Which powder needed to light 7.62 & 5.56 tracer

[Charlotte the flyer]

I've just acquired some 7.62x51 NATO tracer bullets, they appear to be ~140gn

Does anybody load these bullets? If so what powder brand do you use in your recipe? I was told that I need a fast burning powder in order to light the tracer, further I've been told both that N140 won't work and also that it will aaarggh . I only have N140 and Varget at the moment but if I need to get different powder so be it.

I'll be using 7.62 Milsurp cases (GGG), I'll also want to use them in my K31 as well in 7.5 Swiss. I'll work the load up myself but if you have any pointers on where to start I'll use that as a guide when trawling through my manuals.

One other additional complication, the 7.62 is going to be used in my SLR which suffers from primary extraction in anything other than GGG. I plan to use GGG cases but I need them to be loaded such that I can still extract cleanly when using the tracer.

I also plan on loading 5.56 tracer (also in GGG cases) so if you have any info on that I'd be equally grateful.

[20series]

Vit 140 or Varget will both work in either, but you might find better results with N140 for 7.62 and Varget for .223

Alan

[M99]

Varget for both. I've found with the pulled stuff that N140 will not consistently ignite them, you get 3 or 4 failures per 10 shots. Varget may give 1 in 30.

[mag41uk]

US made tracer uses specific Winchester powder.
There is one for 223 and one for both 308 and 3006.
Something like W748T ( T for tracer! )
Most of the pulled 308 bullets that come into the UK via Bold action are useless.
I bought a 1000 a few years back and have had no luck with them so I just use them as standard bullets at Sennybridge.
I have tried these in 7.62x39 with W296 and N120 with no luck.
I do have some new 308 bullets that do work 9 out of 10 and that is with N140 in 7.5 Swiss.
Hot ball powders are supposed to be best and I will try some Ramshot powders next time.
Tony

[leeroy7031]

Varget for both. I've found with the pulled stuff that N140 will not consistently ignite them, you get 3 or 4 failures per 10 shots. Varget may give 1 in 30.

There may be issues with the tracer rounds.... did you get these from me or JM ? I use Varget for .308 and had very mixed results, mostly poor ignition... unless its my crap reloaded

[Charlotte the flyer]

I got the 7.62 from Simply Firearms in Oldham, looks like its pulled. Need to do something as I almost needed a hammer to get the bolt back with that Singapore stuff.

[DW58]

Isn't civilian use of tracer ammo prohibited on many ranges?

[M99]

Varget for both. I've found with the pulled stuff that N140 will not consistently ignite them, you get 3 or 4 failures per 10 shots. Varget may give 1 in 30.

There may be issues with the tracer rounds.... did you get these from me or JM ? I use Varget for .308 and had very mixed results, mostly poor ignition... unless its my crap reloaded

No, not from JM.

We fired upwards of 300 5.56 tracer at Warcop last time and never had a fail to light. Only had 1 in 7.62 incidentally.

Mike

[snayperskaya]

Isn't civilian use of tracer ammo prohibited on many ranges?

Its good to go on F range at Sennybridge, I think its allowed on Field Fire ranges.

[dirtydawk]

I bought 500 of the pulled bullets locally a couple of years back and they looked like they had been pulled out in a vice. Some were that misshapen they would not even chamber!
I tried Varget and N140 behind them and had more success with Varget if memory serves.

Just as an aside with the Singapore tracer- my .308 has a tight cut chamber which I need to turn the case necks down to get them to fit. I pulled 20 tracer rounds using a kinetic hammer, poured the powder into some turned down cases, re seated the bullets and they fired/ignited/extracted swimmingly.

Regards,

Ian