The 5.45 mm Kalashnikov Avtomat and Handheld Machinegun manual (РУКОВОДСТВО ПО 5.45-мм АВТОМАТУ КАЛАШНИКОВА (АК74, АКС74, АК74Н, АКС74Н) И 5.45-мм РУЧНОМУ ПУЛЕМЕТУ КАЛАШНИКОВА (РПК74, РПКС74, РПК74Н, РПКС74Н) says:

In the observation of the battlefield section:

When indicating a target with tracer bullets, fire one or two short bursts in its direction.

Tracers are loaded as every fourth round. So in order to perform fire correction effectively, the shooter must fire in bursts. As an aside on tracers: it is not recommended to use them in clear weather (you can't see them) or use only tracers (they wear out the barrel).

In "Firing on stationary or disappearing targets", the manual says:

A singular, clearly visible target is fired upon in short or long bursts depending on the importance of the target, its size, and the range. The longer the range, the longer the burst. Fire until the target is destroyed or it disappears. ... A disappearing target must be destroyed with bursts, where one burst quickly follows another. ... A group target, consisting of several clearly visible figures, must be fired upon in bursts, moving fire from one figure to the next. ... When the enemy attacks at a range of 200 m or closer, fire in long bursts, spreading fire along the front line. The spreading of fire is achieved by shifting your assault rifle (machinegun) along the horizon. The speed of the shift is dictated by the range and required density of fire. In any case, the density of fire must be at least two bullets per each meter of the target.

In "Firing on moving targets"

When firing using the method of waiting for the target (fire assault), the rifleman (machinegunner) aims at a point selected in front of the target, and as soon as the target is within 1.5-2 points in the table [a table of offsets is attached to this page] fires a long burst. If the target is not hit, he selects a new point in front of the target at the correct offset, etc.

The same technique works when shooting at low flying aircraft and parachutists, except the table of offsets is different.

I think you get the idea by now, so I'll summarize the rest. The tendency is to fire in short bursts when you have a good view of the target and a good idea of where it will be, long bursts when the target is poorly visible, moving, etc. The exception is that when you're running, you fire in short bursts, but you fire in long bursts when riding a truck.

A helicopter is a special case. When firing from a helicopter, you fire in very long bursts (10-15 rounds) and use tracers more extensively.

Hello everyone,

If you are a first time visitor, welcome! This thread is trending high right now and getting a lot of attention, but it is important to remember those upvotes represent interest in the question itself, and it can often take time for a good answer to be written. The mission of /r/AskHistorians is to provide users with in-depth and comprehensive responses, and our rules are intended to facilitate that purpose. We remove comments which don't follow them for reasons including unfounded speculation, shallowness, and of course, inaccuracy. Making comments asking about the removed comments simply compounds this issue. So please, before you try your hand at posting, check out the rules, as we don't want to have to warn you further.

Of course, we know that it can be frustrating to come in here from your frontpage or /r/all and see only [removed], but we ask for your patience and understanding. Great content is produced on this subreddit every day though, and we hope that while you wait, you will check out places they are featured, including Twitter, the Sunday Digest, the Monthly "Best Of" feature, and now, Facebook. It is very rare that a decent answer doesn't result in due time, so please do come check back on this thread in a few hours. If you think you might forget, send a Private Message to the Remind-Me bot, and it will ensure you don't!

Finally, while we always appreciate feedback, it is unfair to the OP to further derail this thread with META conversation, so if anyone has further questions or concerns, I would ask that they be directed to modmail, or a META thread. Thank you!