• Question: how do phosphorus bullets work

    Asked by eoin to Amy on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hey Eoin!

      I’m guessing by this you mean “tracers”? Basically they are special bullets that have a small charge in their base which, when lit by the burning powder causes a chemical reaction to occur that makes their tail burn very brightly. Phosphorous is one of the chemicals involved in this – it usually burns with a pale bluish/green sort of colour. This makes the bullet visible to the naked eye and enables the shooter to see where it has gone – so he can aim better next time to hit the target.

      There are three types of tracer as far as I am aware – bright, subdued and dim. The bright ones are standard and burn immediately when they leave the gun. But that can give away the shooter’s position (and also interfere with night vision equipment) so subdued tracers were developed. These burn bright once they are 100 yards away from the shooter to protect his hiding place. Dim tracers are…well dim…but this is good if you want to use night vision at the same time!!

      Hope this answers your question! 🙂

Comments