Tracers

[DarkLight 0]

I recently saw an interesting documentary about a team of special force soldiers that were dropped behind enemy lines to take out some targets...

One of these soldiers was saying that during battle he could see the tracers flying towards him, moving from left to right, while he was trying to figure out where it would land.

This made me think, why are tracers being used? Most obvious to me is that they are used to see what effect wind and stuff like that has on your bullet. So you can see where your bullet ends up and then change your aiming a bit.

Are tracers for rather short range only? It looks pretty stupid to use them at long range...

And why exactly are they used?

Thanks for helping....

[Guest]

Very simple tracers are used to see where bullets go as a visual aid for aiming. They are most practical at long range when it is harder estimating the impact of the bullet.

[E6Hotel 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (DarkLight @ Aug. 21 2002,19:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I recently saw an interesting documentary about a team of special force soldiers that were dropped behind enemy lines to take out some targets...

One of these soldiers was saying that during battle he could see the tracers flying towards him, moving from left to right, while he was trying to figure out where it would land.

This made me think, why are tracers being used?  Most obvious to me is that they are used to see what effect wind and stuff like that has on your bullet.  So you can see where your bullet ends up and then change your aiming a bit.  

Are tracers for rather short range only?  It looks pretty stupid to use them at long range...

And why exactly are they used?

Thanks for helping....  <span id='postcolor'>

Why does using them for long range shooting not make sense? That's when it's harder to see the impact of your rounds. It's also common to load a few tracers in mags first so that you'll know to reload before running dry.

Semper Fi

[DarkLight 0]

Well, isn't it bad when your enemy can see tracers coming towards them? I thought it might reveal your position...

[Harnu 0]

It's hard to pinpoit a very fast moving flash. Yes, you can get the general location of where they might be firing, but I doubt you could really use them to very efffectively pinpoint and shoot an enemy, especially when at a long range.

[Guest]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (DarkLight @ Aug. 21 2002,19:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Well, isn't it bad when your enemy can see tracers coming towards them?  I thought it might reveal your position...<span id='postcolor'>

Well, the sound of a machine gun will reveal your position anyway while it is nice to know where you are shooting.

[DarkLight 0]

Yes you probable are right, so actually it's just so you can adjust your aiming?

[Demagor 0]

Think of this too... tracers may give a general idea of where the person that's shooting at you is located, but if they have a half-decent aim, you probably won't have the luxury of getting a chance to look at them!

On another point, tracers were used extensively during WWII for AAA guns. Nearly every image of naval warfare shows a barrage of flak shooting up into the sky, lit up by a row of tracer. In this case, it was used to help in aiming. Since many of these guns had nothing more than iron sights, gunners needed everything they could get their hands on to hit the target. Especially when dealing at such extreme ranges, since you can't see your shots, you don't know if you're firing ahead or behind the target. Tracers helped them see where their bullets were going... then aim left, aim right, or whatever was necessary to blow that bi*ch out of the sky!

[John C Flett 0]

It is fair to say that tracers have good and bad points. Like a lot of things it comes down to individual taste.

[Longinius 1]

Murphys Laws of Combat:

Remember, tracers work both ways.

[Aculaud 0]

You have to consider your situation before you employ something like that. If its huge battle, where you wouldnt be the only one being concentrated on by the enemy, it might prove more efficient to know everything you can about where youre shooting. Or, if your shooting at something like aircraft, as Demagor pointed out.

They still point both ways though. All it takes is the one guy that slipped by you to see where all those tracers are coming from, and youre history!

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

Well, modern tracers are impossible or very hard to see dead on, it is mostly vissible from behind and a relatively long angle.

[Mister Frag 0]

In WWII, at least one US fighter squadron stopped using tracer rounds, and saw their kill ratio in dog fights go up significantly.

Why? Because the tracer rounds didn't match the ballistics of the non-tracer rounds. With the pilots relying on the visual feedback from the tracers during deflection shooting, they were putting only 1/5th of their firepower where it needed to be; the other 80% of the ammunition they expended was wasted.

Once they started looking for the smoke trails of the bullets, bullets in flight, and the impact of the bullets on their target, they became much more deadly adversaries for the Germans.

