Walking your fire is a technique used by operators of certain types of weapons to engage a target without the use of a targeting device. The practice is most closely associated with automatic firearms, such as machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

s, but is also used by indirect-fire weapons, such as mortars

Mortar (weapon)

A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

 and some other types of artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

; it may also be applied by a bystander to the result of a high-altitude aerial attack

Airstrike

An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...

 using unguided bombs.

It may be implemented by a single individual. The weapon operator (gunner) fires one or more rounds of ammunition, and the impact point is noted, either by an observer or by the gunner. The aiming point of the weapon is adjusted, and the process is repeated until the target is rendered harmless, a more significant threat presents, ammunition is exhausted, the weapon malfunctions, or the individual or crew operating the weapon is incapacitated. Small caliber automatic weapons, either belt

Belt (firearm)

A belt or ammunition belt is a device used to retain and feed cartridges into a firearm. Belts and the associated feed systems are typically employed to feed machine guns or other automatic weapons...

 or magazine fed, may include a small amount of tracer ammunition

Tracer ammunition

Tracer ammunition are bullets that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited by the burning powder, the phosphorus tail burns very brightly, making the projectile visible to the naked eye...

 (usually 5% or less) in with regular munitions, to facilitate the process under low-light conditions.

The name results from the fact that the sequence of rounds striking the earth appear to be walking toward the target. It contrasts with the aimed shots of semi-automatic

Semi-automatic firearm

A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...

 (or bolt action, single-shot

Single-shot

Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded after each shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, and many centuries passed before multi-shot designs became commonplace...

, etc.) fire, in which the first shot is placed on target through the use of a targeting device, which may be as simple as iron sight

Iron sight

Iron sights are a system of shaped alignment markers used as a sighting device to assist in the aiming of a device such as a firearm, crossbow, or telescope, and exclude the use of optics as in telescopic sights or reflector sights...

s, or as sophisticated as smart-bomb

Precision-guided munition

A precision-guided munition is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, and to minimize damage to things other than the target....

technology.