ww1 tracer round

The tracer round was developed in World War 1 in order to improve accuracy. The tracer round is usually every fifth round fired from a machine gun. The need for a tracer was realized when the gunners had no way of telling where their rounds where going. Before smokeless powder was invented a gunner need only look at the smoke trail left by each bullet, but in world war one with the widespread use of smokeless powder this was impossible. The tracer round is a basic round with a chemical attachment to the bottom of the round making it appear as if it is glowing while traveling to its target.