Tracer Ammunition - History

History

Before the development of tracers, gunners relied on seeing their bullet impacts to adjust their aim. However, these were not always visible. In the early 20th century, ammunition designers developed "spotlight" bullets, which would create a flash or smoke puff on impact to increase their visibility. However, these projectiles were deemed in violation of the Hague Convention's prohibition of "exploding bullets." This strategy was also useless when firing at aircraft, as there was nothing for the projectiles to impact on if they missed the target. Designers also developed bullets that would trail white smoke. However, these designs required an excessive amount of mass loss to generate a satisfactory trail. The loss of mass en route to the target severely affected the bullet's ballistics.

The British were the first to develop and introduce a tracer round, a version of the .303 cartridge in 1915. The United States introduced a .30-06 tracer in 1917. Prior to adopting red and, later, other color bullet tips, for tracers, US tracers were identified by blackened cartridge cases.

Tracers proved useful as a countermeasure against Zeppelins used by Germany during World War I. The airships were used for surveillance and bombing operations. Normal bullets merely had the effect of causing a slow leak, but tracers could ignite the hydrogen gasbags, and bring down the airship quickly.