CRKrueger
Eläytyminatör
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2017
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Browning 50.cal? We still use Ma Deuce today.Adoption into a game is always tricky, has to be enough to make it interesting, but not so much to make the players eyes glaze over.
I'm a tech nerd. I can easily be dismissed as a gun bunny but that is simply because weapons are an area that many people will accept large lists. I could just as easily nerd out on flashlights, power tools etc but the vast majority of people are content with "Chainsaw, 1 Ea" completely oblivious that they come in different sizes, styles and chain construction.
The Soviets introduced a 7.62mm revolver machinegun in the 1930s that had a rate of fire of 1800 rounds per minute. This gun armed many of their fighters in the 1930s at a time most fighters were still armed as they had been in WW1 with two .30 cal machine guns firing 500-600 rounds per minute.
Revolver cannon don't typically have the same impressive rate if fire as the gatling designs (some firing 6000-8000 rounds per minute in sustained fire) but as you say the often overlooked part is it takes a bit to get those barrels turning at speed. During a typical 1/2 second burst the effective rate of fire is much closer.
Weight of fire is another factor when it comes to large automatic guns, particularly regarding aircraft. It isn't just how many bullets but also how big. The debate between lots of rifle caliber machines guns vs a couple of light cannons raged in the years leading up to WW2. In the end the cannon won out, with the exception of the US who as is typical made up their own rules and used the exceptional Browning .50 cal right on into the Korean War.
Anthony Williams has done a number of books on aircraft armament, which are very worthwhile for anybody interested in the subject.