Tracer Bb's and Mixing

[Adolf Hamster]

so i'm thinking i might have a crack at running tracers, but i'm not sure what the best route is.

i'm thinking running a mix of tracer/stealth with the hope that sticking with the same brand will mean the stealths track similar to the tracers. would be nice if i could do the last few rounds in a different colour too.

anyone know of decent brands offering that kind of thing in the 0.3g range? my normal go-to is geoffs but they don't seem to have the greatest tracer offering.

 

[Nick G]

I use Geoffs tracers and find them great. Bear in mind that tracer units generally work better with certain colours, my Acetech works very well with Geoffs green tracers. 

A mix in a mag is effective, when loading a mid cap I will tend to start with 4 tracers so I know when I am coming to the end of the mag, then one 'shot' with the speed loader , then a tracer and continue loading the same pattern. 

I use .25's in my AEGs and .30's in my pistols , both Geoffs

 

[Adolf Hamster]

I use Geoffs tracers and find them great. Bear in mind that tracer units generally work better with certain colours, my Acetech works very well with Geoffs green tracers. 

A mix in a mag is effective, when loading a mid cap I will tend to start with 4 tracers so I know when I am coming to the end of the mag, then one 'shot' with the speed loader , then a tracer and continue loading the same pattern. 

I use .25's in my AEGs and .30's in my pistols , both Geoffs

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i'm going to be using the MAXX hop-up tracer unit rather than a suppressor based version.

i tend to use a lot of ammo, so i was thinking it would be as effective to just empty 1 bag of tracer and 3 bags of stealth into a big bag and mixing them all up.

not going to be very consistent i know but a damn sight quicker to reload in the field.

hence why i was considering the different colours for the final few rounds (as you say shove a single shot from a speedloader in at the start), but geoff's only seem to do red tracers up to 0.25g.

is it the bio tracers you use? i kind of have my reservations as to how well those feed/last, given my guns have a nasty habit of being very fussy on ammo.

 

[Nick G]

Yep, I only use Bio BB's . I tend to use a lot of Geoffs and have never had any issues with them at all. I think the same applies as with 'normal' BBs cheep ones are rubbish and will cause you problems, decent ones will work fine.  I keep all my BBs in an old ammo box with loads of silica gel satchets. The mixed bag idea does work quite well, I've done that with my Minimi 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

Yep, I only use Bio BB's . I tend to use a lot of Geoffs and have never had any issues with them at all. I think the same applies as with 'normal' BBs cheep ones are rubbish and will cause you problems, decent ones will work fine.  I keep all my BBs in an old ammo box with loads of silica gel satchets. The mixed bag idea does work quite well, I've done that with my Minimi 

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fair enough, suppose they're worth a shot.

think i might grab some red .25's, they'll go to space sure but at least i'll know i'm near out.

 

[Cromulon1994]

I haven't run an aeg in a while. 

But when I did, I used to put the first 20 rounds as reds  the other 100 or so greens. Once you start shooting reds you have a few shots safety buffer, enough to suppress just before a mag change.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

I haven't run an aeg in a while. 

But when I did, I used to put the first 20 rounds as reds  the other 100 or so greens. Once you start shooting reds you have a few shots safety buffer, enough to suppress just before a mag change.

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yeah, ironically i'm thinking of going tracer for the stealth element to some extent.

i'm running closed bolt so i'm guessing the first shot after a few minutes break (i don't know how long tracers last lol) is going to be dark whatever happens to be in there, and the majority being stealths, but the ability to track at longer ranges if i'm opening up would be good so i know my hop/zero hasn't shifted.

the only thing i'd really be worried about is if the stealths in the mix hop differently to the tracers (they will be different materials after all) so where the tracers are going aren't where the stealths are going. guess i'll have to trust in geoffs.

 

[Nick G]

fair enough, suppose they're worth a shot.

think i might grab some red .25's, they'll go to space sure but at least i'll know i'm near out.