[Harnu 0]

I would put a tracer as one of the last bullets in my mag, so that way I know whem I'm low on ammo and will run out soon. An maybe keep a full clip of them for signal purposes... I dunno

[hovmand 0]

I dont get why every bullet in OFP has to be a tracer, sometimes it looks like your shooting with a laser gun or something, wouldnt it be possible to make it so only every fifth bullet is a tracer?

[Aculaud 0]

Well, i dont know how realistic the tracers in DFLW were, but thats ALL i had to look for to acquire my target and take it out.

[Demagor 0]

I too think that tracers should be optional. Perhaps an optional ammunition type or magazine type.  Though M16s aren't the most accurate weapons at long ranges, I'll be the first to admit that I've taken my far shots at targets with one.

Tracers, in such a situation, have done nothing but hurt me.

Really, I personally find them hard to follow (i.e. they do nothing to help my aim in the game). When I'm usually shooting, I shoot from the "just behind the weapon, but not necessarily the sights" view (or whatever it's technically called). The tracers are too much of a blur for me, as I'm looking at the dust cloud or bullet holes from the rounds (depending what's around my target) to guide my aim. Granted, that statement probably hints at my aiming skills, but... ah well.

When shooting from medium or long range with a tracer-equipped weapon, I've found that a 3rd party (not near the shooter and not near the target, but near the "action") can easily spot the shooter (a bad thing for the shooter).  Where otherwise this 3rd party would have to hear the gunshots, or happen to be looking in the vicinity of the shooter (where they can see the muzzle flash), now they've got a pretty little "landing strip" to guide them to the gunman.

I've been taken out many times this way. When the "other guy" either wouldn't have known, or would have been less-likely to know, where I was, my chances would have been better. Damn these tracers... pass me the M-21.

[dayglow 2]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Hovmand @ Aug. 21 2002,15:49)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I dont get why every bullet in OFP has to be a tracer, sometimes it looks like your shooting with a laser gun or something, wouldnt it be possible to make it so only every fifth bullet is a tracer?<span id='postcolor'>

Actually the laser effect is used by the mini-guns on helicopters as a phycological effect. It's a steady line that just licks the ground and looks amazing.

Tracers are optional in OFP. Just go to the difficulty settings and tracers can be turned on/off

COLINMAN

[ralphwiggum 6]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Hovmand @ Aug. 21 2002,23:49)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I dont get why every bullet in OFP has to be a tracer, sometimes it looks like your shooting with a laser gun or something, wouldnt it be possible to make it so only every fifth bullet is a tracer?

<span id='postcolor'>

you can make that laser gun experience closer to you by using UZI

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Harnu @ Aug. 21 2002,23:28)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I would put a tracer as one of the last bullets in my mag, so that way I know whem I'm low on ammo and will run out soon. An maybe keep a full clip of them for signal purposes... I dunno<span id='postcolor'>

sometime ago, there was this post about tracers and one interesting point about tracers used as an indicator. when some bomber plane's gunners used tracers at the last few rounds to indicate that their feeding is nearing end, if enemy also knew what that meant, they would be also alerted that you won't be firing for a while due to reload time.

so yes, it works both ways.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Aculaud @ Aug. 22 2002,00:02)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Well, i dont know how realistic the tracers in DFLW were, but thats ALL i had to look for to acquire my target and take it out.<span id='postcolor'>

I swear, tracers in DFLW were awful. They were like a purple color, ultra thick, and drew a big old line that practically screamed "SHOOT ME!!!!!!"

[LauryThorn 0]

Tracers can be useful in training, also.

I remember when I was in basic training, and one guy couldn't

hit the one square meter target from 150m range..

So the instructors put tracers in that guy's mag so they could

tell what went wrong..

[USSoldier11B 0]

Tracers are a hell of alot of fun. Too bad that they are so expensive to buy on the civilian side.

[LauryThorn 0]

They can be fun, yeah!

Shooting in the dark with them and seeing how high the bullets

bounce from the wall behind the targets..

[DarkLight 0]

Anybody know how they work?

[ran 0]