"...if these are tracers..." All non-Ball ammo is coloured on the bullet point. Trace is red. AP is black. Incendiaries are green as I recall.
Anyway, .30 M2 ammo is less "powerful" than the M1906 an '03 was designed to use. Only issue is that some W.W. II vintage M2 is collector stuff. Moreso if it's in a vintage box.
"...will get the boiling water going..." Hot tap water will do. Boiling water just causes the metal to dry faster.