Using Tracers

Most anyone with any knowledge of military weapons or history is familiar with the use of a tracer ammunition to aim (or correct the aim) of an automatic weapon. As the Wikipedia article cited above notes:

When used, tracers are usually loaded as every fifth round in machine gun belts, referred to as four-to-one tracer. Platoon and squad leaders will sometimes load their magazines entirely with tracers to mark targets for their soldiers to fire on. Tracers are also sometimes placed two or three rounds from the bottom of magazines to alert the shooter that their weapon is almost empty.

An automatic, belt-fed, weapon is probably beyond the budget of most preppers (besides the lengthy and annoying process of obtaining government approval), so using tracers for aiming purposes is probably a moot issue. The use of tracers to indicate a reload is not.

Knowing when to perform a tactical reload is not difficult with a 1911 pistol--when you are limited to 7 or 8 round magazines, you will want to swap out magazines after a few rounds. It becomes harder to estimate when to make a tactical reload with higher capacity magazines; and, I would suggest, almost impossible once you get to 20, 30 or 40 round rifle magazines, at least without a great deal of experience. Meaning that it is more likely for you to empty your magazine before you realize it--maybe when you need a "bang" rather than a "click" on an empty chamber.

At the same time, it is my experience that it takes longer to swap magazines in a rifle versus a handgun. And, if you run the magazine empty and you are using a weapon without a bolt hold open (such as an AK or HK 91), you then have to cock the weapon (taking more time) before firing again.

Tracers can assist. A tracer loaded to fire just before the last round will alert you to make a magazine change before you run out of ammo, while allowing you to reload on a loaded chamber--no need to cock the weapon after the reload. A tracer loaded to fire 3 to 5 rounds before the last round will alert you when you are getting low enough to warrant a tactical reload.

With a ratio of only one or two tracers per magazine, you should not need much, but it certainly would be worth putting away a box or two.