"In the summer of 1918, a group of soldiers of the 301st Tank Brigade, which I commanded, was having 37mm gun practice which I was observing. One defective round exploded in the muzzle, wounding two or three men. The next round exploded in the breech, blowing off the head of the gunner. The men were reluctant to fire the next round, so it was incumbent on me, as the senior officer present, to do so. In fact, I fired three rounds without incident. This restored the confidence of the men in the weapon. I must admit that I have never in my life been more reluctant to pull a trigger."
This is from Patton.
What would happen if this 37mm gun was in a P-39 or it was a MK108 in a 109?
Was the extra metal of the prop shaft enough to contain this or would it be the end of the plane or pilot?
...I remeber reading somewhere that firing the 37mm in a P-39 would turn the cockpit into an IMC envronment