Can .223 tracer ammo catch dry grass or woods on fire when shot at any distance?

Yes, as long as the trace compound is still burning, it can cause a fire if the bullet ends up in a suitable location.

Definitely. I've seen ricocheted tracers catch upper tree branches on fire. Ricochets should be an especial concern, since you don't know where it's gonna land, even if you've got a nice fire-resistant backstop like a dirt mound.

If you're shooting in NM, i'd be very leary of shooting tracers, lest you start a brush fire.

Oat

Army units from FT. Lewis used to start fires all the time on the Yakima firing range.

Tracer ammo was a suspect in the fire that destroyed a local shooting range a few years ago. The range had a rubber backstop (I think it employed laminated blocks of recycled tires) and they caught on fire and could not be put out. It threatened the entire shopping center.

I've seen it happen many times

YUP...for that reason it is banned from my range.

Your very likely to start a fire with tracer ammo. Happens all the time at various shoots.

quote:

Originally posted by countrygun:
Army units from FT. Lewis used to start fires all the time on the Yakima firing range.

We did it at Schofield Barracks quite a bit as well...

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Happened to us all the time at the ranges when i was in the Army. We put a couple guys standing by near a golf cart. When a fire would break out, they would drive the cart out there and shoot it with a couple of fire extinguishers.