Do tracers cause any actual damage.

[major_setback]

I was wondering whether tracers cause any actual damage, either in real life or in the game.

I assume they don't do damage, but might be wrong. If they don't then removing them would obviously give you quite a lot more fire-power.

Would an ammo belt consisting entirely of tracers cause any damage?

[Letum]

In reality, tracer rounds are only about 5%-15% lighter than a normal round and just as solid. The lead that is lost in the tracer is very soft anyway and the harder jacket remains very similar.

So yes, tracer rounds have very similar characteristics to standard rounds. In fact, tracer rounds are designed to be as similar to ball rounds as possible in order to match their flight path as closely as they can.
There are differences of course, but they are negligible for most purposes,

[Strike]

I agree with letum.

However, the chemical compound that makes up the burning light you see from the bullets does in fact burn and has a limited incendiary effect. It has been known to light dry grass on fire and should as such be able to ignite fuel vapour. However, I don't have any research test results at hand to prove it. It just makes sense.

[Friendly_flyer]

I used that stuff in the military, and I can tell you with no uncertainty that tracers will do damage. Perhaps ever so slightly less damage than a ball round, but anything traveling at 2,525–2,900 ft/s (muzzle velocity of the wartime Mk. 8 ammo) is going to do nasty things to humans and light machinery. I have also experienced tracers setting fire to vegetation. I would imagine petrol vapor and tracers would be an interesting combination.

[pupo162]

regarding in-game damage, i once loaded a spit only with tracers, and 109's still went down.

[Catseye]

Originally Posted by pupo162

regarding in-game damage, i once loaded a spit only with tracers, and 109's still went down.

I've done an extensive study of the in-game RAF ammo and I can tell you my results show that using white tracer ammunition has the greatest affect on aircraft targets of ALL the ammunition available. Bar none. Others' results may vary.

(Now watch this thread go "Banana's)

[Ploughman]

Originally Posted by Letum

In reality, tracer rounds are only about 5%-15% lighter than a normal round and just as solid. The lead that is lost in the tracer is very soft anyway and the harder jacket remains very similar.

So yes, tracer rounds have very similar characteristics to standard rounds. In fact, tracer rounds are designed to be as similar to ball rounds as possible in order to match their flight path as closely as they can.
There are differences of course, but they are negligible for most purposes,

I remember some story from the Ubi-Zoo about an American fighter group that removed tracers from their belts and found they scored much better as the tracer had a different ballistic behaviour to the ball and was causing them to miss with the bulk of their fire. I know this is .50 cal, and the difference with .303 would be substantial. Anyone remember the details of this?

Originally Posted by Ploughman

I remember some story from the Ubi-Zoo about an American fighter group that removed tracers from their belts and found they scored much better as the tracer had a different ballistic behaviour to the ball and was causing them to miss with the bulk of their fire. I know this is .50 cal, and the difference with .303 would be substantial. Anyone remember the details of this?

Actually, it was very common for many, if not all, American groups in Europe to use Armor Piercing, Incendiary M8 exclusively (except for the last several seconds of the belt when Tracers M20 were often mixed in to warn of low ammo). This allowed the shooter to begin firing without visually warning the target he was being fired at (it was fine if he took the dynamic clues, apparently) and the API would flash fairly brightly when it struck something, so the shooter could see that he was hitting the target. By the end of the war tracers weren't even being delivered to some groups anymore. There is a minor ballistic difference between the two types but the statements that this could "throw one's aim off" is a bit of an overstatement. --- It might be a fairer statement if M1 Tracer were mixed with M8 API, though, as M1 was intended to work with M2 Ball. So M1 Tracer was to be used with M2 Ball and M20 APIT with M8 API. ---

M21 Headlight tracers (much brighter and designed to be visible from the target area) were sometimes (not clear on how much) used by bomber gunners because it was believed that enemy pilots could be intimidated or distracted by seeing tracers coming towards them.

T48 rounds are the ones I want, it was a lighter projectile with a higher velocity and much hotter incendiary to ignite lower grade fuel (as in jet). Used only by the 56th at end of the war but would be a great 1946 round.

[Redroach]

oh, I forgot about that... thanks for the answers anyway, now I've got it I believe