Just wondering why the US percievered with the (heavy) machine gun on their fighters and not moved toward the slower firing, heaver hitting cannon like everyone else? Where the US not prepared to add a light cannon to their inventory, not like they were short of arms production capacity. Some earlier types had cannon (Aircobra), why the standardisation on the 50 Cal?? and how did the 6 or 8 50 cals compare to 4 20mm cannon in accuracy, weight, weight of shot, rounds carried? Which was best? Kev
weight of shot in short 3 second burst is the most important factor imo cannon shells have more explosive power too.yours,lee.
weight of shot in short 3 second burst is the most important factor imo cannon shells have more explosive power too.yours,lee. you wouldnt cound reliability, accuracy, number of rounds as no.1?? Guessing that with a higher rate of fire of the 0.50 cal then pilot gunning accuracy is less important. Kev
indeed i would count the above,the 20mm hispanos took a while to get right,but i believe the u.s had problems with 20mm cannon too,but personally i would prefere some high explosive 20mm cannons than some 12.7mm mg,s.but it all depends on what you are shooting at.yours,lee.
The best possible way to further illustrate what you said Wilts is to take a look at the incredibly informative chart below. Here is a great site to read.WORLD WAR 2 FIGHTER GUN EFFECTIVENESS One other factor that isn't written here is the fact that it was necessary to put 303 calibre guns with cannon so that tracer could be used to help in sighting.
Depends a lot on the target. The Germans and Japanese had to deal with large bombers which needed a more lethal weapon. The allies, on the other hand, had to deal largely with smaller tactical bombers and fighters, many of which were lightly armored Japanese models. In these cases, the heavy 50 caliber weapons did well, especially when used in groups of 6 or 8. Keep in mind, though the many of the Wildcats and FM-2s had 4 50s, still enough to shred a Jap plane. On can see the evolution of German fighter weapons. Earlier fighters generally carried 2 mgs and 2 cannon. This escalated over time to 13mm and 15mm mgs and 20 cannon to multiple 20mm or 30mm cannon. This was generally done to improve the chance of a kill on a large bomber. Some US planes eventually went to a 20mm cannon armament, but this was to augment the ground (or ship) attack role as much as the A to A role. Japanese planes as well were up-gunned in later models to deal with the more stoutly built US aircraft as well as the larger bombers. The Zeros 2 7.7 mgs and 2 20mm cannon was adequate against most of its early competition, but lost ground against later allied aircraft. Britain's experience in the BoB led to the abandonment (in most part) of rifle caliber mgs to being replaced by 20mm cannon. So, if your goal is to shoot down fighters, filling the skiy with comparatively rapid-fire, multiple 50s was pretty effective. If your prey was heavier bombers, the explosive effect of 20mm or 30mm cannon was the choice. tom
