.50 Cal. Browning Ammo

[zwerge]

A few .50 Cal. rounds.

[zwerge]

Some .50 cal. tracer and an AP core that I have,the tracer on the left looks like it didn`t light up.

[Falschirmjager]

Some .50 cal. tracer and an AP core that I have,the tracer on the left looks like it didn`t light up.

Nice .50 cals you have there! I have a .50 cal Salvo Squeezebore which was an experimental round produced and tested during the Vietnam War. It consists of a wartime produced brass case with a multi projectile consisting of six conical copper bullets all sat within one-another and swaged in a clear plastic case to keep them in place until firing. The idea was to aid saturation firing and clearing of river bank areas. Will fish it out and post pic. Cheers, Tim.

[jam9297]

Some .50 cal. tracer and an AP core that I have,the tracer on the left looks like it didn`t light up.

I've found those before too, those aren't tracer rounds, they're ball rounds with lead cores. At first I thought the same as you, but since I found so many I decided to dissect one to see if that was all that was inside. At first I wanted to see if u could light up the tracer fuel with a torch, didn't work. Then I decided to peel the copper back and I found that there was a layer about a centimeter thick of oxidized lead, the white powdery stuff you see at the end. And behind the oxidized lead was of course, lead. I found this pretty intersting so I thought you'd like to know

[TonyE]

jam9297 - I suspect that what you had were in fact tracer rounds and the "white, powdery stuff" was in fact the tracer composition. Lead does not oxidise to a centimetre deep. None of the U.S. tracers (M1, M10 and M17) had copper tracer canisters, the composition was simply pressed into the base of the envelope.

Zwerge - here is a selection of British .50 cal drill rounds.

Regards
TonyE

[jam9297]

jam9297 - I suspect that what you had were in fact tracer rounds and the "white, powdery stuff" was in fact the tracer composition. Lead does not oxidise to a centimetre deep. None of the U.S. tracers (M1, M10 and M17) had copper tracer canisters, the composition was simply pressed into the base of the envelope.

Zwerge - here is a selection of British .50 cal drill rounds.

Regards
TonyE

Good point you made, but I forgot to explain the reason it oxidized a centimeter deep. The oxidized lead is less dense than elemental lead, and since it was confined in a copper shell, it expanded and literally opened up the bottom of the copper casing like a banana peel. I tested what wasn't oxidized inside with a torch, it melted and when solid could be scratched easily with another piece of metal or even a fingernail. Almost every bullet that I found that didn't have a hardened steel core had a split copper case on it

[TonyE]

With respect, that still sounds like tracer to me. The tracer compound is hygroscopic, absorbs water and swells, splitting the envelope. The same thing happens with old .303 inch tracer rounds. The picture shows what I mean.

Regards
TonyE

[jam9297]

With respect, that still sounds like tracer to me. The tracer compound is hygroscopic, absorbs water and swells, splitting the envelope. The same thing happens with old .303 inch tracer rounds. The picture shows what I mean.

Regards
TonyE

Oh ok, well if there's lead in the front ends of tracer rounds to add weight or something then I guess that's probably what it is. Come to think if it why would the military be firing ap and lead ammo at the same time? Firing tracers and ap makes more sense

[thekees]

.50 rounds are the perfect rounds to see. i have to admit i have a weak spot for them.

All rounds are WW2 dated.

[TonyE]

Yes, the front half of the tracer bullet is lead. Without it the bullet would not weigh enough.

Regards
TonyE