter
    At the price people pay for that kind of stuff, one might be money ahead to sell the tracer bullets and buy what you want. Just a thought.
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  • nmyers
    With the manual removal method, I'd expect severe burns on the hands & arms, plus permanent blindness.

    Some things are just not worth doing.

    Neal
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  • p3skyking
    You need not worry much about the tracer compound. It's like a road flare and only has about a 1 second burn. You can line them up outside and go down the line with a propane torch and TRY to get them to burn out. Don't keep the torch on the ends long as it will melt the lead out of the metal case.

    You can mechanically remove it by using a pocket knife on some, or a drill bit that you can turn by hand. Open flame is about the only thing that might possibly work to cause a reaction, but since they are hygroscopic and have been exposed to the air, not much chance of a reaction. If you're still worried you can always just fill the sink with water and perform the removal underwater.
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  • BigLoop22
    quote:Originally posted by DBuesching
    Can you deactivate tracer bullets safely by soaking them in water, oil or tumbling? I was given some pulled bullets but don't wish to load active tracer rounds.Any help is appreciated on dealing with this.


    DBuesching,

    The bullets are already OUT OF their cases, right? Someone else pulled them, and gave them to you, right?
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  • RCrosby
    Not quite the same, but the principal may apply. I was given an old Arisaka with a live round stuck in the chamber. Bolt wouldn't close all the way and likewise wouldn't extract the round. Tried knocking it out with a rod. No luck. Set it in a corner, muzzle up, and filled the bore with the best penetrating oil I could find and let it sit....
    for a week.
    Poured out the oil, dried the bore and still couldn't knock out the round, so went into the woods, managed to close the bolt with a length of 2X4 , tied the rifle to a tree and a string to the trigger, hid behind another tree and pulled the string.
    One hellaceous noise! Needed the same 2X4 to hammer the bolt upright and then back. The gob of melted brass around the bolt head was unrecognizable. Wouldn't begin to guess at the pressures. No apparent damage to the action and whatever bullet had been there exited the bore.
    Long story short, if no one wants to buy them, I'd bury them in the back yard. Likely not a problem with the precautions suggested already, but ever since that day I've been coward number one!
    (Don't even fire .22 long rifles in my mag. cylinder any more![:D][:D]
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  • rusty1
    MT357 HAS THE RIGHT IDEA SELL IT.
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