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Good idea, if you use green .30's in your main mix they should pretty well be going where your stealth stuff is, then use a few reds to mark the end of the mag, true they will skyrocket , but it's only a visual marker for end of mag  and if you are running semi as soon as you see a single red just change the mag. Tracers don't hold their glow for terribly long so if one is sat in the hop rubber ready to fire for a while it will probably go dark.

 

[Cromulon1994]

Yes, unless you are running a tracer unit, there's no point.

I did notice that with ASG tracers, both packaged as 25s, that the reds would over hop a bit compared to greens. Not drastically but you'd miss what you would have hit on greens at 25m.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

Good idea, if you use green .30's in your main mix they should pretty well be going where your stealth stuff is, then use a few reds to mark the end of the mag, true they will skyrocket , but it's only a visual marker for end of mag  and if you are running semi as soon as you see a single red just change the mag. Tracers don't hold their glow for terribly long so if one is sat in the hop rubber ready to fire for a while it will probably go dark.

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that's pretty much my thinking.

the mags i'm running currently sometimes struggle to feed the very last round (they had protruding followers which are removed so now the last round doesn't always jump up) so the ol' pull the mag and check isn't the best strategy. so a few reds would solve that issue.

i don't mind the first round going dark if i'm doing the sneaky business, but if i'm letting fly it'd be nice to have some verification that it's going where i need.

Yes, unless you are running a tracer unit, there's no point.

I did notice that with ASG tracers, both packaged as 25s, that the reds would over hop a bit compared to greens. Not drastically but you'd miss what you would have hit on greens at 25m.

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this is my worry, i don't want the stealths going somewhere different when they're impossible to verify. it's why i stopped using them after a while when i realised i couldn't tell the difference between me missing and someone just not playing cricket.

 

[Nick G]

If I get chance tomorrow I'll put a mix of standard and green tracer down the garden and see how they compare for hitting the target. It'll be .25's 'cos that's what I tend to run in my AEGs but should give us an idea of how they behave

 

[Nick G]

Decided not to wait Lol. 10 rounds down the garden of Geoffs .25 green tracer and 10 rounds of .25s . All of them hit the target box ( one of those metal ones that take slot in targets , about 6" square ) at close to 30 M . Realised that the normal .25's included a few  from a bottle I bought at a game last year and those are horrible for consistency , But I would say that your tracers will go to the same place as your non tracers . Cant comment on red ones as I only use green tracers.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

Decided not to wait Lol. 10 rounds down the garden of Geoffs .25 green tracer and 10 rounds of .25s . All of them hit the target box ( one of those metal ones that take slot in targets , about 6" square ) at close to 30 M . Realised that the normal .25's included a few  from a bottle I bought at a game last year and those are horrible for consistency , But I would say that your tracers will go to the same place as your non tracers . Cant comment on red ones as I only use green tracers.

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i'm not so worried about the reds, if i'm running .3g normally and .25g reds they're gonna go to space anyway, it's pretty much only between the stealths and tracers.

guess i'll just have to do it and see how it suits. only have the 1 gun setup for running a tracer atm so still need to keep plenty of regular ammo on the side anyway.

 

[Nick G]

Full auto a mag of tracers, go the full 'Star Wars' you know you want to ! ??

 

[Adolf Hamster]

Full auto a mag of tracers, go the full 'Star Wars' you know you want to ! ??

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it's going in a polarstar, it already makes the pew pew noise

 

[CupcakeKirkby]

I used to mix tracers with normal BB's, as already mentioned Geoffs tracer bb's are good value and also available in a huge variety of weights, bio and non bio. For night games I would suggest not mixing as it just makes the whole 'did I hit them' case stronger leading to overshooting ect. it also is just way more fun to see lazerbeams of bbs flying through the air! I usually use Geoffs non bio 0.28g Tracers which I get from Outdoor & Tactical. Make sure to order more than one or two bags though to make it worth it as they charge shipping!