Buff guns...

[Mr No Name]

Originally posted by hubsonfire
Okay, so I grab a form of B26s, lift off a runway, turn sharp, lose 2 drones, then kill 3 fighters and land. K/D of .75.

You can't determine how effective bombers are by looking at 2 stats. We all know exactly how bombers are used by a majority in here, and I think it's a safe assumption that the guys who, for example, up 88s and b26s ,continuously slamming them into the side of a fleet are certainly affecting the stats.

Spend some time in bombers, practice gunning. You'll be surprised.

Right on the money!

[Kweassa]

That is strange since B24 50 cals vanish at 1.1k
We do not have a 1.5k range on bomber guns. Maybe you were lagging and was closer than you thought

 IIRC the bullet disappears after a set time, not distance.

The bomber guns center at 500, the only time you will not find this true is if there is a gunner onboard and the pilot is shooting also. Other wise I have to aim either a little left or right to hit you at 1000

 Try a little .target experiment with the bull's eye at various angles. You'll be surprised how the pattern shifts aroung.

[hubsonfire]

Originally posted by Simaril
First, a brief math pointer. 3 Kills divided by 2 deaths equals 1.5 KPD.  
Getting the ratio right in your eaxmple would require getting ONE kill while losing all three in your formation.

Kills per deaths is calculated as [Kills/(Deaths +1)].

I got the ratio right in my example.

Edit: No, damnit, I did it twice. Was probably drunk. Up a form, lose 2, get 3 kills, K/D as scored in game is 1. (Neither 1.5, nor .75) I transposed the 2 and 3, I guess. Math is hard.

[JTs]

wish we could still set convergence on buff guns

[F4J]

Originally posted by Saxman

I'd be interested in seeing a ballistics comparison on the .target between the nose .50s on the P-38 and one from the B-17, see if there's any difference (and I'm NOT the first person to suggest Buff guns might have increased range over the same guns from fighters--and the .50 cal on the American buffs is the SAME Ma Deuce used by the fighters. It came up in another thread somewhere 'round here).

Anyone can conduct this test for themselves. Just type .target 1000 (or any other range) in the radio buffer and you'll find a target suspended that distance from your plane to your due north. Fire your P38 guns at it and fire your B17 guns at it.

As a guy who usually flys buffs, I'm getting better at hitting nme fighters. It isn't all that easy sometimes, although as pointed out here, bad fighter tactics can make it easy. I've sometimes fired at fighters out at 1.5k just to let them know I'm looking, and just to throw them off track so I can jump into my bombsight and make my drop. On rare occasions I've seen hit sprites on them between 1k and 1.5k also. That's just pure dumb luck, basically.

As a former Marine who has fired a "Ma Deuce", Browning M2 machine gun, I can tell you, I wouldn't want anyone shooting one at me at 1500 yards. I certainly wouldn't want 20 of them shooting at me at that distance either. The bomber guns are not overmodelled, buff gunners are sometimes lucky and sometimes very good. Better have a healthy respect for them either way. As someone who shoots 1000 yard rifle matches with an 1874 Sharps Buffalo rifle with 45-70 ammo, I know that 1000 yards is an easy shot for the bomber guns and the .50 BMG for a good gunner. The maximum range of a .50 BMG is 7400 yards. That isn't the effective range, that's the maximum distance for a Ball M2 projectile's flight. In the 1940s, the maximum effective range for the Browning .50 cal machine gun was listed as 2600 yards. During Gulf War I, a Marine sniper reputedly disabled two enemy armored vehicles with two shots into the engine compartments with a .50 BMG Barrett sniper rifle at two miles (around 3500 yards).

F4jCH