I was just talking to my cousin tonight and he said he is aware of a particular overseas counter-terrist unit that is trying out a new idea for CQB.

They are loading 25th and 26th rounds in their 30 round mags with tracer ammo so they know they are about to run out of ammo.

What do you think?  Good or bad idea?    

Hrmm no really a new idea. Some military units were putting the first few rounds and the last few rounds as tracers. The first get you on target, the last let you know you are almost out. The bad part about this, is that it does not take long for the bad guys to realize that the tracers mean mag change.

Aviator  [img]www.milpubs.com/aviator.gif[/img]

didnt they used to do that in WW2 on fighter planes and then stopped the practice because the enemy picked up on it?

As stated, it's an old idea.  The problem with using it in CQB is the short range involved.  You may not have a chance to actually see the tracer.  Over longer ranges, or at night, they would be fairly visible.  During the day at short CQB ranges, they could be difficult for the firer to see.  Usually at that kind of distance, the people off to his side will be able to see them easier than the guy actually shooting them in bright sunlight.  Inside a building though, it may work well enough.

The idea of using a tracer is not as useful in an M-16 series system, than in a system that doesn't lock back, like an HK or AK.  Since those don't give you an indication of emptiness, other than the "dead man's click", it seems like a better idea to try something with those.

Ross

When my uncle served in Vietnam, his unit had M14s and M60s.  He said the 60 gunners would always be zeroed on because of the tracers.  There solution to this was for everyone with a rifle or machine gun that used the 30 cal ammo to mix tracers into their regular loadouts.  So when they ended up in a fire fight, the 60 gunners were harder to pick out.

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Good idea although the type mission must be considered.
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Since I was not there, I can't comment on this other than what he told me.  He was in an artillery unit for most of his tour, so my thoughts would be that this method was primarily used for defensive measures.

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